Marcel Achard (5 July 1899 – 4 September 1974) was a French playwright and screenwriter whose popular sentimental comedies maintained his position as a highly recognizable name in his country's theatrical and literary circles for five decades.
Able to absorb knowledge quickly, he became, in 1916, in the midst of World War I, a village schoolteacher at the age of 17.
He was elected to the Académie française in 1959. ==Themes and variations within a philosophical outlook== A native of the Rhône département's Urban Community of Lyon, France's second largest metropolitan area, Marcel-Auguste Ferréol was born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, one of the city's suburbs, and adopted his nom de plume at the start of his writing career in the early 1920s.
The personages of Pierrot and Columbine are transported into modern-day settings and inserted into an occasionally mawkish or nostalgic love plot with equal doses of laughter mingled with pain and regret. These themes were expanded upon in two of his most popular plays of the period—1929's Jean de la Lune [John of the Moon a/k/a The Dreamer] and 1932's Domino.
Domino, adapted by actress-writer Grace George, opened at the Playhouse Theatre on 16 August 1932 and closed after seven performances.
Similarly, 1933's La femme en blanc [The Woman in White] uses a then-new technique of recreating for the audience events as they are being described by the play's characters.
The stars were Julie Harris, Walter Matthau and William Shatner. Achard's numerous screenplays, frequently centering on relatively recent historical events and personalities, include 1936's Mayerling, 1938's Orage and 1942's Félicie Nanteuil.
In 1938's Le corsaire [The Privateer], a "play-in-a-play" device, pioneered by Luigi Pirandello, depicts film actors portraying the life of a long-ago pirate, finding themselves caught in an endless loop of similarities.
The stars were Julie Harris, Walter Matthau and William Shatner. Achard's numerous screenplays, frequently centering on relatively recent historical events and personalities, include 1936's Mayerling, 1938's Orage and 1942's Félicie Nanteuil.
The stars were Julie Harris, Walter Matthau and William Shatner. Achard's numerous screenplays, frequently centering on relatively recent historical events and personalities, include 1936's Mayerling, 1938's Orage and 1942's Félicie Nanteuil.
It opened at the Shubert Theatre on 2 November 1949 and ran for 247 performances, closing on 3 June 1950.
It opened at the Shubert Theatre on 2 November 1949 and ran for 247 performances, closing on 3 June 1950.
Among his most successful later plays were 1952's Les compagnons de la Marjolaine [The Companions of Marjoram] and 1955's Le mal d'amour [Love Sickness].
Among his most successful later plays were 1952's Les compagnons de la Marjolaine [The Companions of Marjoram] and 1955's Le mal d'amour [Love Sickness].
The greatest popularity, however, was achieved by a 1957 comedy about a testy, ill-tempered character nicknamed Patate [Spud] and a 1962 comic mystery L'Idiote [The Idiot], best known in America as the basis for the play and film A Shot in the Dark. Four of Achard's plays also had Broadway runs.
The fellow whose nickname made up the title was played by Tom Ewell, and the female lead, Susan Oliver, won the Theatre World Award for her performance, while the Irwin Shaw adaptation opened at Henry Miller's Theatre on 28 October 1958 and closed on November 1.
He presided over the Cannes Film Festival in 1958 and 1959 and had a similar role at the Venice Film Festival in 1960.
He was elected to the Académie française in 1959. ==Themes and variations within a philosophical outlook== A native of the Rhône département's Urban Community of Lyon, France's second largest metropolitan area, Marcel-Auguste Ferréol was born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, one of the city's suburbs, and adopted his nom de plume at the start of his writing career in the early 1920s.
He presided over the Cannes Film Festival in 1958 and 1959 and had a similar role at the Venice Film Festival in 1960.
It was also in 1959 that he was finally, at the age of 60, elected to the Académie française. Marcel Achard died of diabetes in his Paris home two months after his 75th birthday.
Although the very subject matter caused it to be considered scandalous at the time, its brief revival three decades later, in the open and radicalized culture of the late 1960s, when the author was approaching his 70th birthday, found the once-ahead-of-its-time work judged as a tame and dated period piece below Achard's usual literary standard. ==Successful postwar plays== After World War II, despite the criticism, Achard's literary output continued unabated.
He presided over the Cannes Film Festival in 1958 and 1959 and had a similar role at the Venice Film Festival in 1960.
Adapted by Harry Kurnitz and directed by Harold Clurman, it racked up an impressive 389 performances, opening at the Booth Theatre on 18 October 1961 and closing on 22 September 1962.
The greatest popularity, however, was achieved by a 1957 comedy about a testy, ill-tempered character nicknamed Patate [Spud] and a 1962 comic mystery L'Idiote [The Idiot], best known in America as the basis for the play and film A Shot in the Dark. Four of Achard's plays also had Broadway runs.
Adapted by Harry Kurnitz and directed by Harold Clurman, it racked up an impressive 389 performances, opening at the Booth Theatre on 18 October 1961 and closing on 22 September 1962.
Marcel Achard (5 July 1899 – 4 September 1974) was a French playwright and screenwriter whose popular sentimental comedies maintained his position as a highly recognizable name in his country's theatrical and literary circles for five decades.
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