''The Oldest Profession'' (french: Le Plus Vieux Métier du monde) is a 1967 internationally co-produced

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

. It features contributions from six different film directors, each one doing a segment on

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

through the ages.

Plot

*''The Prehistoric Era'' – the cavewoman Brit is unable to attract a visiting trader until the wall painter Rak has the idea of making up her face. *''Roman Nights'' - in Ancient Rome, the emperor Flavius makes an excuse to leave the empress Domitilla and go with the poet Menippus to a brothel. There he meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who proves to be his wife. *''Mademoiselle Mimi'' - during the French Revolution, Philibert asks to visit Mimi and from her window watches an old aristocrat being guillotined, saying it was his childless uncle. Promising to pay her as soon as the lawyers have settled the estate, he disappears. *''The Gay Nineties'' – in Paris in the 1890s, Nini goes to bed with a lonely old man and, looking through his wallet once he is asleep, finds he is a partner in a major bank. Refusing to take any money, she says she is in love with him and in the end lets him marry her. *''Paris Today'' - Catherine, who has lost her driving licence, works from a car driven by her friend Nadia. When the car is impounded, they buy an ambulance instead. One night it is stopped by police, who depart when they discover that the client is a doctor. *''Anticipation'' - in the future, a man from a remote space outpost visits Earth and at the spaceport hotel is offered a prostitute for the night. He rejects the girl, Marlène, as she is ready for action but incapable of conversation. His hosts then find him another girl, Eléonore, who is full of charm and chat but reluctant to go further. He persuades her that the mouth she uses so well could have further uses.

Cast

;Prehistoric Era (directed by Franco Indovina) *

Michèle Mercier Michèle Mercier (born 1 January 1939 as Jocelyne Yvonne Renée Mercier) is a French actress. In the course of her career she has worked with leading directors like François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jacques Deray, Dino Risi, Mario Monicel ...

as Brit *

Enrico Maria Salerno Enrico Maria Salerno (September 18, 1926 – February 28, 1994) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He was also the voice of Clint Eastwood in the Italian version of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy films, and the voice of Ch ...

as Rak * Gabriele Tinti as the trader (as Gabriel Tinti) ;Roman Nights (directed by Mauro Bolognini) *

Elsa Martinelli Elsa Martinelli (born Elisa Tia; 30 January 1935 – 8 July 2017) was an Italian actress and fashion model. Life and career Born Elisa Tia in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family. In 1953, she was discovered by Roberto Capuc ...

as Domitilla *

Gastone Moschin Gastone Moschin (8 June 1929 – 4 September 2017) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Career Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto (Veneto), Moschin graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and then began hi ...

as Flavius *

Giancarlo Cobelli Giancarlo Cobelli (12 December 1929 – 16 March 2012) was an Italian actor and stage director. He was considered one of the most important directors of Italian theatre. Early life Born in Milan, Cobelli studied acting at Giorgio Strehler's P ...

as Menippus ;Mademoiselle Mimi (directed by Phillipe de Broca) *

Jeanne Moreau Jeanne Moreau (; 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017) was a French actress, singer, screenwriter, director, and socialite. She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française. Mo ...

as Mimi *

Jean-Claude Brialy Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director. Early life Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...

as Philibert * Jean Richard as Mimi's previous client *

Jacques Monod Jacques Lucien Monod (February 9, 1910 – May 31, 1976) was a French biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965, sharing it with François Jacob and André Lwoff "for their discoveries concerning genetic control of en ...

as a man in the street ;The Gay Nineties (directed by Michael Pfleghar) *

Raquel Welch Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress. She first won attention for her role in ''Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hammer ...

as Nini *

Martin Held Martin Held (1908–1992) was a German television and film actor. Partial filmography * '' Dark Eyes'' (1951) - Alexander Grabner * ''Homesick for You'' (1952) - Direktor Petermann * '' Canaris Master Spy'' (1954) - Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich ...

as Édouard *

Tilly Lauenstein Tilly Lauenstein (1916–2002) was a German film and television actress. She appeared as Gerda Hofer in the b/w tv series "Alle Meine Tiere" as wife of vetenary surgeon Dr. Karl Hofer (Gustav Knuth). Partial filmography * ''Herbstmanöver'' (1 ...

as another prostitute *

Siegfried Schürenberg Siegfried Schürenberg (12 January 1900 – 31 August 1993) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1933 and 1974. He was born in Detmold, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany in 1993, at age 93. Although he never p ...

as another banker ;Paris Today (directed by Claude Autant-Lara) *

Nadia Gray Nadia Gray (born Nadia Kujnir; 23 November 1923 – 13 June 1994) was a Romanian film actress. Biography Gray was born into a Jewish family in Bucharest. Her father moved to Romania from Russia, and her mother was from Akkerman (Bessarabia). S ...

as Nadia *

France Anglade Marie France Anglade (17 July 1942 in Constantine, Algeria, Constantine, Algeria – 28 August 2014 in La Verrière, les Yvelines, La Verrière, Île-de-France), was a French Algerian film actress. Selected filmography * 1991 : ''Toubab Bi'' ...

as Catherine *

Jacques Duby Jacques Duby (7 May 1922 – 15 February 2012) was a French stage, film and television actor. He was born in Toulouse. Jacques Duby as narrator Some of his works include '' 101 Dalmatians'' (1961), ''Pinocchio'' (1968), and ''The Jungle ...

as a cop *

Francis Blanche François Jean Blanche, known as "Francis Blanche" (20 July 1921 – 6 July 1974) was a French actor, singer, humorist and author. He was a very popular figure on stage, radio and in films, during the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Blanche was ...

as the doctor *

Marcel Dalio Marcel Dalio (born Marcel Benoit Blauschild; 23 November 1899 in Paris – 18 November 1983) was a French movie actor. He had major roles in two films directed by Jean Renoir, ''La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and ''The Rules of the Game'' (1939). ...

as the lawyer Vladimir Leskov ;Anticipation (directed by Jean-Luc Godard) *

Jacques Charrier Jacques Charrier (born 6 November 1936) is a French actor in both film and the theater, a film producer, and an artist in painting and ceramics. He was married to film actress Brigitte Bardot from 1959 to 1963. Biography In 1980 he returned to ...

as John Demetrios *

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; September 22, 1940 – December 14, 2019)

as Eléonore Roméovitch *

Marilù Tolo Marilù Tolo (born Maria Lucia Tolo; 16 January 1944) is an Italian film actress. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1960 and 1985. Life and career Born in Rome, Tolo, at a very young age, worked as an assistant of Mario Riva in the R ...

as Marlène

Production

Raquel Welch was the only American in the cast.

Release

The rights to distribute the film in the US and English-speaking Canada were purchased by Jack Harris. Harris later wrote in his memoirs he was attracted by the chance to work on "a brand new film, produced like a major Hollywood picture, featuring Raquel Welch and some of the hottest female stars in the world... It was a big disappointment as a theatrical entry. However through the years, between theatres, television and home video, it has never lost is popularity and has treated me very well." The ''Los Angeles Times'' thought the film was "ruined by some of the worst dubbing in recent memory"."'Oldest Profession' at the Music Hall" Thomas, Kevin. ''Los Angeles Times'' 29 June 1968: b7.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oldest Profession, The 1967 films West German films Italian comedy films 1960s French-language films 1967 comedy films French anthology films Films directed by Claude Autant-Lara Films directed by Mauro Bolognini Films directed by Philippe de Broca Films directed by Jean-Luc Godard Films directed by Franco Indovina Films directed by Michael Pfleghar Films produced by Horst Wendlandt Films about prostitution in France German anthology films Italian anthology films Films with screenplays by Jean Aurenche 1960s Italian films