French Cancan
French Cancan | |
---|---|
Criterion Collection | |
Release date | 9 April 1955 |
Running time | 104 minutes |
Countries | France Italy |
Language | French |
Box office | 4,075,306 admissions (France)[1] |
French Cancan (also known as Only the French Can) is a 1955 French-Italian
It was shot at the Joinville Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Max Douy.
Plot
In Paris in the 1890s, Henri Danglard owns a night club where the star turn is a belly dance by his mistress Lola. Going after the show one night to an old-fashioned dance hall in Montmartre, he sees people doing the cancan together and is struck by the suppleness and charm of a young laundry girl called Nini. He persuades her to take dancing lessons for a new venture he is planning. As his club has failed and Lola has left him, his idea is to open another place with a troupe of glamorous girls performing the cancan. Naming it the Moulin Rouge, its opening night is a thunderous success.
Cast
- Jean Gabin as Henri Danglard
- Françoise Arnoul as Nini
- María Félix as Lola
- Anna Amendola as Esther Georges
- Jean-Roger Caussimon as Baron Walter
- Dora Doll as La Génisse
- Giani Esposito as Prince Alexandre
- Gaston Gabaroche as Oscar, le pianiste
- Jacques Jouanneau as Bidon
- Jean Parédès as Coudrier
- Franco Pastorino as Paulo, le boulanger
- Michèle Philippe as Eleonore
- Michel Piccoli as Le Capitaine Valorgueil
- Albert Rémy as Barjolin
- Philippe Clay as Casimir le Serpentin
- Édith Piaf as Eugénie Buffet[4][5]
- Pierre Olaf as Roberto, pierrot siffleur[6]
Critical reception
The film received the Grand Prix de l'Academie du Cinéma in 1956.[8] Roger Ebert added French Cancan to his "Great Movies" list in 2012.[9]
References
- ^ "French CanCan". Box Office Story.
- JSTOR 2929115.
- JSTOR 1773418.
- ISBN 0-8223-2800-3
- ISBN 1-900850-50-8
- ^ Ronald Bergan (22 September 1995). "Pierre Olaf: Surreal world of a pierrot". The Guardian. p. 17.
- ^ Truffaut,Arts, May 4, 1955, and Chardere in Positif, quoted in French New Wave, by Jean Douchet, p.27
- ^ Faulkner, Christopher (1979). Jean Renoir, a guide to references and resources. Boston, Mass: G.K. Hall & Company. p. 33.
- ^ Roger Ebert. French Cancan May 31, 2012
External links
- French Cancan at IMDb
- French Cancan at AllMovie
- French Cancan an essay by Criterion Collection