' is a 1967

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

novel written by

Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, ''The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ( ...

that was turned into the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

The Story of a Three-Day Pass ''The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' (French title: ') is a 1967 film written and directed by Melvin Van Peebles, based on his French-language novel '. It stars Harry Baird as a black American soldier who is demoted for fraternizing with a white sho ...

'' (1967).

History

By the late 1950s, Van Peebles had been involved in

filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

and had made two

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s. He was unable to establish himself as a

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

because the concept of a

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

director was unheard of in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at that time. Consequently, he went to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, learned the language, and wrote ' in French. Learning he could adapt one of his novels into film with a $60,000 grant from the French Cinema Center, so long as his film was "artistically valuable, but not necessarily commercially viable," he sought a

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. Once partnered with the (OPERA), a collective consisting of Michel Zemer, Guy Pefond and Christian Shivat, he shot ' in 36 days for a cost of $200,000, finally releasing the picture under the title ''

'' (1968). 1967 American novels French-language novels Novels by Melvin Van Peebles American novels adapted into films {{1960s-novel-stub