Charles Denner

Posted on by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

  1. Yves Montand, Compartiment tueurs (US:The Sleeping Car Murder), France, 1964.    Costa-Gavras kicked around casting notions with his producteurJulien Derode Costa’s take on the Sebastien Jasprisot novel: Denner, Claude Mann, Pierre Mondy, Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli… Simone Signoret agreed about her daughter, Catherine Allegret, “butafter her Bac exam… and if you like, I’ll be the old actress.”  If!?They were still talking (“it’s not Potemkimbut worth making”) at the Colomber d’Or in St Paul-de-Vence, when when Simone’s lover, Yves Montand, joined them. “Anything for me?”“Here’s the script, take your choice!” He fell for the cop, Inspector Grizziani – originally intended for Denner. “You could do it in your Marseille accent,” said Costa. “Like Fernandel, Raimu?”said Montand accusingly. “He’s right,”said Simone. “Try it – it’s a good rôle.” After the first day’s shooting, Montand agreed: “We’ll continue like that.” The news of the thriller – or, the casting – spread and Costa was surrounded by actors clamouring: “Me, too! Me, too!”He wrote bits for Françoise Arnoul, Claude Berri, Daniel Gelin, George Géret, Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Louis Livi (Montand’s nephew and future producer) had a mute role. Jean-Louis Trintignant’s was better. “A murderer? J’en suis ravi.”   

  2. François Truffaut, La chambre verte (US: The Green Room), France, 1977. Or la chambre vide said most French critics of Truffaut’s film and performance as the curator from Henry James’ Altar of the Dead. Truffaut only played the obsessive Julian Davenne (his third role in his films) due to the unavailability of l’homme qui aimait les femmes. “It’s madness, it will never work.” he kept telling co-star Nathalie Baye.” “He came close to stopping everything,” she reported. He should have. Then again. He should have chosen Jean-Louis Trinitignant to start with

  3. Gérard Depardieu, La femme a coté, 1981. “I should give the rights to Catherine Deneuve,” said Truffaut of the script largely based on their 60s romance.   When first planning the film   in 1972, two years after the end of the affair, Truffaut thought of re-uniting Denner and Jeanne Moreau from   La Mariée était en noir-The Bride Wore Black, 1968.  

 

 Birth year: 1926Death year: 1995Other name: Casting Calls:  3