French Cancan
Encyclopedia
French Cancan is a 1954 French musical film written and directed by Jean Renoir
and starring Jean Gabin
and María Félix
.
r. Losing money, Henri finds himself in Montmartre
and seeing a pretty girl (Nini) at a dance hall there, has an idea: to revive an out of fashion dance, the cancan. He sells his theater to pay for debts and, receiving backing from a patron, essentially in exchange for Lola, purchases a property that will become the Moulin Rouge. Meanwhile, he hires Nini away from her mother and her mother's laundry business.
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir 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 era to the end of the 1960s...
and starring Jean Gabin
Jean Gabin
-Biography:Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, he grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, about 22 mi north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly...
and María Félix
María Félix
María Félix was a Mexican film actress and one of the icons of the golden era of the Cinema of Mexico and also one of the myths of the Spanish language Cinema for her life style and personality...
.
Plot
Set in 1890s Paris, Henri Danglard is the owner of a cafe, which features his mistress, Lola, as a belly danceBelly dance
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...
r. Losing money, Henri finds himself in Montmartre
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
and seeing a pretty girl (Nini) at a dance hall there, has an idea: to revive an out of fashion dance, the cancan. He sells his theater to pay for debts and, receiving backing from a patron, essentially in exchange for Lola, purchases a property that will become the Moulin Rouge. Meanwhile, he hires Nini away from her mother and her mother's laundry business.
Cast
- Jean GabinJean Gabin-Biography:Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, he grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, about 22 mi north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly...
as Henri Danglard - Françoise ArnoulFrançoise ArnoulFrançoise Arnoul is a French actress, who achieved popularity with her cute and sexy charm, especially during the 1950s.Born Françoise Annette Marie Mathilde Gautsch in Constantine, France , as the daughter of stage actress Janine Henry and artillery general Charles Gautsch, she has two brothers...
as Nini - María FélixMaría FélixMaría Félix was a Mexican film actress and one of the icons of the golden era of the Cinema of Mexico and also one of the myths of the Spanish language Cinema for her life style and personality...
as Lola - Philippe ClayPhilippe ClayPhilippe Clay, born Philippe Mathevet, was a French mime artist, singer and actor.He was known for his tall and slim silhouette and for his interpretations of songs by Charles Aznavour, Claude Nougaro, Jean-Roger Caussimon, Boris Vian, Serge Gainsbourg, Jean Yanne, Léo Ferré, Jacques Datin,...
as Casimir le Serpentin - Édith PiafÉdith PiafÉdith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
as Eugénie BuffetEugénie BuffetEugénie Buffet was a French singer who rose to fame in France just prior to World War I. She has been called one of the first, if not the first, performer of the chanson réaliste genre. She became a national sensation in France, performing in the fashionable cafés-concerts of Paris as well as...