''French Cancan'' (also known as ''Only the French Can'') is a 1955 French-Italian

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

written and directed by

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. ...

and starring

Jean Gabin Jean Gabin (; 17 May 190415 November 1976) was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films including ''Pépé le Moko'' (1937), ''La grande illusion'' (1937), ''Le Quai des brumes'' ( ...

and Francoise Arnoul. Where Renoir's previous film ''Le Carosse d’or'' had celebrated the 18th-century Italian

commedia dell’arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

, this work is a homage to the Parisian café-concert of the 19th century with its popular singers and dancers. Visually, the film evokes the paintings of

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...

and the

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

, including his own father,

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...

. It also marked his return to France and to French cinema after an exile that began in 1940. It was shot at the

Joinville Studios The Joinville Studios were a film studio in Paris which operated between 1910 and 1987. They were one of the leading French studios, with major companies such as Pathé and Gaumont making films there. A second studio was added to the original ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. 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 ...

Max Douy Max Douy (June 20, 1913 – July 2, 2007) was a French art director.Hayward p.245 Selected filmography * '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) * '' There's No Tomorrow'' (1939) * ''The Trump Card'' (1942) * ''Goodbye Leonard'' (1943) * '' Paris Frill ...

Plot

In Paris in the 1890s, Henri Danglard owns a night club where the star turn is a belly dance by his mistress Lola. Going after the show one night to an old-fashioned dance hall in Montmartre, he sees people doing the cancan together and is struck by the suppleness and charm of a young laundry girl called Nini. He persuades her to take dancing lessons for a new venture he is planning. As his club has failed and Lola has left him, his idea is to open another place with a troupe of glamorous girls performing the cancan. Naming it the Moulin Rouge, its opening night is a thunderous success.

Cast

as Henri Danglard *

Françoise Arnoul Françoise Arnoul (born Françoise Annette Marie Mathilde Gautsch; 3 June 1931 – 20 July 2021) was a French actress, who achieved popularity during the 1950s. Early life Born in Constantine, French Algeria, as the daughter of stage ac ...

as Nini *

María Félix María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (; 8 April 1914 – 8 April 2002) was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s an ...

as Lola *

Anna Amendola Anna Amendola (December 23, 1931 - August 31, 2019) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than ten films from 1952 to 1958. Amendola died on August 31, 2019, in Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC ...

as Esther Georges *

Jean-Roger Caussimon Jean-Roger Caussimon (24 July 1918 – 19 October 1985) was a French singer-songwriter and film actor. He appeared in 90 films between 1945 and 1985 but is better known for having worked with poet-singer Léo Ferré. Discography Studio albu ...

as Baron Walter *

Dora Doll Dora Doll (born Dorothea Hermina Feinberg; 19 May 1922 – 15 November 2015) was a French actress. Career One of her first screen appearances was as Juliette in Henri-Georges Clouzot's ''Manon'' (1949). She appeared as Lola in Jacques Becker's ...

as La Génisse *

Giani Esposito Giani Esposito (23 August 1930 – 1 January 1974) was a FrenchDeath certificate n° 7/1974 oGiani Esposito on French site Les Gens du Cinéma/ref> film actor and singer-songwriter. Esposito was born from the union of a French mother with an It ...

as Prince Alexandre *

Gaston Gabaroche Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) *Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) *Gaston I ...

as Oscar, le pianiste *

Jacques Jouanneau Jacques Jouanneau (3 October 1926 – 19 July 2011) was a French actor. He was born in Angers, France. Biography Filmography *1953: '' Capitaine Pantoufle'' - Le barman du Goéland (uncredited) *1954: ''Les Intrigantes'' - Le Reporter (u ...

as Bidon *

Jean Parédès Jean Parédès (1914–1998) was a French film actor.Hayward p.145 Selected filmography * ''Three from St Cyr'' (1939) - Bréval * ''The Fatted Calf'' (1939) - Albert - le garçon de café * ''La Charrette fantôme'' (1939) - Un salutiste (uncre ...

as Coudrier *

Franco Pastorino Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

as Paulo, le boulanger *

Michèle Philippe Michèle Philippe (17 January 1926 – 23 September 1972) was a French actress. She appeared in more than twenty films from 1945 to 1959. Selected filmography References External links * 1926 births 1972 deaths French film actresse ...

as Eleonore *

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

as Le Capitaine Valorgueil *

Albert Rémy Albert Rémy (9 April 1921 – 26 January 1967) was a French actor best known for his supporting roles in François Truffaut's first two feature films. He played Antoine Doinel's father in ''The 400 Blows'' and Charlie Koller's (Charles Aznavour ...

as Barjolin *

Philippe Clay Philippe Clay (7 March 1927 – 13 December 2007), born Philippe Mathevet, was a French mime artist, singer and actor. He was known for his tall and slim silhouette (he was 1.90 m tall) and for his interpretations of songs by Charles Aznavour, ...

as Casimir le Serpentin *

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pia ...

Eugénie Buffet Eugénie Buffet (1866–1934) was a French singer who rose to fame in France just prior to World War I. She has been called one of the first,Frith, Simon (2004). ''Chanteuse in the city: the realist singer in French film'', Routledge. pp. 219– ...

Pierre Olaf Pierre Olaf (14 July 1928 – 16 September 1995) was a French actor, cabaret artist, and clown. He first achieved success as a stage actor in Paris in the musical revues of Robert Dhéry. He achieved particular acclaim in Dhéry's ''Jupon Volé'' ( ...

as Roberto, pierrot siffleur

Critical reception

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...

reviewed the film in ''Arts'' magazine in May 1955 and called it a milestone in the history of colour of cinema. "Every scene is a cartoon in movement Madame Guibole's dance class reminds us of a

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...

sketch." Whilst Truffaut did not consider it as important a film as ''

Rules of the Game ''The Rules of the Game'' (original French title: ''La règle du jeu'') is a 1939 French Satire, satirical comedy-drama film directed by Jean Renoir. The ensemble cast includes Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Marcel Dalio, Julien ...

'' or '' The Golden Coach'', he nevertheless praised it as an example of Renoir "as vigorous and youthful as ever." This affirmative response was not shared by Bernard Chardère however, writing in '' Positif'', who criticised the music, the sets, even the final cancan scene. "The phoniness of the

rue Lepic Rue Lepic is an ancient road in the commune of Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, climbing the hill of Montmartre from the boulevard de Clichy to the place Jean-Baptiste-Clément It is an ancient road resulting of rectification an ...

, with its vegetable carts and piles of artificial stones is painful to look at. The actors act. The audience gets bored. The dance rehearsals are Degas all right, but the kind that appears on Post Office calendars." The film received the Grand Prix de l'Academie du Cinéma in 1956.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

added ''French Cancan'' to his "Great Movies" list in 2012.Roger Ebert
French Cancan
May 31, 2012

References

External links

* *
''French Cancan''
an essay by

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...

at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

{{Authority control 1950s musical comedy-drama films 1950s historical comedy films 1955 films María Félix Films directed by Jean Renoir Films set in the 1880s Films set in the 1890s Films set in Paris Films set in cabarets French musical comedy-drama films French historical comedy films Italian historical comedy films Films shot at Joinville Studios Italian historical musical films Italian musical comedy-drama films 1950s Italian films 1950s French films