French postcard in the Raimu series by MPC (Marcel Pagnol Com), no. 15. Raimu, Fernand Charpin, Paul Dullac and Robert Vattier in Marius (Alexander Korda, 1931), written by Marcel Pagnol. Caption: You break my heart!!!

Beloved, down-to-earth character actor Raimu (1883-1946) was one of the major stars of the French cinema in the 1930s. He started his career as a comedian at the Folies Bergère and other major Paris venues, and in 1929 he had his breakthrough as a serious actor with his part as César in the Marseille trilogy Marius-Fanny-César by Marcel Pagnol.

Fernand Charpin, better known by his nickname Charpin, (1887-1944) was a French actor. He is best known for his interpretation of' Panisse', one of the main characters in Marcel Pagnol's filmed Marseille trilogy. He developed a very busy but short (13 years) film career.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Raimu Actor Film Star French Acteur Francais Fernand Charpin Fernand Charpin Paul Dullac Paul Dullac Robert Vattier Robert Vattier European Cinema Cine Kino Film Picture Screen Movie Movies Filmster Star Vintage Postcard Marius 1931 Alexander Korda Marcel Pagnol MPC

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French postcard by Dr MPC / Dr Raimu, no. 29. Photo: Roger Foster. Raimu and Fernand Charpin in Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932).

Beloved, down-to-earth character actor Raimu (1883-1946) was one of the major stars of the French cinema in the 1930s. He started his career as a comedian at the Folies Bergère and other major Paris venues, and in 1929 he had his breakthrough as a serious actor with his part as César in the Marseille trilogy Marius-Fanny-César by Marcel Pagnol.

Raimu was born as Jules Auguste Cesar Muraire in the harbour town of Toulon, France in 1883. His father was an upholsterer. At the age of 16, he made his stage debut by imitating his comic idols, Félix Mayol and Polin. He went on to perform in dance halls, cafe concerts, and bars in the Provence. His stage name was Rallum, but later he changed it into Raimu. He was sometimes credited as Jules Raimu. He came to the attention of the singer and music hall director Félix Mayol who was also from Toulon. In 1908 Mayol gave him a chance to work as a secondary act in the Paris theaters. Raimu made his film debut in Le fumiste/The Humbug (Gérard Bourgeois, 1912). The following years he appeared in more short silent films but nothing much came of them. After this disappointment, Raimu would not appear on screen for more than a decade. Primarily a comedian, in 1916 writer/director Sacha Guitry gave him significant parts in productions at the Folies Bergère and other major venues. He starred in the premiere of Messager's operetta Coups de roulis in 1928. In 1929, he gained wide acclaim for his serious role as César Olivier in Marcel Pagnol’s play Marius. César is the father of the young sailor Marius. Marius works in his father’s waterfront bar in Marseille, but longs to travel to exotic places with the ship crews that part from the docks. Only his love for the vendor Fanny keeps him on shore. César, with his generous, comic spirit, tries to guide his son. The play was an astonishing success and was soon followed by the plays Fanny and César.

Although he was reluctant about the cinema, Raimu agreed to act in the early sound film Le Blanc et le Noir/Black and White (Marc Allégret, Robert Florey, 1930) written by Sacha Guitry. It was a success. A year later he reprised his role as the grubby, iron-willed César in the film adaptation of Marius (Alexander Korda, 1931), featuring Pierre Fresnay as Marius and co-produced by author Marcel Pagnol. Gary Brumburgh writes at IMDb: “Raimu transferred the role of Cesar brilliantly to film in 1931 and the rest is history. So Marius was soon followed by the sequels Fanny (Marc Allégret, 1932) featuring Orane Demazis, and César (Marcel Pagnol, 1936). According to Brumburgh the three films have been ‘arguably celebrated as the greatest series ever put together’. By his late forties, Raimu had become one of France’s most noted actors, both on stage and in the cinema. His best films include Un carnet de bal/Dance Program (Julien Duvivier, 1937) with Marie Bell, the comedy Gribouille/Heart of Paris (Marc Allégret, 1937) with Michèle Morgan in her first major film role, La Femme du boulanger/The Baker's Wife (Marcel Pagnol, 1938), and L’Arlesienne (Marc Allégret, 1942) with a young Louis Jourdan. In these films, he swayed effectively from humor to great pathos. In 1943, Raimu took a three-year sabbatical from filmmaking when he was invited to join La Comédie Francaise, where he excelled in the plays of Molière. Shortly after making the Fyodor Dostoyevsky adaptation L'homme au chapeau rond/The Eternal Road (Pierre Billon, 1946), Raimu died of a heart attack in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He was interred in the cemetery of his birthplace Toulon-sur-Mer where there is also the Cinéma Raimu Toulon named in his honor. In 1961, the French government honored him with a postage stamp. Raimy was married to Esther Metayer and they had a daughter, Paulette. His grand-daughter Isabelle Nohain created a small museum, le Musée-Espace Raimu in Cogolin, France.

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Films de France, Musée Raimu (French), Wikipedia (French and English), and IMDb.

For more postcards, a bio and clips check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Raimu Actor Film Star French Acteur Francais Fernand Charpin Fernand Charpin European Cinema Cine Kino Film Picture Screen Movie Movies Filmster Star Vintage Postcard Carte Postale Cartolina Tarjet Postal Postkarte Postkaart Briefkarte Briefkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Fanny 1932 MPC Roger Foster Roger Foster

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French postcard by Crépa, Editeur, Paris. Photo: Pierre Méré. Publicity still for Regain/Harvest (Marcel Pagnol, 1937) with Gabriel Gabrio as Panturle.

Gabriel Gabrio (1887-1946) was a tall, burly actor with a boxer's face. He began his cinema career in the silent film era of the 1920s. Gabrio is possibly best recalled for his roles as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (1925), Cesare Borgia in Abel Gance’s Lucrèce Borgia (1935) and as Carlos in the gangster film Pépé le Moko (1937), opposite Jean Gabin.

Dark-haired, blue-eyed Gabriel Gabrio was born Édouard Gabriel Lelièvre in Reims, France, in 1887. He was the youngest of sixteen children. Gabrio's father worked for the Pommeray Champagne cellars. At the age of seven he developed a keen interest in puppet theatre. As a teen, Gabrio grew to an impressive height of 1 m 83 and after a stint as an apprentice glass window painter, set his sights on a career as a stage actor. He made his first appearance at the Casino of his home town. He also played for five years at the Kursaal. At the outbreak of World War I, Gabrio enlisted in the French Army and served four years during the hostilities. After being demobilized, Gabrio relocated to Paris where he performed in such theatres as the Gaîté Rochechouart, the Théâtre des Ambassadeurs, the Comédie Montaigne and the Odéon in roles by George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare, among others. Gabrio made his film debut in La fête espagnole/Spanish Fiesta (Germaine Dulac, 1920). In 1924 he was cast by film director Henri Fescourt to appear as Jean Valjean, the literary protagonist in the film adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel Les Misérables whose twenty-year-long struggle with the law for stealing bread during a time of economic and social depression is chronicled. Gabrio's appearance in the film catapulted him to stardom. In 1927, Gabrio began appearing in international films, such as the German film Der Faschingskönig/Thre King of Carnival (Georg Jacoby, 1927), and in his first and only English language talkie The Inseparables (Adelqui Migliar, John Stafford, 1929) with Elissa Landi. Gabrio attempted to launch a Hollywood career in 1929. Sound, however, made that proposition untenable and he returned to France.

Gabriel Gabrio's career flourished in France into the 1930s. Memorable are the tough characters he embodied as the grumpy soldier Sulphart in Raymond Bernard's war drama Les Croix de Bois/The wooden crosses (1932). Gabrio then appeared opposite Edwige Feuillère in the historical biopic Lucrèce Borgia/Lucrezia Borgia (Abel Gance, 1935) , a box-office hit. He played Panturle in the drama Regain/Harvest (Marcel Pagnol, 1937) about a farming village where only three inhabitants remain. They are told that if only one of them, Panturle, manages to find a wife, the village will be able to prosper again. Gabrio is possibly best recalled for his role as Carlos, the gangster cohort of Jean Gabin's character Pépé le Moko in the 1937 film directed by Julien Duvivier. The film would become an international success and was remade in Hollywood as Algiers (1938), starring Charles Boyer, and as a musical, Casbah (1948), starring Tony Martin. As the 1940s began and Europe was thrust into the World War II, Gabriel Gabrio's film career remained intact in war-torn France. In 1942 he appeared as the executioner, opposite Arletty and Marie Déa in Les Visiteurs du Soir/The Devil's Envoys (Marcel Carné, 1942), penned by Jacques Prévert and Pierre Laroche. The film premiered at Paris’s Madeleine Cinema on 4 December 1942 and was one of the biggest film events during the war. The film is an allegory of the eternal struggle between good and evil as fourteenth-century lovers defy the Devil. Many people saw the character of the Devil as representing Hitler and the continued beating hearts of the lovers as representing France living under German rule, but not giving up hope. Carné maintained until his death that the film was not an intentional allegory for the war and that any relationship was purely unconscious. In 1943 Gabrio's health declined and he retired into the village of Berchères-sur-Vesgre in the West of France. He died there in 1946 at age 59. The village has since named a street after him in his honour. Guy Bellinger at IMDb: “Gabriel Gabrio is unjustly forgotten and his 'hefty' contribution to the French cinema should be re-appraised.”

Sources: Hans J. Wollstein (AllMovie), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Tags:   Gabriel Gabrio Gabriel Gabrio French Actor Acteur European Film Star Film Cinema Cine Kino Screen Picture Movie Movies Filmster Star Vintage Postcard Carte Postale Cartolina Tarjet Postal Postkarte Postkaart Briefkarte Briefkaart Ansichtskarte Ansichtkaart Cinémagazine Silent Sepia Regain Harvest Marcel Pagnol Pagnol 1937 Crépa Pierre Méré Pierre Méré

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French postcard in the Raimu series by MPC (Marcel Pagnol Com), no. 13. Raimu, Georges Grey, Josette Day, Line Noro and Fernand Charpin in La fille du Puisatier (Marcel Pagnol, 1940), written by Marcel Pagnol.

Beloved, down-to-earth character actor Raimu (1883-1946) was one of the major stars of the French cinema in the 1930s. He started his career as a comedian at the Folies Bergère and other major Paris venues, and in 1929 he had his breakthrough as a serious actor with his part as César in the Marseille trilogy Marius-Fanny-César by Marcel Pagnol.

French film actress Josette Day (1914-1978) is best known as Belle in the unforgettable classic La belle et la bête/Beauty and the Beast (1946). She started her film career as a child and played during the 1930s and 1940s many leading parts in French films. In 1950 she ended her successful acting career when she was only 36.

Fernand Charpin, better known by his nickname Charpin, (1887-1944) was a French actor. He is best known for his interpretation of' Panisse', one of the main characters in Marcel Pagnol's filmed Marseille trilogy. He developed a very busy but short (13 years) film career.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Raimu French Actor Acteur Georges Grey Georges Grey Josette Day Josette Day Line Noro Line Noro Fernand Charpin Fernand Charpin La fille du Puisatier 1940 Marcel Pagnol Marcel Pagnol European Cinema Cine Kino Film Picture Screen Movie Movies Filmster Star Vintage Postcard MPC

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French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris / Saint-Dié, no. CF 22. Raimu, Fernand Charpin, Paul Dullac and Robert Vattier in Marius (Alexander Korda, 1931), written by Marcel Pagnol. Caption: The card game.

Beloved, down-to-earth character actor Raimu (1883-1946) was one of the major stars of French cinema in the 1930s. He started his career as a comedian at the Folies Bergère and other major Paris venues, and in 1929 he had his breakthrough as a serious actor with his part as César in the Marseille trilogy Marius-Fanny-César by Marcel Pagnol.

Fernand Charpin, better known by his nickname Charpin, (1887-1944) was a French actor. He is best known for his interpretation of' Panisse', one of the main characters in Marcel Pagnol's filmed Marseille trilogy. He developed a very busy but short (13 years) film career.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Tags:   Raimu Actor Film Star French Acteur Francais Fernand Charpin Fernand Charpin Paul Dullac Paul Dullac Robert Vattier Robert Vattier European Cinema Cine Kino Film Picture Screen Movie Movies Filmster Star Vintage Postcard Marius 1931 Alexander Korda Marcel Pagnol Editions La Malibran La Malibran Card game

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