''Farewell Mister Grock'' (French: ''Au revoir M. Grock'', German: ''Manege frei'') is a 1950 French-West German

comedy drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by Pierre Billon and starring

Grock Grock (born Charles Adrien Wettach; 10 January 1880 – 14 July 1959) was a Swiss clown, composer, and musician. Called “the king of clowns”Pat CashinGrockClown Alley (blog). (August 24, 2006). Retrieved April 22, 2011 and “the greatest ...

Suzy Prim Suzy Prim (11 October 1896 – 7 July 1991) was a French actress. She was born Suzanne Mariette Arduini in Paris and died in 1991 in Boulogne-Billancourt. She began her screen career as a child actress during the silent era. Selected fil ...

and

Charles Lemontier Charles Lemontier (1894–1965) was a French film actor.Aping p.76 Selected filmography * ''Street Without a Name'' (1934) * ''Judex'' (1934) * ''Crime and Punishment'' (1935) * '' Rigolboche'' (1936) * '' You Can't Fool Antoinette'' (1936) * '' ...

. It is in the tradition of circus films. 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 ...

and on location at the

Cirque Medrano The Cirque Medrano (in English: Circus Medrano) is a French circus that was located at 63 Boulevard de Rochechouart, at the corner of rue des Martyrs, in the 18th arrondissement at the edge of Montmartre in Paris. It was originally called Cirque ...

and the

Théâtre Pigalle The Théâtre Pigalle was a theatre in Paris, located in the rue Pigalle in the ninth ''arrondissement''. History Opened on June 20, 1929, financed by Philippe de Rothschild on the estate of his father Henri de Rothschild, the Rothschilds' amb ...

in the city as well as around

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

on the Swiss-German border. 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 ...

Max Mellin Max Mellin (1904–1977) was a German art director.Jacobsen & Prinzler p.275 Selected filmography * ''Happy Days in Aranjuez'' (1933) * ''The Girlfriend of a Big Man'' (1934) * '' Playing with Fire'' (1934) * '' Marriage Strike'' (1935) * ''Fresh ...

and

Serge Piménoff Serge Piménoff (1895–1960) was a Russian-born French art director. He designed the sets for the 1958 film ''Les Misérables''.Hayward p.232 Selected filmography * '' Nights of Princes'' (1930) * '' The Unknown Singer'' (1931) * '' Sailor's Song ...

. It is also known by the alternative title ''Clear the Ring''.Cullen, Hackman, & McNeilly p.463

Synopsis

The film serves a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

of the career of the

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

Adrien Wettach, known by his stage name of Grock, who plays himself against the backdrop of the wars and upheavals of the

twentieth century The 20th (twentieth) century began on January 1, 1901 ( MCMI), and ended on December 31, 2000 ( MM). The 20th century was dominated by significant events that defined the modern era: Spanish flu pandemic, World War I and World War II, nuclear ...

. His interactions with the admiring

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...

Barinoff are also portrayed.

Cast

as Adrien Wettach, alias Grock *

as Countess Barinoff *

as Mr Durand *

Héléna Manson Elena Eugenia Manson (18 August 1898 – 15 September 1994) was a French film actress. She appeared in more than 100 films between 1925 and 1989. Selected filmography * ''La vocation d'André Carel'' (1925) – L'amoureuse de Cardan * ''Th ...

as Aunt Pauline *

Maurice Regamey Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor * Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and L ...

as Bourquaint *

Nadine Rousseau Nadine may refer to: People * Nadine (given name) * Nadine, Countess of Shrewsbury (1913–2003), English opera soprano Film and TV * ''Nadine'' (1987 film), a 1987 film with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger * , a 2007 Dutch film with Monic Hendri ...

as Miss Wettach *

Georges Chamarat Georges Chamarat (30 March 1901 – 21 November 1982) was a French actor. He appeared in more than 100 films and television shows between 1929 and 1981. He starred in the film ''The Adventures of Arsène Lupin'', which was entered into the 7 ...

as Le pere Wattach *

Marcel Pérès Marcel Pérès (born 15 July 1956, Oran, Algeria) is a French musicologist, composer, choral director and singer, and the founder of the early music group Ensemble Organum. He is an authority on Gregorian and pre-Gregorian chant. Pérès was ...

as Fracassa *

Monique Marquenet Monique is a female given name. It is the French form of the name Monica. The name has enjoyed some popularity in the United States since about 1955, and is less common in other English-speaking countries except for Canada although mostly used ...

as Adélaïde *

Made Siamé Made Siamé (1885–1974) was a French stage and film actress.Goble p.229 Selected filmography * ''Youth'' (1933) * '' The House on the Dune'' (1934) * ''The Mysteries of Paris'' (1935) * '' The Secret of Polichinelle'' (1936) * ''The Alibi'' (19 ...

as a waitress *

Louis de Funès Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in fil ...

as a spectator *

Alexandre Mihalesco Alexandre Mihalesco (; born Alexandru Mihăilescu, ; 19 October 1883 – 28 December 1974) was a Romanian film actor who largely appeared in French productions.Goble p.2 Selected filmography * ''The Independence of Romania'' (1912) * ''On the W ...

as Le clown Auguste * Ted Rémy as Adrien * Henry Cassidy as Self * Peter Graham as Lord Peter * Axel Scholtz as Kurt Heller * Jean-Jacques Domenge as Jeannot * Paul Oettly as Wittzec * Philipp Gruß as Roberto Wittez / Wetzel * Camille Gari as Roberta * Alfonso Bovino as Italian child

References

Bibliography

* Ainsworth, Adam, Double, Oliver & Peacock, Louise. ''Popular Performance''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017. * Cullen, Frank, Hackman, Florence & McNeilly, Donald. ''Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America''. Psychology Press, 2007.

External links

*
Au revoir M. Grock (1950)
at the Films de France 1950 films 1950 comedy-drama films French comedy-drama films West German films 1950s French-language films French black-and-white films Films directed by Pierre Billon Circus films 1950s French films Films shot at Francoeur Studios Films shot in Paris {{1950s-France-film-stub