This Sunday, France 3 broadcasts “1 chance in 2” signed Patrice Leconte, who in 1998 brought together the legendary duo Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon. A new meeting of accomplices, who toured together on several occasions. How many times ?
Sacred monster of French cinema, Jean-Paul Belmondo died this Monday at the age of 88. While a national tribute was paid to him in the courtyard of the Hôtel des Invalides on Thursday, the TV channels have logically shaken up their program schedules since the start of the week, to rebroadcast many of the comedian’s films.
This Sunday, France 3 broadcasts at 1:35 p.m. 1 chance in 2 by Patrice Leconte, who in 1998 brought together one of the most memorable duets of French cinema: Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
It is certain that Jacques Deray’s Borsalino is the first to reunite as headliner Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo but it is good to know that this film was not their first collaboration. Few, for example, remember famous loves.
The first: Be beautiful and shut up (1958)
Mylène Demongeot is chosen at the last moment for this role that Brigitte Bardot has just refused. She plays Virginie, escaped from a reformatory, who marries a gangster whom she discovers in fact to be a police officer. With him, she tries to forget her past but it will catch up with her when Loulou (Delon, 23 years old) and Pierrot (Belmondo, 25 years old) ask her for help. The two actors therefore play two small strikes and have several scenes together. This film by Marc Allégret will not mark the spirits but also allows to find figures of the time such as Darry Cowl and Béatrice Altariba, Roger Hanin or Henri Vidal.
Note that it is on this film that off the sets, Delon borrows a car but rolls over and ends up with a scar under his chin which will become characteristic of his physical appearance as an actor.
Corona Films Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo in “Be beautiful and be silent” (1958)
Famous Loves (1961)
In this sketchy film, Delon and Belmondo are separated again. The first embodies the Duke Albert of Bavaria in a romantic segment making him give the reply to Brigitte Bardot. The second plays Duke Lauzun, lover of a Mme de Monaco camped by Dany Robin. Sketches and costume films flourished in French and Italian cinemas in the 1960s, and director Michel Boisrond adapted a comic strip from the newspaper here. France-Evening. The result is uneven, but some services are worth the detour, notably Philippe Noiret in Louis XIV.
Unidex Delon and “Bébel” in “Famous Love” (1961)
Is Paris Burning? (1966)
For this blockbuster on the Liberation of Paris during the Second World War, the two actors can again give the answer. Under the supervision of René Clément, Delon embodies the politician Jacques Chaban-Delmas facing a Belmondo in the skin of Yvon Morandat dit Pierrelot, fighting in the alpine hunters then resistant. Their most famous dialogue is short but decisive: the first orders the second to take the palace of Matignon so that the provisional government can meet there. A timeless classic.
Paramount Films Belmondo and Delon reunited in “Is Paris Burning?”
Ho! (1968)
In this breakout film worn by Jean-Paul Belmondo and directed by Robert Enrico, Alain Delon makes a wink appearance. When “Ho” played by Belmondo is at the wheel of his convertible and leaves the airport, he almost runs over a pedestrian … played by Alain Delon! This is their last meeting before the famous Borsalino.
Borsalino, and after?
Outraged 1 in 2 chance (1998), action comedy by Patrice Leconte with also Vanessa Paradis or The Actors of Bertrand Blier (2000), the two actors will appear both in the credits of the One hundred and one nights of Simon Cinéma by Agnès Varda (1995). Eight collaborations in total.
As for Borsalino himself, he became famous for the different which opposed his two star actors. In question ? The presence of Delon’s name first on the poster, contrary to what was contractually expected. The dispute goes to trial and proves Belmondo right. Remains a cult film, long invisible, and recently restored, for the most …
