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1-6 of 6
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Phil Foster was born on 29 March 1913 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Laverne & Shirley (1976), Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and Brooklyn Goes South (1952). He died on 8 July 1985 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA.- Victor Rendina was born on 28 December 1916 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Godfather (1972), T.J. Hooker (1982) and The Man Who Wasn't There (1983). He died on 8 July 1985 in Orange, California, USA.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
For many decades, no French director was held in greater contempt than Jean-Paul Le Chanois (1909-1985). He was the perfect target of criticism by the New Wave filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s. However, unlike other targets of the Young Turks, Chanois was never restored to favor. Nevertheless, a small number of his films deserve recognition.
A member of the Communist Party and a union man, Chanois collaborated (as Jean-Paul Dreyfus, his real name) with famed director Jean Renoir and others on "La vie est à nous" (1936). A propaganda film for the French Communist Party, "La vie est à nous" has not aged well and failed to capture the Front Populaire zeitgeist like Duvivier's "La Belle Equipe" did.
Chanois' next film "The Time of the Cherries" (1938) borrowed its title from the eponymous revolutionary song of the Paris Commune and was an overtly socialist movie: It told the story of two families, a wealthy one and a working-class one, but a muddled screenplay undermined its overall quality.
After serving as a resistance fighter during World War II, Chanois resumed his film career in 1946 with "Messieurs Ludovic" which featured endearing characters and an overt populism which reflected his deep political convictions. Next came "Au Coeur De L'Orage" (1948), a patriotic documentary about the French Resistance which compared favorably to René Clément's "La Bataille Du Rail." At the time, the French public tolerated only heroic depictions of France's wartime events. It would take Marcel Ophüls' "The Sorrow and the Pity" (1971) to show the dark side of the mirror. But, as a resistance fighter himself, Chanois knew what he was talking about, and the sincerity of his documentary cannot be called into question.
Then came arguably Chanois' finest work: "L'Ecole Buissonnière" (1949), based on the life of teacher Celestin Freinet. In the film, a war hero becomes a teacher in a small village. He rejects the old methods of instruction: Gone is the iron discipline; gone is the lesson you learned by heart even if you did not understand a single word of it; gone is the dunce shamefully hidden in the back of the classroom. Although tarnished by its association with Chanois' later works, the film is one of the best postwar movies and is still relevant today.
"Sans Laisser D'Adresse" and "Agence Matrimoniale" resumed Chanois' populist theme and added a heartfelt humanism. In these films, all his directorial trademarks were in evidence; in particular, his sympathy for lonely people and for the character who must face a hostile world.
At the time, Chanois' career was progressing in a good direction, but it didn't seem that way after both "Papa, Mama, the Maid and I" and "Papa, Mama, My Wife and Me." The films gave a false picture of the average French family of the nineteen-fifties - a biology teacher, a former actress, and a lawyer aren't exactly typical representations of working people.
Chanois' later film "Les Miserables" (1958) is perhaps his most well-known work. Although a massive hit in France and the second most widely seen film of 1958, contemporary critics vocally preferred Raymond Bernard's classic 1930s version. They deemed Chanois' film to be a disappointing adaptation of Victor Hugo's mammoth novel; various members of the French press ridiculed the casting of singer Bourvil as Thénardier.
Chanois' other filmography is unremarkable except for "The Fugitives" (1955). The film's action occurs in a train boxcar. The screenplay was based on a true story with one of the actors portraying himself during the war. Another notable film is "The Case of Dr. Laurent," a heartfelt plea for painless childbirth.- Peggy Campbell was born on 11 August 1912 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was an actress, known for When a Man Sees Red (1934), Big Calibre (1935) and Stone of Silver Creek (1935). She died on 8 July 1985 in San Francisco, California, USA.
- Peggy Ross was born on 11 August 1912 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was an actress, known for Splendid Fellows (1934) and Business and Pleasure (1932). She died on 8 July 1985 in San Francisco, California, USA.
- Frank Hampson was born on 21 December 1918 in Audenshaw, Tameside, Greater Manchester, UK. Frank was a writer, known for Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future (1986), Dan Dare III: The Escape (1990) and Dan Dare 2: Mekon's Revenge (1988). Frank was married to Dorothy Mabel Jackson. Frank died on 8 July 1985 in Epsom, Surrey, England, UK.