- Andre Pousse, Faut pas prendre les enfants du bon Dieu pour des canards sauvages, (Don’t Take God’s Children for Wild Geese), France, 1966. After 66 (of his 128) scripts, Michel Audiard (father of Jacques) wanted to BE an auteur – in full charge of his scenario for once or twice. (Ten times in the end). When his heroine Danièle Gaubert had to quit (“personal reasons”), he changed the cast to suit himself. Enter: the ex-cycling champ Pousse. As for the title, he cheerfully disrergarded all advice about “something, short, catchy” and insisted on one of the longest titles in French cinema history. It became his trademark: Elle boit pas, elle fume pas, elle drague pas, mais… elle cause! in 1969, Le cri du cormoran, le soir au-dessus des jonques, 1970, Comment réussir… quand on est con et pleurnichard, 1974.
- Bernard Blier, Faut pas prendre les enfants du bon Dieu pour des canards sauvages, France, 1968. Prodigious dialoguist-turned-auteur Michel Audiard (129 scripts in 36 years) preferred filming with his pals. He’d never worked with Darras, Philipe Noiret or Jean Yanne, so simply changed them for Blier (they made 18 films together), André Pousse (10), Paul Frankeur (nine). The March shooting was fun, but the release clashed with May ’68 when France blew up…
Birth year: 1927Death year: 1999Other name: Casting Calls: 1