Gaston Modot
Encyclopedia
Gaston Modot was a French actor. For more than 50 years he performed for the cinema working with a number of French directors.
Modot lived in Montmartre
at the beginning ot the 20th century where he met Picasso
and Modigliani
. In 1909 he started his career with Gaumont
and for the following 20 years he covered all silent film
genres. In 1917 he was the main actor in Abel Gance
's Mater dolorosa
. He played in Germaine Dulac
and Louis Delluc
's avant-garde
films La fête espagnole (1919) and Fièvre (1921). With Max Linder
, Modot played in Abel Gance's Au secours!
(1924). Towards the end of the 1920s he performed in German-French co-productions.
He is still famous for his role of "Manns" in Luis Buñuel
's L'Âge d'Or
(1930).
He had his first role in a sound film with Rene Clair
's Sous les toits de Paris
(1930). He and Jean Gabin
are main characters in Julien Duvivier
's Pépé le Moko (1937). He acted in Jean Renoir
classic films La grande illusion and La règle du jeu as well as the three hour poetic film Les enfants du paradis (1945) for Marcel Carné
.
In 1962 Gaston Modot ended his acting career. He had acted in more than 100 films.
Modot lived 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...
at the beginning ot the 20th century where he met Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
. In 1909 he started his career with Gaumont
Léon Gaumont
Léon Gaumont was a French inventor, engineer, and industrialist who was a pioneer of the motion picture industry....
and for the following 20 years he covered all silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
genres. In 1917 he was the main actor in Abel Gance
Abel Gance
Abel Gance was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. He is best known for three major silent films: J'accuse , La Roue , and the monumental Napoléon .-Early life:...
's Mater dolorosa
The Torture of Silence
The Torture of Silence is a 1917 silent French drama film directed by Abel Gance. -Cast:* Emmy Lynn - Manon Berliac* Firmin Gémier - Emile Berliac* Armand Tallier - François Rolland* Anthony Gildès - Jean* Paul Vermoyal - Jean Dormis* Gaston Modot...
. He played in Germaine Dulac
Germaine Dulac
Germaine Dulac was a French filmmaker, film theorist, journalist and critic. She was born in Amiens and moved to Paris in early childhood. A few years after her marriage she embarked on a journalistic career in a feminist magazine, and later became interested in film...
and Louis Delluc
Louis Delluc
Louis Delluc was a French film director, screen writer and film critic, many of whose late 1910s film writings for French newspapers were collected in the volume Cinema et cie...
's avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
films La fête espagnole (1919) and Fièvre (1921). With Max Linder
Max Linder
Max Linder was an influential French pioneer of silent film.-Birth and early career:Born Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle in Saint-Loubès, Gironde, France to a Catholic wine-growing family, he grew up with a passion for the theatre and as a young man joined a theatre troupe touring the country...
, Modot played in Abel Gance's Au secours!
Au Secours!
Au Secours! is a 1924 short comedy film directed by Abel Gance and starring Max Linder. The title roughly translates into English as, 'help!'...
(1924). Towards the end of the 1920s he performed in German-French co-productions.
He is still famous for his role of "Manns" in Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
's L'Âge d'Or
L'Âge d'Or
L'Âge d'or is a 1930 surrealist film directed by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel and written by him and Salvador Dalí.The film began as a second collaboration with Dalí, but, by the time the film went into production, Buñuel and Dalí had had a falling-out, and so Dalí actually had nothing to do with...
(1930).
He had his first role in a sound film with Rene Clair
René Clair
René Clair born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker.-Biography:He was born in Paris and grew up in the Les Halles quarter. He attended the Lycée Montaigne and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. During World War I, he served as an ambulance driver. After the war, he started a career as a journalist...
's Sous les toits de Paris
Under the Roofs of Paris
Under the Roofs of Paris is a 1930 French film directed by René Clair. It was probably the earliest French example of a filmed musical-comedy, although its often dark tone differentiates it from other instances of the genre...
(1930). He and 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...
are main characters in Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier was a French film director. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930-1960...
's Pépé le Moko (1937). He acted in Jean Renoir
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...
classic films La grande illusion and La règle du jeu as well as the three hour poetic film Les enfants du paradis (1945) for Marcel Carné
Marcel Carné
-Biography:Born in Paris, France, the son of a cabinet maker whose wife died when their son was five, Carné began his career as a film critic, becoming editor of the weekly publication, Hebdo-Films, and working for Cinémagazine and Cinémonde between 1929 and 1933. In the same period he worked in...
.
In 1962 Gaston Modot ended his acting career. He had acted in more than 100 films.
Films
- 1917 - Mater DolorosaThe Torture of SilenceThe Torture of Silence is a 1917 silent French drama film directed by Abel Gance. -Cast:* Emmy Lynn - Manon Berliac* Firmin Gémier - Emile Berliac* Armand Tallier - François Rolland* Anthony Gildès - Jean* Paul Vermoyal - Jean Dormis* Gaston Modot...
- 1917 - La zone de la mortThe Zone of DeathThe Zone of Death is a 1917 silent French film directed by Abel Gance.-Cast:* Andrée Brabant* Julien Clément * Anthony Gildès* Andrée Lionel* Léon Mathot* Gaston Modot* Georges Paulais* Paul Vermoyal...
- 1919 - La fête espagnole
- 1921 - Fièvre
- 1924 - Au secours!
- 1924 - Le Miracle des loupsLe Miracle des loups (1924 film)Le Miracle des loups is a French historical drama film from 1924, directed by Raymond Bernard, written by André-Paul Antoine, starring Jean-Emile Vanni-Marcoux. The scenario was based on a novel of Henry Dupuis-Mazuel "Le miracle des loups", published in 1924.Numerous scenes were filmed at the...
- 1926 - Carmen
- 1929 - Le navire des hommes perdus
- 1930 - L'Âge d'OrL'Âge d'OrL'Âge d'or is a 1930 surrealist film directed by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel and written by him and Salvador Dalí.The film began as a second collaboration with Dalí, but, by the time the film went into production, Buñuel and Dalí had had a falling-out, and so Dalí actually had nothing to do with...
- 1930 - Under the Roofs of ParisUnder the Roofs of ParisUnder the Roofs of Paris is a 1930 French film directed by René Clair. It was probably the earliest French example of a filmed musical-comedy, although its often dark tone differentiates it from other instances of the genre...
- 1937 - Pépé le MokoPépé le MokoPépé le Moko is a 1937 French film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Jean Gabin. It depicts an infamous gangster, Pépé le Moko who tries to escape the police by hiding in the casbah of the city of Algiers...
- 1937 – Grand IllusionGrand Illusion (film)Grand Illusion is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.The title of the film comes from a...
- 1937 - Street of ShadowsStreet of ShadowsStreet of Shadows is a 1937 French drama film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. An English-language version was made under the title Under Secret Orders.-Cast:* Pierre Blanchar - Grégor Courdane* Dita Parlo - Mademoiselle Docteur...
- 1939 – The Rules of the GameThe Rules of the GameThe Rules of the Game is a 1939 French film directed by Jean Renoir about upper-class French society just before the start of World War II...
- 1945 - Children of ParadiseChildren of ParadiseLes Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 French film by French director Marcel Carné, made during the German occupation of France during World War II...
- 1947 - Antoine et Antoinette
- 1949 - La beauté du diable
- 1952 - Casque d'orCasque d'orCasque d'or is a 1952 French film directed by Jacques Becker. It is a Belle Époque tragedy, the story of an ill-fated love affair between characters played by Simone Signoret and Serge Reggiani.-Plot:...
- 1958 - The Lovers
- 1959 - Le testament du Docteur Cordelier
- 1962 - Le Diable et les Dix CommandementsLe Diable et les Dix CommandementsLe Diable et les Dix Commandements , is a French comedy-drama film from 1963, directed by Julien Duvivier, written by David Alexander and Michel Audiard, starring Michel Simon and Louis de Funès...