''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' is a 1969 American

satirical film Satire is a television and film genre in the fictional or pseudo-fictional category that employs satirical techniques, be it of a political, religious, or social variety. Works using satire are often seen as controversial or taboo in nature, with ...

made by Commonwealth United Entertainment and distributed by

Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. was a short-lived American entertainment company active from 1967 until 1969. History Seven Arts Productions acquired Jack L. Warner's controlling interest in Warner Bros. Pictures for $32 million in November 19 ...

. It was directed by

Bryan Forbes Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 an ...

and produced by Ely A. Landau with Anthony B. Unger as associate producer. The screenplay was by

Edward Anhalt Edward Anhalt (March 28, 1914 – September 3, 2000) was an American screenwriter, producer, and documentary filmmaker. After working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for Pathé and CBS-TV, he teamed with his wife Edna Anhalt, one of h ...

, based on ''

The Madwoman of Chaillot ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (french: La Folle de Chaillot) is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woma ...

'',

Maurice Valency Maurice Valency (22 March 1903 – 28 September 1996) was a playwright, author, critic, and popular professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, best known for his award-winning adaptations of plays by Jean Giraudoux and Friedric ...

's adaption of ''La Folle de Chaillot'' by

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work ...

. The music score was by Michael J. Lewis and the cinematography by

Burnett Guffey Burnett Guffey, A.S.C. (May 26, 1905 – May 30, 1983) was an American cinematographer. He won two Academy Awards: ''From Here to Eternity'' (1953) and ''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967). Career While still a teenager, the future Academy Award-winn ...

and

Claude Renoir Claude Renoir (December 4, 1913Some sources, such as Ginette Vincendeau's ''Encyclopedia of European Cinema'', London: Cassell/BFI, 1995, p.328 indicate 1914 as his year of birth – September 5, 1993) was a French cinematographer. He was the ...

. It was shot at the

Victorine Studios Victorine Studios (French: Studios de la Victorine) are a film studio in the French city of Nice. They are also known as the Nice Studios. Several small studios have also existed in the city. Originally built in 1921 in an attempt to create a H ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

and on location in Paris. 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 ...

Ray Simm Ray Simm was a British art director. He was nominated three times for the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design for ''The Slipper and the Rose'', ''The Wrong Box'' and '' Darling'', for which he won. Selected filmography * ''The Faithful City' ...

. The film stars

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

with

Paul Henreid Paul Henreid (November 10, 1908 – March 29, 1992) was an Austrian-British-American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for two film roles; Victor Laszlo in ''Casablanca'' and Jerry Durrance in ''Now, Voyager'', bo ...

Oskar Homolka Oskar Homolka (August 12, 1898 – January 27, 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and America. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officials, for w ...

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in the ...

Richard Chamberlain George Richard Chamberlain (born March 31, 1934) is an American actor and singer, who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show ''Dr. Kildare'' (1961–1966). He subsequently appeared in several TV mini-series, such as ''Shōg ...

Edith Evans Dame Edith Mary Evans, (8 February 1888 – 14 October 1976) was an English actress. She was best known for her work on the stage, but also appeared in films at the beginning and towards the end of her career. Between 1964 and 1968, she was no ...

and

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...

. A musical version of the play titled ''

Dear World ''Dear World'' is a musical with a book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. With its opening, Herman became the first composer-lyricist in history to have three productions running simultaneously on Broad ...

'' with music and lyrics by

Jerry Herman Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre. One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricis ...

, and starring

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

, opened with little success on Broadway in 1969.

Plot

The story is of a modern society endangered by power and greed and the rebellion of the "little people" against corrupt and soulless authority. A group of four prominent men – The General (Paul Henreid), The Commissar (Oskar Homolka), The Chairman (Yul Brynner) and The Prospector (Donald Pleasence) – discuss how they can increase their fortunes. The Prospector tells them that there is oil in the middle of Paris and they resolve to acquire the rights with or without the consent of the people of Paris. Countess Aurelia (Katharine Hepburn), the "madwoman" of the title, learns of this plan to drill for oil under the very streets of her district from Roderick (Richard Chamberlain) – an activist – and The Ragpicker (Danny Kaye). She enlists the help of her friends, a motley crew of "little people" who include, Constance (Margaret Leighton) and Gabrielle (Giulietta Masina). A trial takes place in the Countess's cellar presided over by Aurelia's friend Josephine (Edith Evans) as judge and the Ragpicker as the lawyer for the defense.

Cast

– Countess Aurelia, the Madwoman of Chaillot *

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

– The Broker * Claude Dauphin – Dr. Jadin *

Margaret Leighton Margaret Leighton, CBE (26 February 1922 – 13 January 1976) was an English actress, active on stage and television, and in film. Her film appearances included (her first credited debut feature) in Anatole de Grunwald's ''The Winslow Boy'' (1 ...

– Constance *

– Josephine *

John Gavin John A. Gavin (born Juan Vincent Apablasa; April 8, 1931 – February 9, 2018) was an American actor who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–73), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–86). Among the films he appeared ...

– The Reverend *

Giulietta Masina Giulia Anna "Giulietta" Masina (22 February 1921 – 23 March 1994) was an Italian film actress best known for her performances as Gelsomina in ''La Strada'' (1954) and Cabiria in ''Nights of Cabiria'' (1957), for which she won the Cannes Film F ...

– Gabrielle *

– The General *

– The Commissar *

Nanette Newman Nanette Newman (born 29 May 1934) is an English actress and author. She appeared in nine films directed by her husband Bryan Forbes, including ''Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' (1964), ''The Whisperers'' (1967), '' Deadfall'' (1968), ''The Stepfor ...

– Irma *

– Roderick *

– The Chairman *

– The Prospector *

Danny Kaye Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...

– The Ragpicker *

Fernand Gravey Fernand Gravey (25 December 1905 in Ixelles (Belgium) – 2 November 1970 in Paris, France),Death certificate # 8/445/1970 also known as Fernand Gravet in the United States, was the son of actors Georges Mertens and Fernande Depernay, who ap ...

– Police sergeant *

Gordon Heath Gordon Heath (September 20, 1918 – August 27, 1991) was an American actor and musician who narrated the animated feature film ''Animal Farm'' (1954) and appeared in the title role of ''The Emperor Jones'' (1953) and ''Othello'' (1955), both l ...

– The Folksinger *

Gerald Sim Gerald Grant Sim (4 June 1925 – 11 December 2014) was an English television and film actor who is perhaps best known for having played the Rector in ''To the Manor Born''. Career Sim was born in Liverpool, Lancashire and made over a hundred ...

– Julius *

Gilles Ségal Gilles Ségal (13 January 1929 – 11 June 2014) was a French actor, mime, and playwright. He performed on stage with Marcel Marceau, and in more than sixty films since 1954. He was born in Fălticeni, Romania. Among his most notable roles is that ...

– Deaf Mute

Release

The film had its premiere at The Plaza in New York City on Sunday, October 12, 1969.

Critical reception

In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

wrote "Forbes, who persists in making conventional films of unconventional properties (" Whistle Down The Wind", "

The Wrong Box ''The Wrong Box'' is a 1966 British comedy film produced and directed by Bryan Forbes from a screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, based on the 1889 novel '' The Wrong Box'' by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne. It was made by ...

") moves his cameras around quite a lot, but there is really little he can do to hide the fact that "The Madwoman of Chaillot" is—as it was 20 years ago—an incredibly precious theatrical conceit, just the sort of thing somebody might think would make a great Broadway musical comedy. As we all know, it didn't."

References

External links