Football genius and dilettante guitarist, Brazilian football star Pelé, who died on Thursday, also forged a modest career in the cinema.
Apart from his participation in two Brazilian films, in the early 1970s, the "King" collaborated with one of the major American filmmakers of the second half of the 20th century: John Huston.
The director of the
Maltese Falcon
, the
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
, the
Misfits
or even
The Man Who Would Be King
had teamed up with the footballer for a project that was original to say the least: a historical sports film, opposing a team of prisoners of war against their German jailers, in 1943.
Released in 1981,
À nous la Victoire
(
Escape to Victory
, in the original version) did not, however, display only its Brazilian star on the screen.
Pelé co-starred with Michael Caine as well as Sylvester Stallone, who had just released
Rocky II
at the time .
Max von Sydow was also there, on the German side.
To strengthen the football match at the heart of the film, John Huston hired a plethora of professional players to fill the ranks of his teams - and ensure, in passing, a prestigious publicity for his film.
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Faithful to the diversity of the Allied troops,
Victory
is ours, therefore, features several international athletes.
Pelé embodies a sportsman from Trinidad and Tobago.
British stadium god Bobby Moore plays a subject of Her Majesty.
The other football stars to have slipped into the film are the Argentinian Osvaldo Ardiles, the Belgian Paul Van Himst, the Polish Kazimierz Deyna, the Norwegian Hallvar Thoresen, the Dutchman Co Prins or the Irishman Kevin O'Callaghan .
The talent of certain actors for football nevertheless left something to be desired, at least in the eyes of Pelé.
“
I will be sincere.
You don't shoot well, you don't dribble well, but you can be a very good goalkeeper
, "thus the "King" strikes at Sylvester Stallone in one of the scenes of the film.
Before the shooting, the one who was then the darling of Hollywood had no particular affection for the round ball.
"
I thought football was a wimp's game until I got kicked in the stomach
," Stallone said around the time the film was released.
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Despite the pressing demands of the American star, it is ultimately up to Pelé to shine on the pitch.
The Brazilian player notably executed an impressive acrobatic return to score a decisive goal at the end of the match.
And if the meeting ends however in a draw, the players manage to escape in the tumult of the post-match.
Forty years after the release of the film, discussions around a remake resurface from time to time.
In 2014, the
Guardian
reported that director Doug Liman (
The Bourne Identity
,
Edge of Tomorrow
) could be put in charge of the project.
Five years later, the Arlesian reminisces to memories of moviegoers, this time with Jaume Collet-Serra (
Jungle Cruise
,
Black Adam
) directing.
Pelé's successor is still running.
