Fan-Fan the Tulip (1952) Fanfan la Tulipe (original title)

Director:

Christian-Jaque

Writers:

René Wheeler (original scenario) &
René Fallet (original scenario) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 May 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance | War

Plot:

Fanfan is a young handsome peasant. He joins the army to escape marriage and because a gipsy girl predicted...

Plot Keywords:

Army | Escape | King | Death Sentence | Gypsy

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Gérard Philipe	...	Fanfan La Tulipe (as Gérard Philipe du Théatre National Populaire)
Gina Lollobrigida	...	Adeline La Franchise
Marcel Herrand	...	Louis XV
Olivier Hussenot	...	Tranche-Montagne
Henri Rollan	...	Le maréchal d'Estrée (as Henri Rollan de la Comédie Française)
Nerio Bernardi	...	La Franchise
Jean-Marc Tennberg	...	Monsieur Lebel (as Jean Marc Tennberg)
Geneviève Page	...	La marquise de Pompadour
Sylvie Pelayo	...	Henriette de France
Lolita De Silva	...	La dame d'honneur (as Lolita de Silva)
Irène Young	...	Marion
Georgette Anys	...	Madame Tranche-Montagne
Hennery	...	Guillot
Lucien Callamand	...	Le maréchal de Brandebourg
Gil Delamare	...	Un soldat
Jackie Blanchot	...	Un soldat
Joé Davray	...	Un soldat (as Joe Davray)
Gérard Buhr	...	Un soldat
Georges Demas
Jean Parédès	...	Le capitaine de la Houlette
Noël Roquevert	...	La maréchal des logis Fier-à-Bras
Jean Debucourt	...	La voix de l'historien (voice) (as Jean Debucourt de la Comédie Française)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry-Max	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Guy Henry	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Hiram Sherman	...	Narrator (English version) (uncredited)
Françoise Spira	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)
Paul Violette	...	Petit rôle (uncredited)

Directed by
Christian-Jaque

Writing credits
René Wheeler		(original scenario) &
René Fallet		(original scenario)
Christian-Jaque		(adaptation) &
Henri Jeanson		(adaptation) &
René Wheeler		(adaptation)
Henri Jeanson		(dialogue)

Produced by
Francis Cosne	....	executive producer
Georges Dancigers	....	executive producer
Alexandre Mnouchkine	....	producer

Original Music by
Maurice Thiriet
Georges Van Parys

Cinematography by
Christian Matras

Film Editing by
Jacques Desagneaux

Production Design by
Robert Gys

Set Decoration by
Pierre Charron
Georges Kougoucheff

Costume Design by
Marcel Escoffier

Makeup Department
Carmen Brel	....	makeup artist
Jean Lalaurette	....	wig maker

Production Management
Maurice Hartwig	....	unit manager
Francis Cosne	....	production manager (uncredited)
Alexandre Mnouchkine	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Raymond Villette	....	assistant director

Art Department
Pierre Barbet	....	property master
Henri Berger	....	property master
Jacques Chalvet	....	assistant set decorator
Claude Foucher	....	assistant set decorator
Italo Tomassi	....	construction department head: scenic artists (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jacques Carrère	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lucien Lacharmoise	....	sound recordist
Guy Villette	....	sound assistant

Camera and Electrical Department
Ernest Bourreaud	....	camera operator
Alain Douarinou	....	camera operator
Yves Mirkine	....	still photographer
René Touillaud	....	lighting technician
Albert Viguier	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jean Zay	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Claude Durand	....	assistant editor

Music Department
P.M. Le Conte	....	orchestra director

Other crew
Simone Bourdarias	....	script supervisor (as Simonne Bourdarias)
André Gardère	....	fencing master (as Gardère)
Gaucherand	....	jewels designer
Claire Guibert	....	voice dubbing: Gina Lollobrigida (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Amato Produzione
• Filmsonor
• Les Films Ariane
• Rizzoli Editore

Distributors

• Filmsonor (1952) (France) (theatrical)
• C. F. R. (1952) (France) (theatrical) (16 mm)
• Les Films Ariane (1952) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Lopert Pictures Corporation (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Union Film (1953) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Rialto Pictures (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Concorde Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Cetera International (????) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Cosortium du Film (????) (France) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• LAX Lab. (special effects)

Other Companies

• Omnium Sonore  sound recording
• Studios de Billancourt  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

"Fanfan la Tulipe" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

102 min | Argentina:99 min | Italy:95 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Germany:6 (DVD rating) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Amato Produzione

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 12475 delivered on 31-7-1952.

Goofs:

Continuity: Fanfan's white trousers get dirty from falling off a horse, but in the next scene they are clean.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in One Hundred and One Nights (1995)

FANFAN LA TULIPE (Christian-Jaque, 1952) ***

This is the last of four swashbucklers from France I've scheduled for viewing during this Christmas season: the others (in order of viewing) were the uninspired THE BLACK TULIP (1964; from the same director as this one but not nearly as good), the surprisingly effective LADY Oscar (1979; which had originated as a Japanese manga!) and the splendid CARTOUCHE (1962). Actually, I had watched this one not too long ago on late-night Italian TV and recall not being especially bowled over by it, so that I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it this time around (also bearing in mind the baffling lack of enthusiasm shown towards the film here and elsewhere when it was first announced as an upcoming DVD release from Criterion).

Incidentally, FANFAN LA TULIPE has quite a bit in common with the afore-mentioned CARTOUCHE: not just cast and crew members (producers Georges Dancigers and Alexandre Mnouchkine, cinematographer Christian Matras, actor Noel Roquevert) but plot-wise as well – in fact, the hero is a womanizing soldier (Jean-Paul Belmondo's Cartouche had also had a brief military spell) who's loved by a fiery girl (in this case, gypsy Gina Lollobrigida) while he's himself obsessed by an impossible love (here, it's none other than the king's daughter)! As in the later film, too, Fanfan (an ideally cast Gerard Philipe who, ironically, is so full of life here that one finds it hard to believe that he would be stricken down by cancer within 7 years' time) is flanked by two fun-loving yet cowardly men (one of them is actually his superior officer and the heroine's own father) and opposed by an unscrupulous figure within his own ranks (the ageing Roquevert, with whom the hero eventually engages in a rooftop duel since he too has amorous designs on the gypsy girl)!; for the record, Lollobrigida will rejoin Philippe in her next film, Rene Clair's delightful romantic fantasy LES BELLES DE NUIT (1952).

FANFAN proved to be a big box-office hit on its home-ground and even copped a surprising (but well-deserved) Best Direction award at Cannes over more renowned films like AN American IN Paris (1951), DETECTIVE STORY (1951), OTHELLO, UMBERTO D. and VIVA ZAPATA! In fact, its popularity ensured its re-release in a computer-colored version (presumably for the benefit of viewers who wouldn't touch a black-and-white product with a ten-foot pole) and the Criterion DVD itself contains a sample from this variant; being obviously a foreign-language title, there's also the dubious choice of an English-dubbed soundtrack but, even if these proved not especially painful to sit through considering, when all is said and done, there's simply no substitute for the original!

FANFAN LA TULIPE (a nickname given the hero by a young Genevieve Page as the celebrated Madame De Pompadour) contains about as much comedy as (the expected) action and romance; while some may find this overwhelming, I don't agree myself as I enjoyed the sharply satirical narration and, on the whole, this combination is comparable with Jerzy Skolimowski's equally droll THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD (1970). That said, the swordfights here are remarkably forceful for an essentially lighthearted enterprise (particularly a scuffle in the woods and the ambush at a convent) and the film itself rather adult at times (with numerous allusions to sexuality as well as coarse language adopted throughout) when viewed back-to-back with vintage Hollywood fare as I did now; the climax, then is quite ingenious: the enemy forces (who, amusingly, are made to speak in speeded-up gibberish!) are depleted by our heroic trio alone, much to the king's amazement who, as portrayed by Marcel Herrand – best-known for his role of leader of the Parisian underworld in Marcel Carne''s CHILDREN OF PARADISE (1945) – is himself something of a lecher.

P.S. An Italian TV channel has been threatening to screen Christian-Jaque's promising CHAMPAGNE FOR SAVAGES (1964) for months now but, despite programming it three times already (with a tentative fourth one slated for next week), they have yet to show it; even so, I do have three more films of his in my unwatched VHS pile (equally culled from late-night Italian TV screenings): the three-hour epic LA CHARTREUSE DE PARME (1948; also starring Gerard Philippe), THE SECOND TWIN (1967) and THE LEGEND OF FRENCHIE KING (1971; with Brigitte Bardot and Claudia Cardinale).