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03 April 2016

Monique Rolland

Monique Rolland (1913–1999) was a French film actress who appeared in dozens of French films of the 1930s, often in supporting parts. She worked with major directors like Abel Gance, Marcel L'Herbier and Fritz Lang.

Monique Rolland
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 88. Photo: Studio Piaz.

Monique Rolland
French postcard, no. 461. Photo: Star-Press.

Narcotics


Monique Rolland was born as Monique Lapierre in Paris, France, in 1913.

In 1930, she started her film career as a young bride on her wedding day in the short film Jour de noces/Wedding Day (Maurice Gleize, 1930). She next appeared in Abel Gance’s Science-Fiction film La fin du monde/The End of the World (1931).

In 1932 she played a supporting part in Stupéfiants/Narcotics (Kurt Gerron, Roger Le Bon, 1932), the French-language version of the German film Der weiße Dämon/The White Demon (Kurt Gerron, 1932). When an actress (Danièle Parola) becomes addicted to drugs, her brother (Jean Murat) decides to take action against her supplier.

Rolland also had a part in Le testament du Dr. Mabuse/The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, René Sti, 1933), the parallel French version of Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1933).

Monique Rolland
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 91. Photo: Roger Carlet.

Monique Rolland
French postcard by Erpé, no. 693. Photo: Studio Harcourt.

A Rare Bird


Monique Rolland played a rare female lead in the comedy Un oiseau rare/A Rare Bird (Richard Pottier, 1935) opposite Pierre Brasseur and Max Dearly.

She also co-starred with Armand Bernard in Sacré Léonce/Holy Leonce (Christian-Jaque, 1936) and with Fernand Gravey in Paradis perdu/Four Flights to Love (Abel Gance, 1940).

She also appeared in Marcel L’Herbier’s Histoire de rire/Foolish Husbands (1941), but did not work during the occupation of France.

After the war, she made one more film, Christine se marie/Christine marries (Renée Le Hénaff, 1946), in which she played the title role. Then, after some 45 films, she retired from the cinema.

Decades later, Rolland returned to the screen in the TV series Deux amies d'enfance/Two Girlfriends from childhood (Nina Companeez, 1983). Monique Rolland passed away in 1999, 85 years old.

Monique Rolland
French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 91. Photo: Star.

Monique Rolland
French postcard by Edit. Chantal, no. 61. Photo: Star-Presse.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

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