By Florence Strauss
Pierre Braunberger, Anatole Dauman, Robert Dorfmann, les freres Hakim, Mag Bodard, Alain Poire, Pierre Cottrell, Albina du Boisrouvray, Jacques Perrin and many others... They always worked behind-the-scenes and were unknown to the general public. However, they produced films, including Breathless, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Belle de Jour, that were famous not only in France, but around the world.
Self-taught, passionate and willing to gamble, these men and women financed films at a time when there was neither support from the television industry nor specialized bank financing. They started with nothing and could either win it all or lose everything. Directed by Florence Strauss, the 8-part documentary series THE LAST TYCOONS highlights the men and women, who from 1945 to 1980, produced landmark films that influenced cinema for generations to come.
Episode 1 - The Romantic Ones
Casque d'Or (1952) / Robert and Raymond Hakim / dir. Jacques Becker
Beauty and the Beast (1946) / Andre Paulve / dir. Jean Cocteau
Fanfan la Tulipe (1952) / Alexandre Mnouchkine and Georges Dancigers / dir. Christian-Jaque
French Cancan (1955) / Henry Deutchmeister / dir. Jean Renoir
Episode 2 - The Tenacious Ones
Forbidden Games (1952) / Robert Dorfmann / dir. Rene Clement
A Story of Water (1961) / Pierre Braunberger / dir. Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut
Night and Fog (1956) / Anatole Daumann / dir. Alain Resnais
Episode 3 - The Audacious Ones
Breathless (1960) / Georges de Beauregard / dir. Jean-Luc Godard
And God Created Woman (1956) / Raoul Levy / dir. By Roger Vadim
The Sucker (1965) / Robert Dorfmann / dir. Gerard Oury
Episode 4 - The American Way
Belle de Jour (1967) / Robert and Raymond Hakim / dir. Luis Bunuel
The Sicilian Clan (1969) / Jacques-eric Strauss / dir. Henri Verneuil
Crooks in Clover (1963) / Alain Poire / dir. Georges Lautner
Episode 5 - The Lovers
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) / Mag Bodard / dir. Jacques Demy
Z (1969) / Jacques Perrin / dir. Costa-Gavras
That Man From Rio (1964) / Alexandre Mnouchkine and Georges Dancigers / dir. Philippe de Broca
Episode 6 - The Immortals
The Things of Life (1970) / Raymond Danon / dir. Claude Sautet
That Most Important Thing: Love (1975) / Albina du Boisrouvray / dir. Andrzej Zulawski
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie / Serge Silberman / dir. Luis Bunuel
Episode 7 - Censorship
Emmanuelle (1974) / Yves Rousset-Rouard / dir. Just Jaeckin
Going Places (1974) / Paul Claudon / dir. Bertrand Blier
The Mother and the Whore (1973) / Pierre Cottrell / dir. Jean Eustache
Episode 8 - The Magnificent Ones
La Grande Bouffe (1973) / Jean-Pierre Rassam / dir. Marco Ferreri
The Wing or the Thigh (1976) / Christian Fechner / dir. Claude Zidi
Tess (1979) / Claude Berri / dir. Roman Polanski
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