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We can depend on H.G. Clouzot to find people at their most desperate, at their worst. His updated adaptation of Manon Lescaut dissects the trauma of amour fou And the hypocrisy, opportunism and political horror of postwar France. Resistance fighter Michel Auclair and provincial tart Cécile Aubrey are lovers caught in a web of vice and treachery, much of it of their own making. Their desperate escape takes them to an inhuman landscape devoid of mercy. Clouzot may pity these characters, but he sure doesn’t give them a break.

Manon

Blu-ray

Arrow Academy

1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 105 min. / Street Date February 25, 2020 / Available from Arrow Academy 39.95

Starring: Serge Reggiani, Michel Auclair, Cécile Aubry, Andrex, Raymond Souplex, André Valmy, Henri Vilbert, Héléna Manson, Dora Doll, Robert Dalban.

Cinematography: Armand Thirard

Film Editor: Monique Kirsanoff

Production designer: Max Douy

Original Music: Paul Misraki

Written by Jean Ferry, Henri-Georges Clouzot from the...

” There is nothing dirty when we love each other. “

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Manon (1949) will be available on Blu-ray From Arrow Academy

This masterful adaptation of Prévost s 1731 novel Manon Lescaut marks quite a departure for Henri-Georges Clouzot, the French director lauded for his acclaimed thrillers The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques.

A classical tragic romance transposed to a World War II setting, Clouzot s film follows the travails of Manon (Cécile Aubry), a village girl accused of collaborating with the Nazis who is rescued from imminent execution by a former French Resistance fighter (Michel Auclair). The couple move to Paris, but their relationship turns stormy as they struggle to survive, resorting to profiteering, prostitution and even murder. Eventually escaping to Palestine, the pair attempt a treacherous desert crossing in search of the happiness which seems to forever elude them…

Clouzot s astute portrayal of doomed young lovers caught in...

The Belle and Sebastian frontman on PG Wodehouse, early Rem – and why he loves Thought for the Day

Stuart Murdoch is a founding member of the critically acclaimed indie band Belle and Sebastian. Formed in Glasgow in 1996, the group took their name from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965 children's book by the French writer Cécile Aubry. They have released eight albums to date and Murdoch has written a memoir, The Celestial Café, and is finishing a film called God Help the Girl. On 27 August Belle and Sebastian release The Third Eye Centre, a compilation of B-sides and rarities covering the past decade.

Book

Carry On, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse

Obviously I love Wodehouse. As funny, laugh-out-loud writers go, he really has no rival. I picked this book because it is the first Jeeves and Wooster book and I love the start of things. I love the way that Jeeves shimmies into...

When I was young, European serials offered a view into other worlds. Why do we now limit ourselves to Us imports?

For those of us of a certain age, the death of Cécile Aubry at the end of July caused a nostalgic pang: memories of black-and-white television, mountains, and a dog that seemed to be made out of the fluffy snow over which she bounded. Belle et Sébastien, which she originally wrote, was a much-loved part of my childhood. I had not realised until I read her obituary that Sébastien was played by her son, Mehdi El Glaoui.

What struck me most, though, was remembering that British television for the young was far more international in those days. Dubbed or narrated imported serials, mostly made in the 1960s, were repeated well into the 70s, offering a window on to excitingly different worlds. My earliest TV memories include L'Âge Heureux, a...

Cécile Aubry, Henri-Georges Clouzot‘s leading lady in the 1949 drama Manon and Tyrone Power‘s romantic interest in the 1950 period adventure The Black Rose, died of lung cancer on July 19 in Dourdan, outside of Paris. She was 81. Born Anne-José Madeleine Henriette Bénard (or Anne José Bénard according to some sources) into a wealthy Parisian family on Aug. 3, 1928, Aubry’s film debut took place in Clouzot’s updating of Abbé Prévost‘s 18th-century novel Manon Lescaut. In the film, the then 20-year-old actress plays Manon, who flees her French village after locals accuse her of having collaborated with the Nazis. Rescued by a Resistance activist (Serge Reggiani), Manon ends up in Paris where a life of degradation and marital discord awaits her. "To achieve what he wanted," Aubry later remarked, "Clouzot pushed the actors to the limit, especially the women. But he also declared that he needed to be in love...

'Sex-kitten' French star who wrote and directed the TV series Belle et Sébastien

In 1950, in a blaze of typical Hollywood publicity, Cécile Aubry, who has died of lung cancer aged 81, was signed up by 20th Century-Fox to co-star with Tyrone Power and Orson Welles in Henry Hathaway's The Black Rose. It was to be Aubry's only American film, placing her among several French actresses who had short-lived Hollywood careers after the liberation of France in 1944.

The petite, blue-eyed blonde with a seductive pout had appeared previously in only one film, playing the title role in Henri-Georges Clouzot's Manon (1949), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival. In this dark updating (to post-second world war Paris) of the Abbé Prévost's 18th-century novel Manon Lescaut, the 20-year-old Aubry made an immediate and vivid impression. She managed to bring out the duality of the character – both femme fatale...

French actress and children's book author Cecile Aubry passed away after a battle with lung cancer on Monday, her family announced. She was 81.

She began her career as a dancer, but it was in acting that she found fame. She made her break as the star of "Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1949 Golden Lion awardee film "Manon."

Though she had a lucrative contract with 20th Century Fox as a Hollywood actress, her career was cut short when she secretly married the eldest son of the pasha of Marrakech, Si Brahim El Glaoui. They separated after six years.

As her acting career had already waned, she shifted her focus and became a children's book author. Her most famous work was the "Belle et Sebastien" series, which followed the adventures of an orphan boy and his mountain dog companion in the French Alps.

French actress Cecile Aubry has died. She was 81.

The film star passed away at her home near Paris, France on Monday following a battle with lung cancer.

After signing to the 20th Century Fox film studio at the age of 20, Aubry appeared in several pictures including Manon and The Black Rose opposite Orson Welles.

She retired from the movie industry after marrying a Moroccan politician, and went on to write hit children's novel Belle et Sebastien.

The book was adapted for TV in her native France and the show starred her son Mehdi El Glaoui in the lead role.

The series was picked up by networks in the U.S., U.K. and Japan.