Jean Gabin Explained

Jean Gabin
Birth Name:	Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé
Birth Date:	1904 5, df=yes
Birth Place:	Paris, France
Death Place:	Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Yearsactive:	1928–1976
Spouse:	Gaby Basset (1925–30) Suzanne Marguerite Jeanne Mauchain (1933–39) Dominique Fournier (1949–76)

Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé, known as Jean Gabin (in French ʒɑ̃ gabɛ̃/; 17 May 190415 November 1976), was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films, including Pépé le Moko (1937), La grande illusion (1937), Le Quai des brumes (1938), La bête humaine (1938), Le jour se lève (1939), and Le plaisir (1952). During his career, he twice won the Silver Bear for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival, respectively. Gabin was made a member of the Légion d'honneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema.

Biography

Early life

Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe owner and cabaret entertainer whose stage name was Gabin,^{[1] [2]} which is a first name in French. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise (now Val-d'Oise) département, about 22 mi (35 km) north of Paris. He attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Gabin left school early, and worked as a laborer until the age of 19 when he entered show business with a bit part in a Folies Bergère production. He continued performing in a variety of minor roles before going into the military.

Career

Early days

After completing his military service in the Fusiliers marins, he returned to the entertainment business, working under the stage name of Jean Gabin at whatever was offered in the Parisian music halls and operettas, imitating the singing style of Maurice Chevalier, which was the rage at the time. He was part of a troupe that toured South America, and upon returning to France found work at the Moulin Rouge. His performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928.

Two years later Gabin made the transition to sound films in a 1930 Pathé Frères production, Chacun sa chance. Playing secondary roles, he made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. But he only gained real recognition for his performance in Maria Chapdelaine, a 1934 production directed by Julien Duvivier. He was then cast as a romantic hero in the 1936 war drama La Bandera; this second Duvivier-directed film established him as a major star. The next year he teamed up with Duvivier again in the highly successful Pépé le Moko. Its popularity brought Gabin international recognition. That same year he starred in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, an antiwar film that ran at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. This was followed by another of Renoir's major works, La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast), a film noir tragedy based on the novel by Émile Zola and starring Gabin and Simone Simon, as well as Le Quai Des Brumes (Port of Shadows), one of director Marcel Carné's classics of poetic realism. His rugged charisma could be compared with Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. But he was the king of ‘cinematic cool’ even before the rise of those Hollywood stars.^[3]

He divorced his second wife in 1939.

Hollywood

In the late 1930s Gabin was flooded with offers from Hollywood, but turned them all down until the outbreak of World War II. After the German occupation of France in 1940, he joined Renoir and Duvivier in the United States. During his time in Hollywood, Gabin began a romance with actress Marlene Dietrich that lasted until 1948.^[4] His films in America—Moontide (1942) and The Impostor (1944), the latter with Duvivier—were not successful.

World War II action

Undaunted, Gabin joined General Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces and earned the Médaille militaire and a Croix de Guerre for his wartime valor fighting with the Allies in North Africa. Following D-Day, Gabin served with the 2nd armored division that liberated Paris.

Career slump

In 1945 Carné chose Gabin to star in the film Gates of the Night with Dietrich as his co-star. She disliked the screenplay and feared her German accent would not go over well with postwar French audiences. When she withdrew from the project, Gabin followed suit, leading to a falling out with Carné. He found a French producer and director willing to cast him and Dietrich together, but the film, Martin Roumagnac, was not a success and their personal relationship soon ended. In 1948 Gabin starred in René Clément's poetic realist film The Walls of Malapaga (French: Au-delà des grilles), which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture but garnered little recognition for Gabin. In 1949 he starred in his only role in legitimate theatre in Henri Bernstein's La Soif. It ran in Paris for six months, with Gabin critically praised as "a first-rate stage actor." Despite this recognition, his subsequent films did not do well at the French box office, and the next five years brought repeated failures.

Comeback

Gabin's career seemed headed for oblivion until the 1954 film Touchez pas au grisbi (Don't Touch the Loot), directed by Jacques Becker, earned him critical acclaim. The film was very profitable internationally. He then worked once again with Renoir in French Cancan, with María Félix and Françoise Arnoul. Gabin played Georges Simenon's detective Jules Maigret in three films in 1958, 1959 and 1963. Over the next 20 years, he made almost 50 more films, most of them very successful commercially and critically, including many for Gafer Films, his production partnership with fellow actor Fernandel. His co-stars included such leading figures of postwar cinema as Brigitte Bardot (En cas de malheur), Alain Delon (Le Clan des Siciliens, Mélodie en sous-sol and Deux hommes dans la ville), Jean-Paul Belmondo (Un singe en hiver) and Louis de Funès (Le Tatoué).

Death

Gabin died of leukemia at the American Hospital of Paris, in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. His body was cremated, and—with full military honours—his ashes were scattered at sea from a military ship.

Legacy

• Gabin is considered one of the greatest stars in French cinema, and was appointed Officier de la Légion d'honneur.
• In 1981, French actor Louis de Funès initiated the Prix Jean Gabin, an accolade presented to upcoming actors in the French film industry. It was awarded annually from 1981 to 2006.
• The Musée Jean Gabin—in the commune of Mériel, where he grew up—narrates his story and features his film memorabilia.
• The Place Jean Gabin was inaugurated on 16 May 2008 by Daniel Vaillant, the then mayor of the 18th arrondissement of Paris, and Gabin's children. It is on the corner of rue Custine and rue Lambert, at the foot of Montmartre.
• The Cinema Jean Gabin in Montgenèvre was named for him. Montgenèvre describes itself as France's oldest ski resort, and was a popular holiday destination for Gabin and other French artists and intellectuals, including Jean-Paul Sartre.
• Gabin bought land in Orne, most notably Bonnefoi and Moulins-la-Marche, where a street is named in his honour and the race track he created, Hippodrome Jean Gabin still bears his name.^{[5] [6]}

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1930	Everybody Wins	Marcel Grivot	Hans Steinhoff, René Pujol	French-language version of Headfirst into Happiness
			Michel Du Lac	Short With Raymond Dandy Alternative title Ohé les valises
				Short With Raymond Dandy Alternative title Les Lions
1931	Méphisto	Inspector Jacques Miral	Henri Debain	Serial film with four episodes With René Navarre Based on a novel by Arthur Bernède
	The Darling of Paris	Bob	Augusto Genina
	All That's Not Worth Love	Jean Cordier	Jacques Tourneur
	Gloria	Robert Nourry	Hans Behrendt, Yvan Noé	French-language version of Gloria
	For an Evening	Jean	Jean Godard
1932	Lilac	Martousse	Anatole Litvak	Based on a play by Tristan Bernard and Charles-Henry Hirsch
	Fun in the Barracks	Fricot	Maurice Tourneur	With Fernandel and Raimu Based on a play by Georges Courteline
		Joe Greer	Jean Daumery, (uncredited: Howard Hawks)	French-language version of The Crowd Roars
	The Beautiful Sailor	The Captain	Harry Lachman	With Madeleine Renaud and Pierre Blanchar Based on a play by Marcel Achard
	Happy Hearts	Charles	Hanns Schwarz, Max de Vaucorbeil	French-language version of Gypsies of the Night
1933	Pour un soir	Jean	Jean Godard	Shot 1931
	The Star of Valencia	Pedro Savedra	Serge de Poligny	With Brigitte Helm French-language version of The Star of Valencia
	Goodbye, Beautiful Days	Pierre Lavernay	Johannes Meyer, André Beucler	With Brigitte Helm French-language version of Happy Days in Aranjuez
	High and Low	Charles Boulla	G. W. Pabst	With Michel Simon and Peter Lorre
	The Tunnel	Allan Mac Allan	Curtis Bernhardt	With Madeleine Renaud and Gustaf Gründgens French-language version of The Tunnel
1934	Maria Chapdelaine	François Paradis	Julien Duvivier	With Madeleine Renaud and Jean-Pierre Aumont Adaptation of Louis Hémon's novel Maria Chapdelaine NBR Award 1935
	Zouzou	Jean	Marc Allégret	With Josephine Baker
1935	Golgotha	Pontius Pilate	Julien Duvivier	With Harry Baur and Edwige Feuillère
	La Bandera (Escape from Yesterday)	Pierre Gilleth	Julien Duvivier	With Annabella Adaptation of Pierre Mac Orlan's novel La Bandera
		Georges	Nicolas Farkas	With Annabella and Fernand Gravey French-language version of Variety
1936	They Were Five	Jeannot	Julien Duvivier	With Charles Vanel and Viviane Romance
	The Lower Depths	Pepel Wasska	Jean Renoir	With Louis Jouvet Adaptation of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths Louis Delluc Prize 1937
1937	Pépé le Moko	Pépé le Moko	Julien Duvivier	Remade twice in the US: Algiers (1938) and Casbah (1948)
	La Grande Illusion	Lieutenant Maréchal	Jean Renoir	With Erich von Stroheim, Pierre Fresnay and Marcel Dalio NBR Award 1938
	The Messenger	Nick Dange	Raymond Rouleau	With Jean-Pierre Aumont Based on a play by Henri Bernstein
	Lady Killer	Lucien Bourrache	Jean Grémillon	Adaptation of a novel by André Beucler
1938	Port of Shadows	Jean	Marcel Carné	With Michèle Morgan, Michel Simon and Pierre Brasseur Based on a novel by Pierre Mac Orlan Louis Delluc Prize 1939
	La Bête humaine (The Human Beast)	Jacques Lantier	Jean Renoir	With Simone Simon Adaptation of Émile Zola's novel La Bête humaine
1939	Coral Reefs	Trott Lennart	Maurice Gleize	With Michèle Morgan Adaptation of a novel by Jean Martet
	Le jour se lève (Daybreak)	François	Marcel Carné	With Arletty and Jules Berry Remade in the US as The Long Night (1947) starring Henry Fonda
1941	Stormy Waters	Captain André Laurent	Jean Grémillon	With Michèle Morgan and Madeleine Renaud Adaptation of a novel by Roger Vercel
1942	Moontide	Bobo	Archie Mayo	American film With Ida Lupino and Claude Rains Adaptation of a novel by Willard Robertson
1944	The Impostor	Clement / Maurice Lafarge	Julien Duvivier	American film
1946	Martin Roumagnac (The Room Upstairs)	Martin Roumagnac	Georges Lacombe	With Marlene Dietrich Adaptation of a novel by Pierre-René Wolf
1947	Mirror	Pierre Lussac / Miroir	Raymond Lamy
1949	The Walls of Malapaga	Pierre Arrignon	René Clément	With Isa Miranda Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
1950	La Marie du port	Henri Chatelard	Marcel Carné	Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
	His Last Twelve Hours	Carlo Bacchi	Luigi Zampa
1951	Victor	Victor	Claude Heymann	Based on a play by Henri Bernstein
	The Night Is My Kingdom	Raymond Pinsard	Georges Lacombe	Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 12th Venice International Film Festival
1952	La Vérité sur Bébé Donge (The Truth About Bebe Donge)	François Donge	Henri Decoin	(segment "La Maison Tellier") With Danielle Darrieux Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
	Le Plaisir (House of Pleasure)	Joseph Rivet	Max Ophüls	With Danielle Darrieux, Madeleine Renaud and Pierre Brasseur An anthology film based on three stories by Guy de Maupassant
	La Minute de vérité (The Moment of Truth)	Dr. Pierre Richard	Jean Delannoy	With Michèle Morgan and Daniel Gélin
1953	Storms	Antonio Sanna	Guido Brignone	With Silvana Pampanini and Serge Reggiani
	Their Last Night	Pierre Fernand Ruffin	Georges Lacombe	With Madeleine Robinson
		Jacques Ledru / Martin Schmidt	Gilles Grangier	With Nadia Gray Adaptation of a novel by Pierre Nord
1954	Touchez pas au grisbi (Don't Touch the Loot)	Max	Jacques Becker	With Jeanne Moreau and Lino Ventura Adaptation of a novel by Albert Simonin Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 15th Venice International Film Festival
	The Air of Paris	Victor Le Garrec	Marcel Carné	With Arletty and Folco Lulli Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 15th Venice International Film Festival
1955	Napoléon	Marshal Jean Lannes	Sacha Guitry	Cameo
	Razzia sur la chnouf (Raid on the Drug Ring)	Henri Ferré	Henri Decoin	With Magali Noël, Marcel Dalio and Lino Ventura Based on a novel by Auguste Le Breton
	French Cancan	Henri Danglard	Jean Renoir	With María Félix and Françoise Arnoul
	House on the Waterfront	Captain Lequévic	Edmond T. Gréville	With Henri Vidal
	The Little Rebels	Judge Julien Lamy	Jean Delannoy	Adaptation of a novel by Gilbert Cesbron
	Gas-Oil	Jean Chape	Gilles Grangier	With Jeanne Moreau Based on a novel by Georges Bayle
1956	People of No Importance	Jean Viard	Henri Verneuil	With Françoise Arnoul Based on a novel by Serge Groussard
	Deadlier Than the Male	André Chatelin	Julien Duvivier	Produced by Raymond Borderie (and others)
	Blood to the Head	François Cardinaud	Gilles Grangier	Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
	La Traversée de Paris (The Trip Across Paris)	Grandgil	Claude Autant-Lara	With Bourvil and Louis de Funès
	Crime and Punishment	Commissaire Gallet	Georges Lampin	With Robert Hossein, Marina Vlady, Bernard Blier, Ulla Jacobsson and Lino Ventura Adaptation of Dostoevsky's novel
1957<	--3 April 1957-->	The Case of Doctor Laurent	Dr. Laurent	Jean-Paul Le Chanois
	Speaking of Murder	Louis Bertain	Gilles Grangier	With Annie Girardot and Lino Ventura / Adaptation of a novel by Auguste Le Breton
1958	Maigret Sets a Trap	Jules Maigret	Jean Delannoy	With Annie Girardot and Lino Ventura Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
	Les Misérables	Jean Valjean	Jean-Paul Le Chanois	With Bernard Blier, Bourvil and Serge Reggiani Adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel
	Le désordre et la nuit (Night Affair)	Inspector Georges Vallois	Gilles Grangier	With Danielle Darrieux and Nadja Tiller
	Love Is My Profession	Maître André Gobillot	Claude Autant-Lara	With Brigitte Bardot Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
	The Possessors	Noël Schoudler	Denys de La Patellière	With Pierre Brasseur and Bernard Blier Adaptation of a novel by Maurice Druon
1959	Archimède le clochard (The Magnificent Tramp)	Archimède	Gilles Grangier	With Bernard Blier Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival^[7]
	Maigret et l'Affaire Saint-Fiacre	Jules Maigret	Jean Delannoy	Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
	Rue des prairies	Henri Neveux	Denys de La Patellière	Adaptation of a novel by René Lefèvre
1960	Le Baron de l'écluse (The Baron of the Locks)	Baron Jérôme Napoléon Anthoine	Jean Delannoy	With Micheline Presle Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
	The Old Guard	Baptiste Talon	Gilles Grangier	With Pierre Fresnay Adaptation of a novel by René Fallet
1961	The President	Émile Beaufort	Henri Verneuil	With Bernard Blier Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
	Le cave se rebiffe (The Counterfeiters of Paris)	Ferdinand Maréchal	Gilles Grangier	With Martine Carol, Bernard Blier and Françoise Rosay Adaptation of a novel by Albert Simonin
1962	A Monkey in Winter	Albert Quentin	Henri Verneuil	With Jean-Paul Belmondo Adaptation of Antoine Blondin's novel A Monkey in Winter
	The Gentleman from Epsom	Richard Briand-Charmery	Gilles Grangier	With Louis de Funès Raymond Oliver as himself
1963	Any Number Can Win	Mister Charles	Henri Verneuil
	Maigret Sees Red	Jules Maigret	Gilles Grangier	Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon
1964	Monsieur	René Duchêne / Georges Baudin	Jean-Paul Le Chanois	With Liselotte Pulver, Mireille Darc and Philippe Noiret
	That Tender Age	Émile Malhouin	Gilles Grangier	With Fernandel
1965	God's Thunder	Léandre Brassac	Denys de La Patellière	With Lilli Palmer, Michèle Mercier and Robert Hossein Adaptation of a novel by Bernard Clavel
1966	The Upper Hand	Paul Berger	Denys de La Patellière	With George Raft, Gert Fröbe, Mireille Darc and Nadja Tiller Adaptation of a novel by Auguste Le Breton
	The Gardener of Argenteuil	Joseph Martin alias 'Tulipe'	Jean-Paul Le Chanois	With Liselotte Pulver and Curd Jürgens
1967	Action Man	Denis Ferrand	Jean Delannoy	With Robert Stack, Margaret Lee and Walter Giller
1968	Pasha	Comissaire Louis Joss	Georges Lautner
	Le tatoué (The Million Dollar Tattoo)	Count Enguerand	Denys de La Patellière	With Louis de Funès
1969	Under the Sign of the Bull	Albert Raynal	Gilles Grangier	Adaptation of a novel by Roger Vrigny
	The Sicilian Clan	Vittorio Manalese	Henri Verneuil	With Alain Delon and Lino Ventura Score by Ennio Morricone Adaptation of a novel by Auguste Le Breton
1970	La Horse	Auguste Maroilleur	Pierre Granier-Deferre
1971	Le Chat	Julien Bouin	Pierre Granier-Deferre	With Simone Signoret Adaptation of a novel by Georges Simenon Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival^[8]
		Victor Ploubaz	Michel Audiard	Adaptation of a novel by René Fallet
1972		Commissaire Le Guen	Denys de La Patellière	With Bernard Blier, Fabio Testi and Uschi Glas
1973	The Dominici Affair	Gaston Dominici		Based on the Dominici affair
	Two Men in Town	Germain Cazeneuve	José Giovanni	With Alain Delon, Michel Bouquet and Mimsy Farmer Remade in the USA as Two Men in Town (2014) starring Forest Whitaker
1974	Verdict	Judge Leguen	André Cayatte	With Sophia Loren Produced by Carlo Ponti
1976	L'Année sainte (Holy Year)	Max Lambert	Jean Girault	with Jean-Claude Brialy and Danielle Darrieux

Further reading

• Jean-Michel Betti: Salut, Gabin! Ed. de Trévise, Paris 1977.
• André Brunelin: Gabin Herbig, München/Berlin 1989, ; Ullstein TB 36650, Frankfurt am Main/Berlin 1996, .
• Claude Gauteur: Jean Gabin. Nathan, Paris 1993, .
• Jean-Marc Loubier: Jean Gabin, Marlène Dietrich: un rêve brisê, Acropole, Paris 2002, .
• Eine unvollendete Liebe. Marlene Dietrich und Jean Gabin. Documentary, Germany, 2012, 52:30 Min., Book and directed by Daniel Guthmann, Christian Buckhard, Production: DG Filmproduktion, WDR, arte, first shown: 9 February 2013, arte. contains interviews with Louis Bozon and Jean-Jacques Debout, and Gabin's children Florence and Mathias.

Joseph Harriss: "Jean Gabin: The Actor Who Was France." McFarland, Jefferson, NC 2018

External links

• • • Musée Jean Gabin
• website in Italian language

Notes and References

1. Book: Qui est qui en France . Lafitte, Jacques . Taylor, Stephen . J. Lafitte. 1969.
2. Web site: Jean Gabin – Actors and Actresses – Films as Actor:, Publications . Filmreference.com . 16 July 2014.
3. Web site: D.S . Shreyas . 19 February 2022 . 25 Greatest Actors Of All Time . 16 December 2022 . Flickside . en-us.
4. http://www.arte.tv/de/marlene-dietrich-und-jean-gabin-ein-ungleiches-liebespaar/7261670,CmC=7250240.html Marlene Dietrich und Jean Gabin – Ein ungleiches Liebespaar
5. Web site: Gabin, une légende au coeur du Perche en Normandie – France Bleu. ici, par France Bleu et France 3.
6. Web site: Jean Gabin.
7. Web site: Berlinale 1959: Prize Winners . 5 January 2010 . berlinale.de.
8. Web site: Berlinale 1971: Prize Winners . 14 March 2010 . berlinale.de.