“
I was around ten years old when I discovered Alexandre Dumas.
I'm still discovering it...
” The great filmmaker Jean Renoir did not feign modesty when he evoked the richness of the universe of Dumas.
Naturally, we find it in the catalog of the exhibition
Alexandre Dumas on the screen: from adventure to excess,
which brings to life in images and testimonies the love story between the big screen and the work of Dumas. .
The idea of discovery is undoubtedly what guided the Pathé foundation by bringing together on three levels, until July 15, some 200 documents, nearly 100 film extracts, costumes, accessories, photographs.
This cinematography of re-readings of the historical novels of Alexandre Dumas senior allows visitors to immerse themselves not only in the history of cinema but also to bring to life the heroes of our childhood who were named d'Artagnan, his three friends Athos, Porthos and Aramis, without forgetting of course the Count of Monte-Cristo.
Read alsoThe thundering trailer for The Three Musketeers displays its Hollywood ambitions
Vittorio Gassman, a
larger-than-life
Kean
Vittorio Gassman played Kean before Jean-Paul Belmondo, at the theater, a few years later Pathé Foundation Collection
Many posters, the result of a long work of compilation, will revive memories.
So during a walk in the museum of the foundation, the eyes will land on that of
Kean
(1957), co-directed by Francesco Rosi and the immense Italian actor Vittorio Gassman, who certainly found in this character as Shakespearian as Dumasian a role beyond measure.
Gene Kelly and Lana Turner in
The Three Musketeers
The poster of The
Three Musketeers
by George Sidney in 1948 Association des amis d'Alexandre Dumas
A little further on, the Dumas cinephile will be able to marvel at the cinematographic design of George Sidney's film
The Three Musketeers
(1948) which brought together Gene Kelly in the character of the intrepid Gascon and Lana Turner in the role of the Machiavellian Milady of Winter.
Mylène Demongeot in Milady de Winter
Gérard Barray in The Three Musketeers by Bernard Borderie in 1961 Pathé Films - Studio Canal
Nostalgics will have a little tear when they see some memories of the filming of The
Three Musketeers
, - made in two parts like the one we will soon discover on screen -, by Bernard Borderie who had the great idea of entrusting Mylène Demongeot the difficult task of embodying evil incarnate: the beautiful and disturbing Milady de Winter.
Read alsoFrom Mylady to Mme Pic, the most beautiful roles of the hair-raising Mylène Demongeot
Here and there, randomly wandering around, lovers of Dumas' heroes will be able to discover the storyboard of
La Reine Margot
and her bloodstained dress, but also the secret story of the adaptation of
La Tulipe noire
with Alain Delon.
The gesture of the father of the Musketeers and his re-readings is gigantic.
Victor Hugo had as always perfectly defined it: "
Alexandre Dumas fertilizes the souls, the brains, the intelligences...
"
Alexandre Dumas on screen,
until July 15 at the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation, Paris 13th, €7.