Pagnol, Marcel

(February 1895, Aubagne, Bouches-du-Rhône, France - April 18, 1974, Paris, France)

   The son of a teacher father, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in literature in 1916. From 1915 to 1920, he taught English in various high schools. Then he went to Paris and began writing novels and plays. His first stage work, Tonton ou Joseph veut rester pur, co-authored under the pseudonym of Castro with Paul Nivoix and Louis Raine, was created in Marseille in 1923. Harry Baur performed in his first solo play, Jazz, in 1926. The huge success of Topaze (1928) and Marius (1929) led him to the film studio. His books and plays became films (1931 Marius, also screenwriter, dialogist, producer, Alexander Korda; Lângtan till havet, Swedish-language version of Marius, John W. Brunius; Zum Goldenanker, German-language version of Marius, Alexander Korda; 1932 Direct au Coeur, co-author of the original play, also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, Roger Lion, Arnaudy; Fanny, also screenwriter, dialogist, supervisor, Marc Allégret; Fanny, Ital­ian-language version, Mario Almirante; 1933 Topaze, Louis Gasnier; Topaze, English-language version, Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast; Yacout Effendi, Egyptian version of Topaze, Nagib-El-Rihani; 1934 Der schwarze Walfisch, German-language version of Fanny, Dr. Fritz Wend-hausen; 1938 Port of Seven Seas, inspired by Marius, Fanny and César, James Whale, USA; 1961 Mr. Topaze / USA: I Like Money, Peter Sellers, USA; 1961 Fanny, Joshua Logan, USA; 1986 Jean de Florette, Claude Berri, France / Italy; Manon des Sources / Manon delle sorgenti / USA: Manon of the Spring, Claude Berri, France / Italy; 1990 La Gloire de mon Père / USA: My Father's Glory, Yves Robert; Le Château de ma Mère / USA: My Mother's Castle, Yves Robert; 1993 Bukfenc, Robert Pajer, Hungary; 1999 Le Schpountz, Gérard Oury) and TV movies (1957 Das grosse ABC, Rainer Wolffhardt, West Germany; Playhouse 90, episode "Topaze", Vincent J. Donehue; 1958 Die Frau des Fo-tografen oder Die grosse Liebe, Imo Moszkowicz, West Germany; 1959 Fanny, Mita Bergé, Jos Mahu, Belgium; 1960 Topaze, TV miniseries, Edgardo Borda, Ernest Mas, Argentina; 1963 Topaze, Jan Molander, Sweden; 1965 Merlusse, Georges Folgoas; 1967 Die Frau des Fotografen oder Die grosse Liebe, Thomas Engel, West Germany; Der Schpuntz, Gunther Fleckenstein, West Germany; 1971 Fabijen, Vanka Kljakovic, Yugoslavia; 1975 Cigalon, Georges Folgoas; 1978 Pagnol / De Mar-seillaanse Trilogie, 7 X 50', Willy van Hemert, Nether­lands; 1984 Zinsen des Ruhms, Kurt Meisel, West Germany; 1988 Topaze, TV miniseries, Artur Ramos, Portugal; 1998 Les Marchands de Gloire, Georges Fol-goas; 1999 La Femme du Boulanger, Nicolas Ribowski; 2000 La Trilogie marseillaise: Marius, Nicolas Ribowski; La Trilogie marseillaise: Fanny; La Trilogie marseillaise: Cé­sar, Nicolas Ribowski; 2001 Der goldene Anker, Helm Bindseil, Germany; 2002 Notes sur le Rire, Daniel Losset; 2007 Le Temps des Secrets, Thierry Chabert; Le Temps des Amours, Thierry Chabert). A film director since 1934, he created a production company, Les Films Marcel Pagnol, in 1931 and his studios in 1938. Besides his own work, he produced movies directed by Jean Renoir (1934 Toni), Jean Dréville (1939 Le Président Haudecoeur), André Berthomieu (1942 La Croisée des Chemins), and Hervé Bromberger (1951 Seul dans Paris). He appeared as himself in a short (1949 Vedettes en Liberté, JacquesGuillon) and in TV documentaries (1966 Cinéastes de notre Temps, episode "Marcel Pagnol ou Le Cinéma tel qu'on le parle", André S. Labarthe; 1974 Histoire du Cinéma français par ceux qui l'ont fait, Armand Panigel). He wrote four autobiographical novels (1957 La Gloire de mon Père (Souvenirs d'Enfance I), Pastorelly, Monte-Carlo; Le Château de ma Mère (Souvenirs d'Enfance 2), Pastorelly, Monte-Carlo; 1959 Le Temps des Secrets, Pastorelly, Monte-Carlo; 1977 Le Temps des Amours, Julliard). He was the companion of performers Orane Demazis (1894-1991) and Josette Day (1914-1978) and married actress Jacqueline Bouvier (b. 1920) in 1944. Other credits (as screenwriter, adapter, dialogist): 1933 L'Agonie des Aigles / USA: The Death Agony of the Eagles (Roger Richebé); 1934 Tartarin de Tarascon (Raymond Bernard); 1939 Monsieur Brotonneau (also producer, Alexandre Esway); 1943 Arlette et l'Amour (also supervisor, Robert Vernay); 1945 Nais (also su­pervisor, producer, Raymond Leboursier); 1950 Le Ro­sier de Madame Husson / USA: The Prize, Jean Boyer); 1953 Carnaval (Henri Verneuil).

 Filmography

1934 ◘ Le Gendre de Monsieur Poirier (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)

        ◘ Jofroi (medium-length; also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ L'Article 330 (medium-length; also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)

        ◘ Angèle / UK and USA: Angele (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

1935 ◘ Merlusse (also screenwriter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ Cigalon (also screenwriter, dialogist, producer)

1936 ◘ Topaze (also author of original play, screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ César (also author of original play, screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ Regain / USA: Harvest (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ Le Schpountz / UK and USA: Heartbeat (also screenwriter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ La Femme du Boulanger / USA: The Baker's Wife (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ La Fille du Puisatier / USA: The Well-Digger's Daughter (also screenwriter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ La Prière aux Etoiles (also screenwriter, dialogist; unfinished)

1945 ◘ Nais (co-director with Raymond Lebours-ier; also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

1948 ◘ La Belle Meunière (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

1951 ◘ Topaze (also author of original play, screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ Manon des Sources / UK and USA: Manon of the Spring (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

        ◘ Les Lettres de mon Moulin / USA: Letters from My Windmill (three segments: "L'Elixir du Père Gaucher", "Les Trois Messes basses", "Le Se­cret de Maître Cornille"; also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer)

 Television Filmography

1967 ◘ Le Curé de Cucugnan