Directed by Florence Strauss • Documentary • 2020 • 56 minutes
Episode 1: The Romantic Ones
It takes a healthy dose of romanticism to try and build a film industry in a country whose economy is in ruins after war. But the producers in this episode were up for the challenge. Dissatisfied in Hollywood, brothers Robert and Raymond Hakim returned to France to re-launch their careers. Like the other producers in this episode, they were nothing if not resourceful. André Paulvé was a grain broker who talked his way into his first production. Alexandre Mnouchkine parlayed fur business cash into a life in cinema. And the larger-than-life cigar-chomping Henry Deutchmeister built himself a faux 18th-century manor—complete with modular edit suites on the grounds.
Films spotlighted in this episode:
Casque d'Or (1952) / Robert and Raymond Hakim / dir. Jacques Becker
La Belle et la Bête (1946) / André Paulvé / dir. Jean Cocteau
Fanfan la Tulipe (1952) / Alexandre Mnouchkine and Georges Dancigers / dir. Christian-Jaque
French Cancan (1955) / Henry Deutchmeister / dir. Jean Renoir
Up Next in Films about Films
-
Mute Fire
Directed by Federico Atehortúa Arteaga • Documentary • 2019 • 83 minutes
A family accident leads the director of the film to discover the strange relationship that exists between his mother, the origins of Colombian cinema and recent events of the Colombian armed conflict. On March 6, 1906, four...
-
Directing Actors by Jean Renoir
Directed by Gisèle Braunberger • Documentary • 1968 • 22 minutes
Actor Gisèle Braunberger sits across a small table from Jean Renoir. She leans forward, focusing intently on the director, her hands rhythmically fidgeting, as he outlines the premise of the script page he is about to work through ...
-
Tribute to Alfred Lepetit
Directed by Jean Rousselot • Drama • With Charlotte Rampling, Roman Polanski, Jean-Claude Brialy • 1999 • 8 minutes
Alfred Lepetit is a legendary French production assistant with more than 200 films to his credit. Well, not exactly to his credit, since he refuses to let his name appear on-screen...
