In memory of the children of the 1950s, Gérard Philipe remains
Fanfan la Tulipe
, a film by Christian-Jaque, the son of peasants to whom an alleged fortune teller predicted that he would marry the daughter of Louis XV.
To discover
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Cinephiles prefer to discuss
La Chartreuse de Parme
with Maria Casarès, or
Le diable au corps
, with Micheline Presle who has just celebrated her centenary.
To these black and white images, which can be seen again until December 22 at the Cinémathèque de Paris, are added those preserved in the archives of the then nascent television.
The actor who died of cancer in 1959, in full glory, at the age of 36, they are particularly rare.
Among them is a report broadcast in
Five columns on the front page
, a year after his departure.
Madelen invites you to discover or rediscover this sequence, where he evokes a journey through the heart of the Théâtre National Populaire company, in Avignon and Prague, linked to the man who was the first to believe in his exceptional talent, Jean Villar.
Read alsoDiscover on Madelen the program "Cinq columns à la Une" dedicated to Gérard Philipe
The director discovers this one evening while attending a performance of
Caligula
, a play by Albert Camus.
He is impressed by his personality, his talent, the emotion he conveys to the public.
He immediately offered her the role of Rodrigue in
Le Cid
, which he was about to stage for the second edition of the Festival d'Avignon.
The answer is immediate and unequivocal: no.
The tragedy ?
It is not made for that.
Furious, Vilar slams the door of the one he then qualifies as a
“little jerk”
.
Read alsoJean Vilar, the religion of popular theater on France 5
Two years later, one evening in November 1950 to be exact, Gérard Philippe knocked timidly on the door of the dressing room of Jean Vilar, who was playing
Henri IV
, by Pirandello, at the Théâtre de l'Atelier.
After the usual compliments, an awkward silence ensues.
While removing make-up, Vilar observes out of the corner of his eye this man whose clear and frank gaze exudes a mixture of strength and immense fragility.
Acting as if nothing had happened, he offered her, almost naturally, to take part in the next Avignon Festival, playing
The Prince of Hombourg
, a drama inspired by the memoirs of Frederick II, King of Prussia from 1740 to 1786. The response is immediate and enthusiastic.
After another silence, Gérard Philipe launches timidly:
"And the Cid?"
In fact, in the months preceding this meeting, Gérard Philipe drew up an exhaustive list of
“theater men”
with whom he would like to work.
After sifting through the career of each of them and the opportunities it would give him, he realized that only Jean Vilar ticked all the boxes.
Hence his approach… Between Avignon, the Théâtre National Populaire, which Vilar took over as director in 1951, and tours around the world, Gérard Philipe played
Le Cid
199 times, and the
Prince of Hombourg
120 times .
He will also be on Lorenzaccio's bill for 99 evenings
, performing
Ruy Blas
84 times ,
Les Caprices de Marianne
34 times ,
and end his too short career with
On ne badine pas avec l'amour.
His fees are much more modest than those offered by film producers, but he doesn't care.
"Chaillot, it
's
my home!"
or
"my brave boy"
.
Read alsoGérard Philipe, a mythology of theater and cinema
Gérard Philipe did not imagine this fate when during the war, in Cannes, where he was born, he met artists who had taken refuge on the Côte d'Azur (his hometown also devoted a retrospective to him).
Fascinated by this universe, he decides to disobey a father who decided that he would become a lawyer.
With his mother's agreement, he changes direction and adds an "e" to Philip, so that his name has 13 letters.
His mother, particularly superstitious, assured him that it would bring him good luck.
She was then far from imagining the size of her posterity.
Retrospective “Gérard Philipe, or ruined romanticism”.
From December 7 to 22.
French Cinematheque, 51, rue de Bercy, 12ᵉ.
5.50-7€.
