Juliette Gréco

Juliette Gréco

Born: February 7, 1927
Died: September 23, 2020
in Montpellier, Hérault, France
Juliette Gréco (7 February 1927 – 23 September 2020) was a French singer and actress. Her best known songs are "Paris Canaille" (1962, originally sung by Léo Ferré), "La Javanaise" (1963, written by Serge Gainsbourg for Gréco) and "Déshabillez-moi" (1967). She often sang tracks with lyrics written by French poets such as Jacques Prévert and Boris Vian, as well as singers like Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour. Her 60-year career came to an end in 2015 when she began her last worldwide tour titled "Merci".

As an actress, Gréco played roles in films by French directors such as Jean Cocteau and Jean-Pierre Melville.

Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier, France, to an absent Corsican father, Gérard Gréco; her mother Juliette Lafeychine (1899–1978) was from Bordeaux. Her lineage hails in part from Greece. She did not receive love from her mother in her childhood and suffered from her harsh comments due to being an unwanted child, such as "You ain't my daughter. You're the child of rape". She was raised by her maternal grandparents in Bordeaux with her older sister Charlotte. After the death of her grandparents, her mother took them to Paris. In 1938, she became a ballerina at the Opéra Garnier.

When World War II began, the family returned to the southwest of France. Gréco was a student at the Institut Royal d'éducation Sainte Jeanne d'Arc in Montauban. The Gréco family became active in the Resistance and her mother was arrested in 1943. The two sisters decided to move back to Paris but were captured and tortured by the Gestapo, then imprisoned in Fresnes Prison in September 1943. Her mother and sister were deported to Ravensbrück while Juliette, being only 16, remained in prison for several months before being released. After her release, she walked the eight miles back to Paris to retrieve her belongings from the Gestapo headquarters. Her former French teacher and her mother's friend, Hélène Duc, decided to take care of her.

In 1945, Gréco's mother and sister returned from deportation after the liberation of Ravensbrück by the Red Army. Gréco moved to Saint-Germain-des-Prés in 1945 after her mother moved to Indochina, leaving Gréco and her sister behind.

Gréco became a devotee of the bohemian fashion of some intellectuals of post-war France. Duc sent her to attend acting classes given by Solange Sicard. She made her debut in the play Victor ou les Enfants au pouvoir in November 1946 and began to host a radio show dedicated to poetry.

Her friend Jean-Paul Sartre installed her at the Hotel La Louisiane and commented that Greco had "millions of poems in her voice". She was known to many of the writers and artists working in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, such as Albert Camus, Jacques Prévert and Boris Vian, thus gaining the nickname la Muse de l'existentialisme.

Gréco spent the post-Liberation years frequenting the Saint-Germain-des-Prés cafes, immersing herself in political and philosophical bohemian culture. As a regular at music and poetry venues like Le Tabou on Rue Dauphine, she was acquainted with Jean Cocteau, and was given a role in Cocteau's film Orphée (1950). ...

Source: Article "Juliette Gréco" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Juliette Gréco...

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Title: La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 7, 2022
Type: Movie
In May 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became President of the Republic and wanted to bring about a new era of modernity. One of his first decisions was to break up the ORTF with the creation of three new television channels: TF1, Antenne 2 and FR3. Three new public channels but autonomous and competing. It is a race for the audience which is engaged then, and from now on the channels will make the war! This competition will give birth to a real golden age for television programs, with variety shows in the forefront. The stars of the song are going to invade the living rooms of the French for their biggest pleasure. This unedited documentary tells the story of the metamorphosis of this television of the early 1970s, between freedom of tone, scandals, political intrigues and programs that have become mythical.
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François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story
Title: François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: May 16, 2021
Type: Movie
In the summer of 1963, François Mitterrand was going through a deep existential crisis. His political career was at a standstill and, after 19 years of marriage, the couple had grown apart. It was at this point that François Mitterrand met the woman who was to give new meaning to his life. Anne Pingeot, aged 19, was to become the companion of a lifetime, a woman who would be with him throughout his rise to power and who would remain by his side until his last breath. For the first time, Anne Pingeot has agreed to allow the fragments of this passionate love story — hundreds of letters and a diary — to be shown on television, before being donated to the National Library.
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Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Title: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Character: Self - Singer
Released: August 23, 2019
Type: Movie
An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).
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On l'appelait Roda
Title: On l'appelait Roda
Character: Self
Released: October 31, 2018
Type: Movie
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The Incredible Mr. Piccoli
Title: The Incredible Mr. Piccoli
Character: Self - Actress (archive footage)
Released: May 28, 2017
Type: Movie
A captivating portrait of French actor Michel Piccoli, who has worked with the greatest filmmakers of his time and has built a dazzling career of remarkable merit and success, focusing on his work during the 1970s and his professional relationship with Claude Sautet, Romy Schneider, Marco Ferreri and Luis Buñuel.
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Vadim Mister Cool
Title: Vadim Mister Cool
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: December 28, 2016
Type: Movie
As a poster boy for hedonism, his whole life was one big party. A journalist, filmmaker, director, producer, actor, novelist, ladies' man and prolific father... Roger Vladimir Plémiannikov, a.k.a. Roger Vadim, tried everything until his death in 2000. Portrait of a man at the cutting edge of fashion and trends.
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Hôtel La Louisiane
Title: Hôtel La Louisiane
Character: Self
Released: November 18, 2015
Type: Movie
Hôtel La Louisiane is, at its core, a film about freedom and dignity. Freedom for those who wish to live in a place where they are able to feel inspired. Dignity for the hotel owner to stand by his promise to his father and keep their mission alive: to provide an affordable sanctuary for artists and students in search of fulfilling employment, which they certainly won’t find at other hotels. Freedom, too, to be in an environment of tolerance and rid of prejudice. This film is not just a story about a mythical setting in Paris; it portrays the microcosm of a lifestyle in which collective values reign supreme. A film where what’s real and true is placed above national borders or cultural barriers.
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Juliette Gréco, l'insoumise
Title: Juliette Gréco, l'insoumise
Character: Herself
Released: February 5, 2012
Type: Movie
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Play Your Own Thing: A Story of Jazz in Europe
Title: Play Your Own Thing: A Story of Jazz in Europe
Character: Self
Released: November 2, 2006
Type: Movie
A comprehensive history of European Jazz, exploring the origins of the US-influenced Jazz clubs after the Second World War, the first steps independent of American jazz and the various changes of direction that have repeatedly occurred in European jazz in the search for that "own voice" that European jazz musicians have helped to form. Featuring the great masters of European jazz such as Chris Barber, Jan Garbarek, Juliette Gréco, Stefano Bollani and Till Brönner, to name but a few.
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Days and Nights in Paris
Title: Days and Nights in Paris
Character: Self
Released: December 1, 2004
Type: Movie
Reencounter with a myth. 40 years since Georg Stefan Troller reported from his adopted home in "Pariser Journal," he returns to his old haunts. A journey through time in a city of contradictions that is always reinventing itself.
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Everyman's Feast
Title: Everyman's Feast
Character: Yvonne Becker
Released: January 25, 2002
Type: Movie
Austrian television director Fritz Lehner makes his feature debut with the big-budget drama Jedermann's Fest, based on the 1911 play by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which in turn was based on a medieval tale. Originated in parts of England, the myth of Jan Jedermann ("John Everyman") deals with a rich man on his deathbed coming to terms with his life's failures. Not following much of a plot, the modernized version involves famous fashion designer Jedermann (Klaus Maria Brandauer) imagining his last big gala event while rendered unconscious as a result of a car accident in his Ferrari. He is a success in Vienna but not in fashionable Paris, so he wishes to impress French elder stateswoman Yvonne Becker (Juliette Greco).
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Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre
Title: Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre
Character: Woman in the cemetary
Released: April 3, 2001
Type: Movie
A collection of artifacts from an archeological dig in Egypt are brought to the famous Louvre museum in Paris, and while experts are using a laser scanning device to determine the age of a sarcophagus, a ghostly spirit escapes and makes its way into the museum's electrical system.
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Letter to my brother Guy Gilles, filmmaker who passed away too soon
Title: Letter to my brother Guy Gilles, filmmaker who passed away too soon
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1999
Type: Movie
Posthumous tribute paid by actor Luc Bernard to his older brother, director Guy Gilles ( 1938 - 1996 ). Documentary composed of interviews with some of his brother's friends and some actors from his main films, excerpts of which we see.
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Title: Vivement dimanche
Character: Self
Released: September 20, 1998
Type: TV
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Title: Das große Los
Character: Self
Released: May 16, 1996
Type: TV
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Title: Stars 90
Character: self
Released: September 3, 1990
Type: TV
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Title: Victoires de la musique
Character: Self (Honorary Award)
Released: November 23, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: La Chance aux chansons
Character: Self
Released: March 26, 1984
Type: TV
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Title: Champs-Elysées
Character: Self
Released: January 16, 1982
Type: TV
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Droit de Réponse
Title: Droit de Réponse
Character: Self
Released: December 12, 1981
Type: Movie
"Droit de Réponse" (Right of Reply) is a French debate program broadcast between December 12, 1981 and September 19, 1987 on the TF1 channel, presented by Michel Polac and produced by Maurice Dugowson. Broadcast live on a weekly basis, on Saturdays from 8.30 p.m., the right of reply has been the source of many controversies, due to the various speakers who have come to present their point of view on the show (which leads to famous scandals , remained in the memory of viewers), but also for the variety and relevance of the topics covered, which ensured the success of the program on the air for several years. On French television, this program is considered by some observers as a “pioneer program in terms of controversy-show or clash, in modern language”.
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Title: Bio’s Bahnhof
Character: Self
Released: February 9, 1978
Type: TV
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Lily aime-moi
Title: Lily aime-moi
Character: Flo
Released: April 30, 1975
Type: Movie
Everything starts when a journalist François decides to investigate the world of working class people. He gets into the lives of Claude, a worker and his wife Lily who has left him.
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Title: Numéro un
Character: Self
Released: April 5, 1975
Type: TV
A French variety show.
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Title: Apostrophes
Character: Self
Released: January 10, 1975
Type: TV
Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and hosted by Bernard Pivot. It ran for fifteen years (724 episodes) from January 10, 1975, to June 22, 1990, and was one of the most watched shows on French television (around 6 million regular viewers). It was broadcast on Friday nights on the channel France 2 (which was called "Antenne 2" from 1975 to 1992). The hourlong show was devoted to books, authors and literature. The format varied between one-on-one interviews with a single author and open discussions between four or five authors.
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Title: Musik ist Trumpf
Character: Self
Released: January 2, 1975
Type: TV
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Title: Midi trente
Character: Self
Released: March 6, 1972
Type: TV
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Title: Le Grand Échiquier
Character: Self
Released: January 12, 1972
Type: TV
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Title: Le Grand Échiquier
Character: Self - Guest
Released: January 12, 1972
Type: TV
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Title: V.I.P. Schaukel
Character: Self
Released: May 9, 1971
Type: TV
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Title: À bout portant
Character: Self
Released: December 16, 1968
Type: TV
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Title: Night-Club
Character: self
Released: September 13, 1968
Type: TV
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The Night of the Generals
Title: The Night of the Generals
Character: Juliette
Released: January 29, 1967
Type: Movie
A German intelligence officer investigates a prostitute's killing in Warsaw during World War II. He lands on three major Nazi generals as suspects, two of whom are also involved in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler.
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Love at Sea
Title: Love at Sea
Character: Film Actress
Released: May 1, 1966
Type: Movie
During her holiday in Brest, a young Parisian falls in love with a sailor. But autumn comes and the two lovers have to part. They write to each other. Will their love resist at a distance, each living his life, him in Brest with his friends, she in Paris who keeps waiting for him? An impossible love story and the cross-portrait of two cities, Paris and Brest, between the realism of the color images and the poetry infused by the sepia black and white images, lives to the rhythm of the nostalgia of the two lovers...
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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Title: Uncle Tom's Cabin
Character: Dinah
Released: April 13, 1965
Type: Movie
In the pre-Civil War South, a sadistic plantation owner brutalizes his slaves to the point of rebellion. Always obedient, peaceful and honest old slave Tom plays a central role in this tragedy.
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Title: Belphegor, or Phantom of the Louvre
Character: Laurence Hiquet
Released: March 6, 1965
Type: TV
Four episodes chronicle a mysterious phantom who appears in the Musée du Louvre in Paris at night. Neither guards nor police are able to make an arrest. But a curious young man tries to break the ice and discover what drives the creature and its activities.
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Cherchez l'idole
Title: Cherchez l'idole
Character: Self, guest at Sylvie Vartan's show (uncredited)
Released: February 26, 1964
Type: Movie
After stealing a diamond from Mylène Demongeot, Richard hides it inside a guitar. But on returning to the music shop he discovers that the precious instrument has just been sold! The problem is complicated by the fact that five stars all bought the same model that morning...
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Title: Einer wird gewinnen
Character: Self
Released: January 25, 1964
Type: TV
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38-24-36
Title: 38-24-36
Character: Self
Released: March 31, 1963
Type: Movie
The film is a rundown of the songs sung by the stars of the time, chained to various shows such as strip and comic caricatures.
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Title: Tonight in Person
Character: Self
Released: January 30, 1963
Type: TV
Series of live concerts by popular musicians.
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Title: Lieben Sie Show ?
Character: Self
Released: November 24, 1962
Type: TV
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Where the Truth Lies
Title: Where the Truth Lies
Character: Myriam Heller
Released: March 14, 1962
Type: Movie
A young veterinarian falls in love with a strange woman, a former explorer who might be a Voodoo priestess, after he comes to help her ailing cheetah. She begs him to return to Africa with her, but he doesn’t want to leave his wife. Soon his wife finds herself plagued by a series of bizarre accidents.
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The Big Gamble
Title: The Big Gamble
Character: Marie
Released: July 25, 1961
Type: Movie
Irish seaman Vic Brennan persuades his Dublin family to finance a truck-hauling business in the remote African town of Jebanda. The only stipulation is that his cousin Samuel, a timid bank clerk, accompany Vic and his Corsican bride, Marie, to Africa and protect the family fortune.
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Crack in the Mirror
Title: Crack in the Mirror
Character: Eponine / Florence
Released: May 19, 1960
Type: Movie
Three stars appear in two separate but intertwined stories of romantic triangles gone wrong in this ambitious drama. In the first segment, Hagolin is a loutish construction worker with an unhappy wife, Eponine. The wife becomes involved with a swarthy working man, Larnier, and their passion knows no boundaries of caution or safety. Eventually, Eponine's and Larnier's lust drives them to madness, and they murder Hagolin. The second tale concerns an up-and-coming young lawyer, Claude, whose mentor is a highly successful veteran attorney, Lamerciere, with a beautiful young wife named Florence. Claude finds himself defending Larnier and Eponine, while Lamerciere dies of a heart attack after he discovers that Florence has been unfaithful to him with Claude.
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Title: Stars in der Manege
Character: Self
Released: April 11, 1959
Type: TV
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Whirlpool
Title: Whirlpool
Character: Lora
Released: March 1, 1959
Type: Movie
The ex-girlfriend of a German fugitive hides with the captain and crew of a ship on the Rhine.
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Title: Discorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1959
Type: TV
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The Roots of Heaven
Title: The Roots of Heaven
Character: Minna
Released: October 15, 1958
Type: Movie
In Fort Lamy, French Equitorial Africa, idealist Morel launches a one-man campaign to preserve the African elephant from extinction, which he sees as the last remaining "roots of Heaven." At first, he finds only support from Minna, hostess of the town's only night club, who is in love with him, and a derelict ex-British Army Major, Forsythe. His crusade gains momentum and he is soon surrounded by an odd assortment of characters: Cy Sedgewick, an American TV commentator who becomes impressed and rallies world-wide support; a U.S. photographer, Abe Fields, who is sent to do a picture story on Morel and stays on to follow his ideals; Saint Denis, a government aide ordered to stop Morel; Orsini, a professional ivory hunter whose vested interests aren't the same as Morel's; and Waitari, leader of a Pan-African movement who follows Morel only for the personal good it will do his own campaign.
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The Naked Earth
Title: The Naked Earth
Character: Maria
Released: February 5, 1958
Type: Movie
Africa, early 20th century, an Englishman marries the girlfriend of a late friend and faces natives and adventures, on the banks of a river infested with crocodiles.
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Bonjour Tristesse
Title: Bonjour Tristesse
Character: Herself
Released: January 15, 1958
Type: Movie
Cecile is a decadent young girl who lives with her rich playboy father, Raymond. When Anne, Raymond's old love interest, comes to Raymond's villa, Cecile is afraid for her way of life.
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It Happened on the 36 Candles
Title: It Happened on the 36 Candles
Character: Self (uncredited)
Released: October 16, 1957
Type: Movie
Rejecting the union of her daughter Brigitte with a modest worker, Madame Magnin invents an adultery for the lover, then introduces Brigitte to a good-looking man working on the famous RTF entertainment show 36 Chandelles. The show ultimately seals the reunion of the two estranged young lovers. The story features a parade of music-hall stars from the era: Charles Trenet, Charles Aznavour, Georges Guétary, Juliette Gréco, Roger Pierre and Jean-Marc Thibault, Fernand Raynaud, Georges Ulmer and many more.
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The Sun Also Rises
Title: The Sun Also Rises
Character: Georgette Aubin
Released: August 23, 1957
Type: Movie
A group of disillusioned American expatriate writers live a dissolute, hedonistic lifestyle in 1920's France and Spain.
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Man and Child
Title: Man and Child
Character: Nicky Nistakos
Released: November 28, 1956
Type: Movie
Fred Barker, an unmarried American who remained in France after heroically defending the country during the Second World War, runs the perfume factory in Grasse of his friend Carlo Ferelli, whose life he saved during the conflict. Fred has since adopted a little girl, Cathy. One day, he receives a visit from Félix Mercier, an old man who informs him that he has taken Cathy into his custody and that he will return her to him when Fred finds his granddaughter Hélène, a 17-year-old teenager who accuses the factory of being a front for white slavery. Fred, dumbfounded, sets out to find Hélène, so he can quickly get Cathy back.
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The Lebanese Mission
Title: The Lebanese Mission
Character: Maroussia
Released: September 12, 1956
Type: Movie
In Lebanon, industrialist Hennequin, director of a French oil company, entrusts engineers Jean Domèvre, a Frenchman, and Mokhrir, a Lebanese, with the prospecting of an isolated region granted to him by Countess Athelstane Orloff. Their search remains fruitless until Mokhir reports the discovery of a uranium deposit, but disappears before Jean can identify the location. He goes to the Countess for help in finding Mokhir and surprises her when, due to financial difficulties, she is negotiating her concession with the Englishman Hobson, director of a rival company. Attracted by Jean, the Countess nevertheless gives him her preference and they set off together in search of Mokhir.
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Elena and Her Men
Title: Elena and Her Men
Character: Miarka, la gitane
Released: September 12, 1956
Type: Movie
Set amid the military maneuvers and Quatorze Juillet carnivals of turn-of-the-century France, Jean Renoir’s delirious romantic comedy Elena and her Men stars a radiant Ingrid Bergman as a beautiful, but impoverished, Polish princess who drives men of all stations to fits of desperate love. When Elena elicits the fascination of a famous general, she finds herself at the center of romantic machinations and political scheming, with the hearts of several men—as well as the future of France—in her hands.
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Title: Cinépanorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1956
Type: TV
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Title: Was bin ich?
Character: self
Released: January 2, 1955
Type: TV
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Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances
Title: Saint-Tropez, devoirs de vacances
Character: Self
Released: April 15, 1954
Type: Movie
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Boom on Paris
Title: Boom on Paris
Character: Self
Released: February 19, 1954
Type: Movie
In the early 1950s, the popular radio show "La Kermesse aux Étoiles", hosted by the famous Jean Nohain, mixing lottery games and performances of various artists, will be disrupted by the adventures of a man and his fiancée seeking to recover a dangerous bottle of perfume (explosive) which was unfortunately mixed with the prizes to be won ...
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When You Read This Letter
Title: When You Read This Letter
Character: Thérèse Voise
Released: July 26, 1953
Type: Movie
After a novice nun learns of the sudden death of her parents, she leaves the convent to manage the family business and look after her teenage sister. Both of them fall prey to a womanizing mechanic with psychopathic tendencies.
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The Green Glove
Title: The Green Glove
Character: Singer (scenes deleted)
Released: February 28, 1952
Type: Movie
In World War II France, American soldier Michael Blake captures, then loses Nazi-collaborator art thief Paul Rona, who leaves behind a gem studded gauntlet (a stolen religious relic). Years later, financial reverses lead Mike to return in search of the object. In Paris, he must dodge mysterious followers and a corpse that's hard to explain; so he and attractive tour guide Christine decamp on a cross-country pursuit that becomes love on the run...then takes yet another turn.
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Without Leaving an Address
Title: Without Leaving an Address
Character: Juliette Gréco
Released: January 17, 1951
Type: Movie
A woman in Paris hires a taxi driver to locate her ex-lover, father to her newborn child, who left her without leaving an address.
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Disorder
Title: Disorder
Character: Self
Released: December 2, 1950
Type: Movie
Variations on the cultural and intellectual explosion in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district in 1946.
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Orpheus
Title: Orpheus
Character: Aglaonice
Released: September 29, 1950
Type: Movie
A poet in love with Death follows his unhappy wife into the underworld.
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The Sinners
Title: The Sinners
Character: Rachel
Released: September 30, 1949
Type: Movie
Au Royaume des Cieux takes place in in a dreadful girls' reformatory. A couple of lovers will try to escape from this living hell.
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Title: The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Self
Released: June 20, 1948
Type: TV
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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The Bouquinquant Brothers
Title: The Bouquinquant Brothers
Character: A nun
Released: January 11, 1948
Type: Movie
A provincial, Julie Moret, is hired as a servant in a Parisian bourgeois residence. She is courted by one of the Bouquinquant brothers, Léon, who does not take long to ask her to marry him. Alas, Léon turns out to be violent, alcoholic and lazy. Faced with her misfortune, Julie gets closer to her brother-in-law Pierre, the opposite of Léon, serious and hardworking, and they become lovers. The drama will rush when Julie becomes pregnant with Pierre.
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Barbara ou ma plus belle histoire d'amour
Title: Barbara ou ma plus belle histoire d'amour
Character: Self
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
In the early 70s, Barbara discovered herself backstage on her French tour. The artist plays with intimacy and camera glances. Between concerts, she talks to herself and the men in her life.