Léo Daniderff (Gaston-Ferdinand Niquet; 16 February 1878 in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

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 ...

– 24 October 1943 in

Rosny-sous-Bois Rosny-sous-Bois () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is the seat of the national centre of road information of the national gendarmerie. Population Heraldry Transport Rosny ...

, France) was a French composer of the pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

era. His 1917 comical song, a

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

shimmy A shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are quickly alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. History In 1917, a dance-song titled "Shim-Me-Sha ...

named "''Je cherche après Titine''" (lyrics by Louis Mauban and Marcel Bertal), became world-famous due to

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

's singing it in

gibberish Gibberish, also called jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense. It may include speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, or language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsider ...

in '' Modern Times'' (1936), especially because it was the first time his character ever spoke in the movies and Chaplin did not want The Tramp to use any particular language. The title means "I am looking for Titine", and Titine is the diminutive of some feminine first names such as Martine and Clémentine. In the United States this song appeared in 1925 in the Broadway musical ''Puzzles of 1925'', and was recorded by tenor Billy Jones.Information about a recording of Billy Hare singing "Titina", at the UCSB Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project.
/ref> In Poland, the song was initially sung as a

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

number by

Eugeniusz Bodo Eugeniusz Bodo (born Bohdan Eugène Junod; 28 December 1899 7 October 1943) was a film director, producer, and one of the most popular Polish actors and comedians of the interwar period. He starred in some of the most popular Polish film produc ...

with original lyrics by

Andrzej Włast Andrzej Włast (aka Gustaw Baumritter) (17 March 1885 – 1942 or 1943) was a Polish Jewish songwriter. He wrote the lyrics for the 1929 hit song "Tango Milonga" / "Oh, Donna Clara". He died in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Biography W� ...

(signing as "Willy" on the music sheet), to a major success. A few years later, in 1939, the song was adapted again, into the "''Wąsik, ach ten wąsik''" ("Oh, what a moustache!") number and performed by

Ludwik Sempoliński Ludwik Sempoliński (18 August 1899 – 17 April 1981) was a Polish film actor. He appeared in twenty films between 1935 and 1966. Selected filmography * '' Jaśnie pan szofer'' (1935) * '' Barbara Radziwiłłówna'' (1936) * '' Róża'' ( ...

. This time the lyrics tried to "decide" who was funnier and who brought more to the world, Chaplin or

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

. After the outbreak of the Second World War, the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

tried to locate both Sempoliński and the lyricist, who was either

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied la ...

Marian Hemar Marian Hemar (1901–1972), born Marian Hescheles (other pen names: Jan Mariański, and Marian Wallenrod), was a Polish poet, journalist, playwright, comedy writer, and songwriter. Hemar himself stated that before the outbreak of World War II he ...

, but failed to find either. Around 1964,

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...

also wrote a song named ''Titine'', incorporating fragments of the melody and referencing both Daniderff's song and Chaplin. Other singers were Georgette Plana and

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (), better known as Yves Montand (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), was an Italian-French actor and singer. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer, Ivo held strong ...

. The song's copyright belongs or belonged to Editions Léon Agel and Les Nouvelles Editions Méridian. Daniderff's other hit song, "Sur la Riviera", was used as the theme for

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

's film ''

Boudu Saved from Drowning ''Boudu Saved from Drowning'' (french: Boudu sauvé des eaux, "Boudu saved from the waters") is a 1932 French social satire comedy of manners film directed by Jean Renoir. Renoir wrote the film's screenplay, from the 1919 play by René Fauchoi ...

'' (1932). The song was parodied by Gary Muller in 1982 as " My Name Is Not Merv Griffin".

References

External links

* *
Source for birth/death dates (French)
People from Angers 1878 births 1943 deaths French film score composers French operetta composers {{France-composer-stub