''Deburau'' is a 1951 French

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by and starring

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follow ...

alongside

Lana Marconi Lana Marconi (born Ecaterina Ileana Marcovici; 8 September 1917 in Bucharest, Romania – 8 December 1990) was a Romanian- French actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the ...

Robert Seller Robert Seller (1889–1967) was a French stage and film actor.Crisp p.156 Also known by his surname, Seller began his film career in 1931 in Maurice de Canonge's film, ''Olive se marie''. He had parts in many films and plays by Sacha Guitry, i ...

and

Jeanne Fusier-Gir Jeanne Fusier-Gir (1885–1973) was a French stage actor, stage and film actress. She was married to the painter Charles Gir, and was the mother of the film director François Gir.Rège p. 442 Selected filmography * ''The Crime of Sylvestre Bonn ...

. It is based on Guitry's own 1918 play ''

Deburau ''Deburau'' is a 1918 French play by Sacha Guitry that also played on Broadway in a translation by Harley Granville-Barker at the Belasco Theatre in 1920–21 Mantle, BurnsThe Best Plays of 1920-21 and the Year Book of the Drama in America pp. 1 ...

'', inspired by the life of the

eighteenth century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trad ...

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

Jean-Gaspard Deburau Jean-Gaspard Deburau (born Jan Kašpar Dvořák; 31 July 1796 – 17 June 1846), sometimes erroneously called Debureau, was a Bohemian-French Mime artist, mime. He performed from 1816 to the year of his death at the Théâtre des Funambule ...

.Hayward p.462 It was shot at the

Francoeur Studios The Francoeur Studios are film production studios in Paris. In 1926 Bernard Natan's Rapid Films set up production at the location, before in 1929 it was merged with the Pathé conglomerate under Natan's overall control. In the postwar era it wa ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

René Renoux René Renoux (1904–2000) was a French art director.Buache p.162 Selected filmography * ''The Pure Truth'' (1931) * '' Topaze'' (1933) * '' Prince Jean'' (1934) * ''Speak to Me of Love'' (1935) * ''You Can't Fool Antoinette'' (1936) * '' The Bur ...

Cast

as Jean-Gaspard Deburau / Self *

as Marie Duplessis *

Michel François Joseph-Michel François was a colonel in the Haitian army. As Haiti Chief of National Police he participated in the 1991 Haitian coup d'état, which overthrew Haiti's elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Former Haitian President candidate ...

as Charles Deburau fils *

as M. Bertrand *

as Mme. Raboin *

Georges Bever Georges Bever (1884–1973) was a French film and television actor.Goble p.38 Selected filmography * '' The Crystal Submarine '' (1927) * ''The Man in Evening Clothes'' (1931) * '' When Do You Commit Suicide?'' (1931) * ''Fun in the Barracks'' ( ...

as Laurent *

Jean Danet Jean Danet (14 January 1924 – 15 October 2001) was a French actor. He appeared in 27 films between 1942 and 1983. Danet was born in Auray, Brittany, France. Following World War II, he began work in films. He founded Tréteaux de France in ...

as Armand Duval *

Claire Brilletti Clair or Claire may refer to: *Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire *Clair (surname) Places Canada * Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska * Clair Parish, New Brunswick * Pointe-Claire, Que ...

as Clara *

Henri Belly Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mont ...

as Un journaliste *

Christine Darbel Christine may refer to: People * Christine (name), a female given name Film * ''Christine'' (1958 film), based on Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei'' * ''Christine'' (1983 film), based on King's novel of the same name * ''Christine'' (1987 fi ...

as Honorine *

Jacques de Féraudy Jacques de Féraudy (1886–1971) was a French stage and film actor.Klossner p.354 He also worked as a screenwriter and directed three films during the silent era. He was the son of the actor Maurice de Féraudy. Selected filmography * '' Ti ...

as Le docteur *

Jacques Derives Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

as Laplace *

Albert Duvaleix Albert Duvaleix (1893-1962) was a French stage and film actor. Bessy & Chirat p.138 A character actor he appeared in a number of supporting roles in French comedies and drama films. His son Christian Duvaleix also became an actor. Selected filmo ...

as Robillard *

Luce Fabiole Luce may refer to: People * Luce (name), as a given name and a surname * Luce (singer) Places * Luče Luče (; sometimes ''Luče ob Savinji'', german: Leutsch) is the largest settlement and the centre of the Municipality of Luče in northe ...

as Mme. Rébard *

Françoise Fechter Françoise () is a French feminine given name (equivalent to the Italian Francesca) and may refer to: * Anne Françoise Elizabeth Lange (1772–1816), French actress * Claudine Françoise Mignot (1624–1711), French adventuress * Françoise Ad ...

as Justine *

Andrée Guize Andrée or Andree may refer to: People * Andrée (given name) * Andree (surname) Places * Andree, Minnesota, unincorporated community in Stanchfield Township, Isanti County, Minnesota * 1296 Andrée, asteroid * Andrée Land (Svalbard) * Andrée ...

as Une dame *

Yvonne Hébert Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...

as La caissière * Henry Laverne as L'aboyeur * Max Morana as Ménard

References

Bibliography

* Hayward, Susan. ''French Costume Drama of the 1950s: Fashioning Politics in Film''. Intellect Books, 2010.

External links

* 1951 films 1950s French-language films 1951 comedy films Films directed by Sacha Guitry French films based on plays Films set in the 1830s French historical comedy films 1950s historical comedy films Films set in Paris Films shot at Francoeur Studios 1950s French films {{1950s-France-film-stub