Zaza (1938)

A sexy singer in a French music hall falls in love with a handsome, but married, aristocrat.

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Zoe Akins (screenplay), Pierre Berton (play),

Stars:

Claudette Colbert, Herbert Marshall, Bert Lahr

Cast

Cast overview:
Claudette Colbert	...	Zaza
Herbert Marshall	...	Dufresne
Bert Lahr	...	Cascart
Helen Westley	...	Anais
Constance Collier	...	Nathalie
Genevieve Tobin	...	Florianne
Walter Catlett	...	Marlardot
Ann E. Todd	...	Toto (as Ann Todd)
Rex O'Malley	...	Bussy
Ernest Cossart	...	Marchand
Janet Waldo	...	Simone
Dorothy Tree	...	Mme. Dufresne
Monty Woolley	...	Fouget
Maurice Murphy	...	Henri
Frank Puglia	...	Rug Dealer

Storyline

A sexy singer in a French music hall falls in love with a handsome, but married, aristocrat.

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Plot Keywords:

singer | paris france | based on play | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zaza, Can-Can-tyttö

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The jewels worn by Bert Lahr in the film were originally owned by Diamond Jim Brady and were loaned to Paramount by jewelry designer 'Paul Flato', who had bought them at auction a few years earlier.

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Connections

Version of Zaza (1956)

User Reviews

Cukor's theater world

Director Cukor had a background in theater, and this is one of his films that allude to it (others include A Double Life, A Star is Born, Les Girls, and Heller in Pink Tights). He nicely evokes the camaraderie of a small group of travelling vaudevillians in 1890's France, and much of the action takes place backstage. Bert Lahr makes one of his few film appearances as Zaza's performing partner and conveys a gentle melancholy--possibly because his character is meant to be seen as gay and closeted or because he is hopelessly in love with Zaza. It's a little ambiguous, due perhaps to the Production Code. There's a wonderful and quite sensuous scene in which he casually plays piano and starts to sing a song that could be used by Zaza in the act and that she then starts to sing, first as she lounges on a bed in the next room. She is almost Dietrich-like, which is apt, as the song is by Frederick Hollander, who wrote so many of that diva's classics, including "Falling in Love Again."

It's a little hard to fathom Zaza's devotion to the character played by Herbert Marshall, and the film definitely shows its origins as a play, but it's worth taking a look at.