Polin

French comedian Polin (1863-1927) was one of the greatest stars of the café-concerts of Paris. His interpretations were sober and had nuance and finesse, which were rare in the café-concerts at the time. From 1910 on, he also appeared in film and theatre, including Sacha Guitry's play 'Le Grand Duc' (1921) with Lucien & Sacha Guitry and Yvonne Printemps.


French postcard by F.C. & Co., no. 122. Photo: Paul Darby.


French postcard by S.I.P., no. 88/20. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris.


French postcard in the series Nos Artistes, no. 251. Photo: Cautin & Berger. Caption: Polin (Scala). Sent by mail in 1905.


French postcard by Raphael Tuck & Fils Editeurs, Paris, in the series 400. Photo: Reutlinger, Paris. Sent by mail in 1910.

The comic trooper

Pierre Paul Marsalès, also known as Polin, was born in 1863 in Paris, France. He was the only son of a Quercine father, Pierre Marsalès, born in the Quercy in the southwest region of France, and a Basque mother, Marie Anne Etcheto, born in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. Nothing in his family environment predestined him to approach an artistic career, but he had a passion for the 'chanson'.

In 1886, Polin made his stage debut in a small venue in his neighbourhood in Paris, the Concert de la Pépinière. Soon followed bigger café-concerts like Eden-Concert and the Alcazar d'été. Polin became famous when he appeared at the Ambassadeurs. In 1892, he took his first steps in the theatre. He played a role in a play by Georges Feydeau which was a huge success: 'Champignol malgré lui' (Champignol in spite of himself).

From 1893 on, Polin performed for twenty years at the music-hall La Scala at the boulevard de Strasbourg. He specialised in a genre called 'le comique troupier' (literally 'comic trooper'), in which Éloi Ouvrard already excelled. Dressed on stage in military uniforms, these troopers performed monologues or comic songs related to the life of a soldier.

Among Polin's greatest successes were: 'Le P'tit Objet' (by French composer Vincent Scotto), 'La Caissière du Grand Café' (The Cashier of the Grand Café), 'L'Ami Bidasse', 'Suzon la blanchisseuse' (Suzon the laundress), 'La Petite Tonkinoise' (Scotto's first success), and 'Le Trottoir (roulant) de l'Exposition (Universelle 1900 de Paris)' (The (rolling) sidewalk of the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris). These songs were recorded on the cylinders of that time. Many were later reissued on CD.

In 1905, he made his first film appearances in a series of 2-minute shorts by director Alice Guy produced by Gaumont. In Polin, l'anatomie du conscrit/Polin Performs 'The Anatomy of a Draftee' (Alice Guy, 1905), Polin sings a comic song about being in the army. Other films from this series were the short comedies Marché émoustillante (1905) and La Vénus du Luxembourg (1905).

At IMDb, Bob Lipton writes about these shorts: "From 1905 through the outbreak of the First World War, there were a goodly number of sound films shot, most of them musicals of one kind or another. Eventually, they turned out to be novelties and little more, limited by technical issues of synchronizing the film with the records of the sound, and the financial problems caused by the expense of maintaining the venues that could show the films. The sound playback systems did not have much power, which is why old records had such huge trumpets to get the sound to the listeners' ears.

From 1910 on, Polin also appeared again in a few films. The first was the historical drama Vitellius (Henri Pouctal, 1910). Moving Picture World wrote about the film: "This masterful production personifies the evil of two of the cardinal sins, lust, and gluttony. The first of these is shown in the fate of Emperor Vitellius who fell in love with the vestal who was considered the most beautiful and holy of all. He makes known his desire to have her, but the chief of the church vehemently denies him. Whereupon Vitellius, young and impetuous, determines to take her by force."

Four years later he appeared with Germain and Lucy Jousset in the short silent drama Papillon dit Lyonnais Le Juste (Henri Pouctal, 1914), based on a play by Louis Bénière. Another film appearance was in the short comedy C'est pour les orphelins/For the Children (Louis Feuillade, 1916) with Marcel Lévesque, Musidora, and René Poyen. It gives a tiny peek at what it must have been like on Louis Feuillade's sets. His final film was the comedy Polin restera garçon/Polin stays a boy (Maurice Poggi, 1917).

Polin died of a heart disease in 1927 in La Frette-sur-Seine, France. He was 63. From 1906 till his death, he was married to Françoise Mazedier. Polin is buried at the Père Lachaise.


French postcard by F.C. & Co., no. 484. Photo: Femina.


French postcard in the series Nos Artistes, no. 251. Picture: J. Bertin.


French postcard by Henri Chaumison, Paris for the Scala in Paris. Photos: Paul Darby, Paris. Caption: Les quatre grands comiques de la Scala: Polin, Sulbac, Morton, Girier (The four great comedians of the Scala).



French postcard by S.I.P. Photo: P. Berger. Publicity for Vin Désiles. Caption: Dans mes longues tournées à travers la France ce qui me soutient et me donne des forces c'est votre merveilleux Vin Désiles. (During my long tours across France, it is your wonderful Vin Désiles that supports me and gives me strength.)

French postcard. Photo: J. Bioletto, Lyon. Mr. Bertin in his imitation of Polin.

French comedian Polin was so popular that he even had imitators. Robert Bertin imitated various famous music-hall artists on stage and did Fregoli-like rapid transformations from one impersonation to another. He was famous for his female impersonations such as those of Polaire, Yvette Guilbert, Mme Miette, and Mlle. Foscolo. He also had a good female voice to accompany him whenever necessary. Moreover, he was also an excellent magician, ventriloquist, and acrobat. J. Bioletto was a photographer who had a photo studio at 51-53 Place de la République, Lyon (another address was 12, rue du Bat d'Argent). Bioletto must have been active between the late 19th century and the First World War.


Polin in Polin, l'anatomie du conscrit/Polin Performs 'The Anatomy of a Draftee' (Alice Guy, 1905). Source: Tonytony9291 (YouTube).

Sources: Jean-François Chariot (Polin le premier tourlourou de France - French), Wikipedia (French), and IMDb.