Marc Allégret: From André Gide to Simone Simon (photo: Marc Allégret) (See previous post: "Simone Simon Remembered: Sex Kitten and Femme Fatale.") Simone Simon became a film star following the international critical and financial success of the 1934 romantic drama Lac aux Dames, directed by her self-appointed mentor – and alleged lover – Marc Allégret.[1] The son of an evangelical missionary, Marc Allégret (born on December 22, 1900, in Basel, Switzerland) was to have become a lawyer. At age 16, his life took a different path as a result of his romantic involvement – and elopement to London – with his mentor and later "adoptive uncle" André Gide (1947 Nobel Prize winner in Literature), more than 30 years his senior and married to Madeleine Rondeaux for more than two decades. In various forms – including a threesome with painter Théo Van Rysselberghe's daughter Elisabeth – the Allégret-Gide relationship remained steady until the late '20s and their trip to the French colonies in West and Central Africa. That time marked Allégret's first major incursion into filmmaking: the landmark 1927 ethnographic documentary Travels in the Congo. He began directing short subjects in 1930, progressing to writing and directing narrative features the following year. Lac aux Dames would be his first film since Fanny (1932), the second installment in the successful "Marseillaise trilogy," from Marcel Pagnol's works.[2] 'Lac aux Dames': Marc Allégret effort 'the most beautiful film of the year' Lac aux Dames was a unique effort by megarich playboy, wine grower, and racing car driver Philippe de Rothschild, then dabbling as a movie producer. Based on Vicki Baum's novel Martin's Summer, the film was adapted by Marc Allégret and La Revue du Cinéma editor Jean-Georges Auriol. The dialogue was written by Colette – possibly with input from André Gide, who hung around during the location shoot.[3] Relative newcomer Jean-Pierre Aumont starred as an out-of-work chemical engineer hired as a swimming instructor (a role initially offered to MGM's Johnny Weissmuller) at a Tyrolean resort. Once there, he finds himself torn between "civilization" and its riches – in the person of a wealthy heiress (Rosine Deréan) – and his attraction to the nature-loving, local tomboy (Simone Simon, third billed), known as Puck in an apparent nod to A Midsummer Night's Dream. Despite Marc Allégret's previous credits and Lac aux Dames' youthful, sensual, good-looking performers – Jean-Pierre Aumont's impressive physique is displayed to advantage throughout the film, while second lead Illa Meery's breasts are bared in one scene – producer Philippe de Rothschild had trouble finding a distributor for his film. Undaunted, he rented the (now defunct) Théâtre du Colisée on Paris' Champs-Élysées to showcase Lac aux Dames, using a gigantic billboard to lure patrons. French critics were enthusiastic. As reported by the New York Times' Herbert L. Matthews, a "majority" of them referred to Lac aux Dames as "the most beautiful film of the year." Matthews agreed, stating that Marc Allégret's effort "deserves a high place in any international compilation of 'best' pictures." Besides praising Jean-Pierre Aumont's performance, he added: "In Mlle. Simon, Mme. Colette ... has found the perfect medium to express her profound knowledge of the adolescent mind. It is an exquisitely ingenuous part, played with unerring taste. ... Simone Simon is a moving, delicious Puck, so naturally played that the part seems made for her." Regarding both Lac aux dames and his co-star, Jean-Pierre Aumont would recall in his autobiography, Sun and Shadow: "Simone Simon, who had the natural, delicate charm of a wildflower, seemed put into this world just to play the pure and perverse ingenues of Colette. With her freckled face and turned-up nose she offered the camera a kind of intimate sincerity touched with mischief that swept away all of the cinematic conventions of the period. ... Marc Allégret had put the most tender and the most secret parts of himself into the film. [Lac aux Dames] was a resounding success."[4] Aumont also credited Simone Simon for helping him to get the role, as she "had a great influence with Marc Allégret" – who would himself become known for launching and/or nurturing the careers of numerous French film stars, from Simon and Aumont to Jeanne Moreau and Brigitte Bardot.[5] Simone Simon movie star The year after Lac aux Dames, Marc Allégret, Simone Simon, and Jean-Pierre Aumont were reunited on Happy Days. Co-written by Charles Spaak and Jacques Viot, this romantic comedy-drama starred Simon as the object of affection of both Raymond Rouleau – who dies – and Aumont – who goes on living and eventually gets the girl.[6] Despite several "delightful minutes," the respected Le Canard enchaîné critic Henri Jeanson was left unimpressed with Happy Days, complaining that "Marc Allégret had the ambition of offering us a film about youth. Instead, he has given us a film about childishness." Jeanson added that Simon was "wasted" as the young woman torn between love for the living and loyalty to the dead.[7] But no matter. As Christian Gilles would write in Les Écrans nostalgiques du cinéma français, Jean-Pierre Aumont and Simone Simon – that "tamed, little primal creature with the face of a wildcat" – formed "one of the most beautiful couples of the pre-war screen." Also in 1935, the "beautiful couple" was seen opposite veteran Harry Baur in Viktor Tourjansky's Black Eyes (image: Jean-Pierre Aumont and Simone Simon). One reviewer at the time wrote: "Under chestnut eyelashes, [Simone Simon] has beautiful and direct, bright blue eyes. Yet [in black and white] they photograph dark..." No matter the color of her irises, Simon's 18-year-old Tanya nearly suffers a Fate Worse Than Death in this imperial Moscow-set drama. The culprits? A villainous (i.e., lewd, lustful, lecherous, etc.) old banker (Jean-Max) and, to some extent, the teenager's own father. That's Harry Baur's status-conscious hotel headwaiter – who earns some extra cash on the side by arranging "dates" between his wealthy customers and desirable young women. Jean-Pierre Aumont, for his part, represents True Love: a penniless (and so very handsome) piano teacher.[8][9] 'La sauvage tendre' (photo: Simone Simon ca. mid-1930s) Not long before the making of Black Eyes, an article in the fan magazine Ciné discussed the difficulties of trying to reach Simone Simon, who had gone from being "the invisible woman to the woman impossible to find." Now a celebrity, she was just too busy – at the time starring in Toi c'est moi on the Paris stage – to bother with journalists. Was she going to appear in Marc Allégret's next film, based on the story of Austrian baroness Maria Vetsera, and co-starring her friend Charles Boyer and Pierre-Richard Willm? "That's ... what ... they say."[10] After telling frustrated phone interviewer Georges Fronval that she might be featured in Allégret's other project, based on Mary Webb's novel Gone to Earth, Simon excused herself and hung up. Because of her button-nosed looks, Colette labeled her "the most beautiful Pekingese in the world." Because of her sweet and "savage" screen characters – and apparently off-screen self as well – the press dubbed her "La sauvage tendre." The label must have appealed to Fox Film Corporation talent scouts. Aware of the international success of Lac aux Dames, Fox chief of production Winfield Sheehan had Simon shipped to Hollywood – after she had reportedly turned down an MGM offer of $500 per week. Billed as "Europe's Sweetheart," she was to star in a series of movies for the studio.[11] And thus was to begin the second and stormy phase of Simone Simon's film career.[12] "Marc Allégret: From André Gide Protégé to Simone Simon Mentor" to be continued. 'Marc Allégret: From André Gide to Simone Simon' notes (image: Jean-Pierre Aumont and Simone Simon in 'Lac aux Dames') [1] The Marc Allégret-André Gide relationship is discussed in Pierre Billard's André Gide & Marc Allégret: Le roman secret, featuring their personal letters. Before becoming a film director, Allégret was also a photographer, having honed his skills with the assistance of Man Ray. Some of his photographic work is found in André Gide's 1929 tome Travels in the Congo. Marc Allégret's first cinematic experiment was reportedly the 1925 short Anemic Cinema, in which he collaborated with Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp. Allégret went on to direct more than 50 motion pictures, including a handful of documentaries. Besides the films mentioned elsewhere in this post, among his most important movie credits are: Zouzou (1934). Cast: Josephine Baker. Jean Gabin. Pierre Larquey. Illa Meery. Yvette Lebon. Heart of Paris / Gribouille (1937). Cast: Raimu. Michèle Morgan. Gilbert Gil. Jean Worms. Julien Carette. Entrée des artistes / The Curtain Rises (1938). Cast: Louis Jouvet. Claude Dauphin. Odette Joyeux. Janine Darcey. Roger Blin. André Brunot. In small roles: Julie Carette. Sylvie. Bernard Blier. Marcel Dalio. Storm / Orage (1938). Cast: Charles Boyer. Michèle Morgan. Lisette Lanvin. Jane Loury (aka Jeanne Lory). Blanche Fury (1947). Cast: Valerie Hobson. Stewart Granger. Michael Gough. Walter Fitzgerald. Susanne Gibbs (aka Suzanne Gibbs). Maurice Denham. The Naked Heart / Maria Chapdelaine (1950). Cast: Michèle Morgan. Kieron Moore. Françoise Rosay. Jack Watling. Philippe Lemaire. Nancy Price. Venice Film Festival Golden Lion entry With André Gide / Avec André Gide (1952). Narrators: Gérard Philipe and Jean Desailly. Featuring: Jean-Louis Barrault. Roger Vadim. Paul Valéry. Lady Chatterley's Lover / L'amant de Lady Chatterley (1955). Cast: Danielle Darrieux. Leo Genn. Erno Crisa. Janine Crispin. Gérard Séty. Jean Murat. School for Love / Futures vedettes (1958). Cast: Jean Marais. Brigitte Bardot. Isabelle Pia. Yves Robert. Denise Noël. Mischa Auer. Lila Kedrova. Marc Allégret's last film: The Ball of Count Orgel / Le bal du comte d'Orgel (1970). Cast: Jean-Claude Brialy. Sylvie Fennec. Bruno Garcin. Micheline Presle. Gérard Lartigau. Sacha Pitoëff. Marpessa Dawn. Ginette Leclerc. Marc Allégret was married to sometime actress Nadine Vogel (Bizarre, Bizarre / Drole de drame) from 1938–1957. Screenwriter-director Yves Allégret (1905-1987) was his younger brother. Yves Allégret began his career as an assistant to both older Brother Marc Allégret (Mam'zelle Nitouche, Lac aux Dames) and Jean Renoir (A Day in the Country / Partie de campagne). Among his best-remembered efforts are: Dédée d'Anvers (1948). Cast: Bernard Blier. Simone Signoret. Marcello Pagliero (aka Marcel Pagliero). Marcel Dalio. The Proud and the Beautiful / Les orgueilleux (1953). Cast: Gérard Philipe. Michèle Morgan. Carlos López Moctezuma. Oasis (1955). Cast: Michèle Morgan. Cornell Borchers. Grégoire Aslan. Carl Raddatz. Pierre Brasseur. Gilles Gallon. Yves Allégret and Simone Signoret were married from 1944–1949. Their daughter is actress Catherine Allégret (Costa-Gavras' The Sleeping Car Murder / Compartiment tueurs). In the late '40s, Signoret left her husband for Yves Montand. Curiously, Montand not only shared Allégret's first name (though actually born Ivo Livi), but also his birthday on October 13 (though Montand was 16 years his junior). Also of interest, in Garden of Dreams: The Life of Simone Signoret, author Patricia A. DeMaio states that the left-wing Yves Allégret "served as one of Leon Trotsky's secretaries during the Russian leader's exile in Barbizon, France, and [well into the 1940s] his political views continued to lean more towards Trotskyism than Communism." [2] The "Marseillaise" trilogy consists of Alexander Korda's Marius (1931), Marc Allégret's Fanny (1932), and Marcel Pagnol's César (1936). The first two were based on Pagnol's plays; the third title was from Pagnol's original screenplay. Pierre Fresnay (Marius), Orane Demazis (Fanny), Raimu (César), and Fernand Charpin (Panisse) were featured in all three films. [3] Lac aux Dames' script supervisor was Françoise Giroud, who would become France's Secretary of State during the presidency of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Georges Auric composed the film's score. Auric's future movie credits would include the Audrey Hepburn star-making vehicle Roman Holiday (1953), René Clément's Gervaise (1956), and Otto Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse (1958). [4] Not everyone agrees with Jean-Pierre Aumont's assessment that Lac aux Dames was a personal Marc Allégret hit. Referring to the film as an "immensely ambitious undertaking," Mists of Regret: Culture and Sensibility in Classic French Film author Dudley Andrews states that the international success of Lac aux Dames should be attributed more to the "constancy and solicitude" of tyro producer Philippe de Rothschild than to director Allégret. Even in post-production, Andrews says, "Rothschild's largesse seemed boundless." Andrews' book is also the source for Rothschild's film distribution tactics. [5] Besides Simone Simon (pictured), Jean-Pierre Aumont, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Bardot, and stage-turned-movie star Raimu, Marc Allégret helped to launch and/or advance the careers of, among others: Michèle Morgan, Gérard Philipe, Odette Joyeux, Pierre Fresnay, Micheline Presle, Danièle Delorme, Michel Simon, Jean-Louis Barrault, Fernandel, Mylène Demongeot, Roger Vadim, and the recently deceased Louis Jourdan. Of these, Louis Jourdan was the only one who succeeded – however moderately – in Hollywood. Among his American movies were: Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (1947), supporting Gregory Peck, Alida Valli, Ann Todd, and Charles Laughton. Max Ophüls' Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), opposite Joan Fontaine. Vincente Minnelli's Best Picture Oscar winner Gigi (1958), based on the novel by Colette, and co-starring Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier. Decades later, Louis Jourdan would be seen in what may well be the most entertaining James Bond flick to date, John Glen's Octopussy (1983), starring Roger Moore. [6] One of the best-regarded screenwriters anywhere, Charles Spaak's 100-plus movie credits include: Grand Illusion / La grande illusion (1937). Director: Jean Renoir. Cast: Jean Gabin. Dita Parlo. Pierre Fresnay. Erich von Stroheim. Grand Illusion became the first non-English-language film to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. The Idiot / L'idiot (1946). Director: Georges Lampin. Cast: Edwige Feuillère. Gérard Philipe. Sylvie. Jean Debucourt. Panic / Panique (1946). Director: Julien Duvivier. Cast: Viviane Romance. Michel Simon. Max Dalban. Germinal (1963). Director: Yves Allégret. Cast: Jean Sorel. Berthe Granval. Claude Brasseur. Bernard Blier. Philippe Lemaire. Jacques Viot had fewer than 30 movies to his credit. Among his most prestigious efforts are: Daybreak / Le jour se lève (1939). Director: Marcel Carné. Cast: Jean Gabin. Arletty. Jules Berry. Jacqueline Laurent. Black Orpheus / Orfeu Negro (1959). Director: Marcel Camus. Cast: Bruno Mello. Marpessa Dawn. Lourdes de Oliveira. Léa Garcia. Black Orpheus was the 1959 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winner. [7] Henri Jeanson quote found in Jeanson par Jeanson: La mémoire du cinéma français, via the French-language Wikipédia. Christian Gilles' quote also found on Wikipédia's Happy Days / Les beaux jours page. [8] Despite the similar title, Black Eyes, from a "story" (or original screenplay) by Robert Thoeren and Viktor Tourjansky, is unrelated to Nikita Mikhalkov's 1987 Italian-Russian (Soviet) co-production Dark Eyes / Oci ciornie. Starring Best Actor Oscar nominee Marcello Mastroianni, Marthe Keller, and Elena Safonova, Dark Eyes was based on a quartet of Anton Chekhov stories. As Petersburg Nights / Petersburger Nächte, Paul Martin would direct a German version of Tourjansky's Black Eyes in 1958. In the cast: Johanna von Koczian in the old Simone Simon role, Ewald Balser as her father, Ivan Desny as her would-be lover, and Claus Biederstaedt as her one true love. A curious IMDb glitch: According to the mammoth film site, the 1935 Black Eyes was distributed in France by Sélection Servaes Films. Also as per the IMDb, that's the same name of the company that will be distributing Drake Doremus' sci-fier Equals, starring Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult, Guy Pearce, and Jacki Weaver. However, as reported in Variety, French rights to Equals was actually picked up by Selective Films – which is also listed on the sci-fier's IMDb page. (As a result of a contractual arrangement, Paramount will be handling Equals' actual distribution in France.) The Equals glitch aside, if the IMDb's information is accurate, Sélection Servaes Films distributed only one other movie. That's Pierre Ramelot and Ladislao Vajda's little-known Haut comme trois pommes (1936; literally, "High Like Three Apples"), featuring Raymond Cordy and Madeleine Guitty. Jean-Pierre Aumont [9] Following the outbreak of World War II, Jean-Pierre Aumont temporarily moved to the United States. In 1943, he starred in two Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releases: Tay Garnett's The Cross of Lorraine, with Gene Kelly. Jack Conway's Assignment in Brittany, with Susan Peters and Signe Hasso. Aumont then joined the Free French Army, seeing action in North Africa. He would return to Hollywood after the armistice, most notably starring opposite Ginger Rogers in Sam Wood's Heartbeat (1946), and opposite Yvonne De Carlo and Brian Donlevy in Walter Reisch's Song of Scheherazade (1947). As Aumont remembers in Sun and Shadow, shortly after his initial arrival in New York City in the early '40s, he ran into Simone Simon "standing in front of Cartier's window, looking at her own reflection." Simon then invited her Lac aux Dames, Happy Days, and Black Eyes co-star to check out Tyrone Power and Annabella on their opening night in Liliom at a Westport, Conn., theater. There, journalists asked whether Aumont was Simon's "new lover." "Such audacity astounded me," he would recall, "but Simone seemed used to it. She answered with the most charming smile: 'We're old friends.'" [10] Jean Giraudoux (Ondine, The Madwoman of Chaillot) was to have written Marc Allégret's version of Maria Vetsera's story. However, future Best Director Oscar nominee Anatole Litvak (The Snake Pit) would be the one to direct the international hit Mayerling (1936). Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux starred as Archduke Rudolph of Austria and Maria Vetsera. Based on the 1930 novel Mayerling / Idyll's End by Claude Anet (pseudonym for tennis player Jean Schopfer), Litvak's Mayerling was adapted by Marcel Achard, Joseph Kessel, and Irma von Cube. Marc Allégret would eventually team up with Charles Boyer on Storm (1938), Le corsaire (1939), and Midnight Folly / Les démons de minuit (1961); and with Pierre-Richard Willm on Woman of Malacca / La dame de Malacca (1937). Also: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger would film Gone to Earth / The Wild Heart in 1950, with Jennifer Jones and David Farrar as the leads. [11] Online and modern print sources usually assert that 20th Century-Fox vice president Darryl F. Zanuck was responsible for bringing Simone Simon to Hollywood. Yet, Simon was to have been a Fox Film Corporation contract player – at a time when Zanuck was attached to the independent Twentieth Century Pictures. As a consequence of the Fox and Twentieth Century merger in 1935, after her arrival in the U.S. Simon found herself employed by the newly formed 20th Century-Fox, with Zanuck as her boss. 'Travels in the Congo' directed by Marc Allégret [12] Original and/or alternate titles, director, and key cast members of movies mentioned in part 2 of this multipart Simone Simon article: Travels in the Congo / Voyage au Congo (1927). Director: Marc Allégret. Fanny (1932). Director: Marc Allégret. Cast: Raimu. Pierre Fresnay. Orane Demazis. Fernand Charpin. Lac aux Dames aka Ladies Lake (1934). Director: Marc Allégret. Cast: Jean-Pierre Aumont. Rosine Deréan. Simone Simon. Illa Meery (aka Ila Meery). Vladimir Sokoloff (as Sokoloff). Michel Simon. Odette Joyeux. Happy Days / Les beaux jours (1935). Director: Marc Allégret. Cast: Simone Simon. Jean-Pierre Aumont. Raymond Rouleau. Jean-Louis Barrault. Maurice Baquet. Fernand Charpin. Madeleine Robinson in a bit part. Black Eyes / Les yeux noirs aka Dark Eyes (1935). Director: Viktor Tourjansky. Cast: Harry Baur. Simone Simon. Jean-Pierre Aumont. Jean-Max. André Dubosc. Viviane Romance. As mentioned in the previous Simone Simon article, Marc Allégret also directed Simon in two movies of the early 1930s: Mam'zelle Nitouche (1931) and The Chocolate Girl / La petite chocolatière (1932). Allégret would direct her one more time in Pétrus (1946). Marc Allégret died in 1973. Simone Simon and Jean-Pierre Aumont in Marc Allégret's Lac aux Dames image: Films Sonores Tobis. Marc Allégret image: publicity shot ca. 1940. This article was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/).