So. Did you really know all that much about the man who for many years epitomized French savoir-faire to American audiences?
We’re talking about Maurice Chevalier, the Paris-born veteran who staged not just one but two substantial star turns in Hollywood. (There he is above during round two as Audrey Hepburn’s understanding father in Billy Wilder’s 1957 romantic comedy, Love in the Afternoon.)
Ok, on to our answers:
1) Question — Which actress summed up (for some) Chevalier’s career when she said to him that “I’ll admit you’re very funny but not terrific …not colossal?” a) Leslie Caron; b) Jeanette MacDonald; c) Audrey Hepburn; or d) Joan Crawford.
1) Answer: b) Jeanette MacDonald, a familiar Chevalier costar most notably in 1929’s The Love Parade, 1932’s One Hour With You and the same year’s Love Me Tonight, a delightful musical showcase of Chevalier’s impressive physical grace (the film holds up remarkably well; worth seeking out.) The “not colossal” comment was delivered by MacDonald to Chevalier’s character in 1934’s The Merry Widow.
2) Question — Before he even set foot in Hollywood, Chevalier was noted for his exceptional athletic skills. Which feat most cemented his sporting reputation? a) his long-distance running records; b) the swordsmanship displayed in early vaudeville performances; c) his accomplishments as an acrobat; or d) his role as boxing champ Georges Carpentier’s sparring partner.
2) Answer — Both c) and d). Chevalier was an accomplished acrobat, and also went a few rounds with boxing champ Georges Carpentier.
3) Question — Early in his career, Chevalier turned himself into the main attraction at a renowned Parisian tourist stop. Was it a) the Paris Opera; b) La Tour d’Argent; c) the Folies Bergere; or d) the Olympia Music Hall?
3) Answer — Chevalier was a popular cabaret singer-entertainer long before he became a movie star in France much less Hollywood. His partner at the infamous Folies Bergere was actress singer Mistinguett (nee Jeanne Bourgeois), who was 13 years his senior.
4) Question — Chevalier and frequent costar Jeanette MacDonald generated romantic sparks offscreen as well as on. a) True or b) false?
4) Answer — False. MacDonald rebuffed Chevalier’s overtures, calling him “the quickest derriere pincher in Hollywood.” He dismissed her as a prude.
5) Question: Contemporary political correctness looks askance at Chevalier’s rendition of a song from Vincente Minnelli’s 1958 classic, Gigi. Can you name the song and explain why it could be considered “offensive?”
5) Answer — The song is Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Thank Heaven For Little Girls. In this post Humbert Humbert age, the song and Chevalier’s delivery make some uncomfortable. We say, relax and enjoy the performance in all its innocent intent.
6) Question — In 1942, during the German occupation of France, Chevalier discovered that his name appeared on a Free French list of “prominent collaborators who deserved death.” a) True or b) false?
6) Answer — a) True, according Alan Riding, author of the 2010 book, And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris. Chevalier got in hot water for entertaining German soldiers in his cabaret appearances and for performing a concert in Germany.
7) Question — Chevalier paid off well-connected friends to get himself exonerated of Nazi collaboration charges. a) True or b) false?
7) Answer — a) True, again according to author Riding. There’s no doubt that Chevalier took great pains to explain his wartime behavior to both French and American audiences.
8) Question — Which one of these actress did NOT costar with Chevalier in a movie made during his successful return to Hollywood? a) Deborah Kerr; b) Shirley MacLaine; c) Mamie Van Doren; d) Hayley Mills; or e) Sophia Loren?
8) Answer — c) Mamie Van Doren. Deborah Kerr costarred with Chevalier in 1959’s Count Your Blessings. Shirley Maclaine in 1960’s Can-Can. Hayley Mills in the 1962 Disney outing, In Search of the Castaways. And, Sophia Loren appeared with our man in 1960’s A Breath of Scandal.
9) Question: How old was Chevalier when his first foray into Hollywood began? How old was he when his Hollywood comeback began? a) 41 and 69; b) 15 and 55; c) 25 and 72; or d) 19 and 45?
9) Answer — a) 41 and 69. (Chevalier was born in 1888. He died in 1972 at the age of 83.) His first Hollywood film was in 1929, and he his re-emergence began in 1957.
10) Question: Was Chevalier forced to make propaganda films for the Germans in World War II? a) Yes or b) no.
10) Answer — b) No. Chevalier refrained from making any movies during the war. His first post-war movie appearance in France was in 1947 in Rene Clair’s Le Silence est d’Or (Silence is Golden).
Well for ‘all’ those that took the quiz Joe & Frank managed to get their trademark ‘trick’ question in with number 2 and it’s two answers…
But much more important than that, is trying to discover what is true or false in any book that’s published whether it’s HOLLYWOOD related or not.
There was a great documentary on Netflix recently…
httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfc3aAQ_UTI
Harold and Lillian Michelson’s names may not sound familiar, but you’ve most likely seen their work in WEST SIDE STORY, ROSEMARY’S BABY and THE BIRDS among many other films. Harold, the storyboard artist husband, and Lillian, the film researcher wife, were a prolific team whose careers were being profiled in Daniel Raim’s 2015 documentary “Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story.”
Through charming animated sketches and interviews with the couple and some of their friends, like Mel Brooks, Francis Ford Coppola and Danny DeVito, the documentary reflects on the couple’s work together — often with Mrs. Michelson’s findings inspiring her husband’s art.
Mr. Michelson, who died in 2007, climbed the industry ladder as a storyboard artist, eventually becoming an art director and production designer. Not wanting to stay at home, Mrs. Michelson volunteered at a studio library and became a sought-after film researcher.
Their behind-the-scenes influence on filmmakers was far-reaching. Mr. Michelson’s storyboards show sketched versions of memorable scenes, like the parting of the Red Sea in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and Anne Bancroft’s raised leg overshadowing Dustin Hoffman in THE GRADUATE. Mrs. Michelson excitedly recalls interviewing women at Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles about traditional costumes for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and questioning a drug kingpin for SCARFACE.
It’s surely one of the best HOLLYWOOD documentaries I’ve ever seen.
The point is, movie fans, scholars, historians and alike, they all assumed the great directors like Cecil B. DeMille and Alfred Hitchcock all came up with these ideas for those iconic shots in their movies themselves, specially as storyboard artists like Harold Michelson were never credited.
Although it’s usually a collaboration between director and artist, in Harold’s case with the 1956 version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS in particular, he laid out the WHOLE movie shot by shot… And never once even met the ‘great’ producer/director.
DeMille like Hitchcock, like Walt Disney… these were men that had a genius for using other people’s genius.
So even when the great THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: MAKING MIRACLES documentary came along in 2011, no where was Harold’s name even mentioned… Again, he went uncredited.
httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r11Z8KiRww4&t=151s
Well, all this is for anyone who’s interested… certainly a lot fewer ‘readers’ than bother to answer the quiz on here.
Well for ‘all’ those that took the quiz Joe & Frank managed to get their trademark ‘trick’ question in with number 2 and it’s two answers…
But much more important than that, is trying to discover what is true or false in any book that’s published whether it’s HOLLYWOOD related or not.
There was a great documentary on Netflix recently…
httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfc3aAQ_UTI
Harold and Lillian Michelson’s names may not sound familiar, but you’ve most likely seen their work in WEST SIDE STORY, ROSEMARY’S BABY and THE BIRDS among many other films. Harold, the storyboard artist husband, and Lillian, the film researcher wife, were a prolific team whose careers were being profiled in Daniel Raim’s 2015 documentary “Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story.”
Through charming animated sketches and interviews with the couple and some of their friends, like Mel Brooks, Francis Ford Coppola and Danny DeVito, the documentary reflects on the couple’s work together — often with Mrs. Michelson’s findings inspiring her husband’s art.
Mr. Michelson, who died in 2007, climbed the industry ladder as a storyboard artist, eventually becoming an art director and production designer. Not wanting to stay at home, Mrs. Michelson volunteered at a studio library and became a sought-after film researcher.
Their behind-the-scenes influence on filmmakers was far-reaching. Mr. Michelson’s storyboards show sketched versions of memorable scenes, like the parting of the Red Sea in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and Anne Bancroft’s raised leg overshadowing Dustin Hoffman in THE GRADUATE. Mrs. Michelson excitedly recalls interviewing women at Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles about traditional costumes for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and questioning a drug kingpin for SCARFACE.
It’s surely one of the best HOLLYWOOD documentaries I’ve ever seen.
The point is, movie fans, scholars, historians and alike, they all assumed the great directors like Cecil B. DeMille and Alfred Hitchcock all came up with these ideas for those iconic shots in their movies themselves, specially as storyboard artists like Harold Michelson were never credited.
Although it’s usually a collaboration between director and artist, in Harold’s case with the 1956 version of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS in particular, he laid out the WHOLE movie shot by shot… And never once even met the ‘great’ producer/director.
DeMille like Hitchcock, like Walt Disney… these were men that had a genius for using other people’s genius.
So even when the great THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: MAKING MIRACLES documentary came along in 2011, no where was Harold’s name even mentioned… Again, he went uncredited.