| Folies Bergère de Paris | |
|---|---|
 Newspaper advertisement | |
| Directed by | Roy Del Ruth |
| Written by | Jessie Ernst (adaptation) Bess Meredyth (screenplay) Hal Long (screenplay) Darryl F. Zanuck (contributing writer-uncredited) |
| Based on | The Red Cat byRudolph Lothar andHans Adler |
| Produced by | William Goetz Raymond Griffith Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Starring | Maurice Chevalier Ann Sothern Merle Oberon |
| Cinematography | J. Peverell Marley Barney McGill |
| Edited by | Allen McNeil Sherman Todd |
| Music by | Score: Alfred Newman (uncredited) Songs: Henri Christiné(music) Jack Stern(music) Burton Lane(music) Victor Young(music) Albert Willemetz(lyrics) Jack Meskill(lyrics) Harold Adamson(lyrics) Bing Crosby(lyrics) Ned Washington(lyrics) |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Folies Bergère de Paris is a 1935 Americanmusical comedy film produced by Darryl Zanuck for 20th Century Films, directed by Roy Del Ruth and starringMaurice Chevalier,Merle Oberon andAnn Sothern. At the8th Academy Awards, the “Straw Hat” number, choreographed byDave Gould, won the short-livedAcademy Award for Best Dance Direction, sharing the honor with “I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'” fromBroadway Melody of 1936.[1] The film, based on the 1934 playThe Red Cat byRudolph Lothar andHans Adler, is a story of mistaken identity, with Maurice Chevalier playing both a music-hall star and a business tycoon who resembles him. This was Chevalier's last film in Hollywood for twenty years, and reprised familiar themes such as the straw hat and a rendering of the French song "Valentine".[2] This is also the last film to be distributed byTwentieth Century Pictures before it merged withFox Film in 1935 to form20th Century Fox.
Zanuck simultaneously produced a French-language version of the story, also directed by Roy Del Ruth, calledL'homme des Folies Bergère. It stars Chevalier andNatalie Paley andSim Viva.[3] Because that film was intended for the French market, they shot scenes showing chorus girls bare breasted. When censorJoseph Breen heard of it, he insisted that the Production Code be enforced even in a film destined for another country. TheAmerican Film Institute catalog site describes Zanuck's losing battle with the censors.[3]
The Red Cat, which was produced for the Broadway stage byZanuck, ran for only 13 performances, but the studio benefited from four film adaptations.[4][5] The third and fourth versions were inTechnicolor, these beingThat Night in Rio, (1941) directed byIrving Cummings (and starringDon Ameche,Alice Faye andCarmen Miranda) followed byOn the Riviera (1951), directed byWalter Lang (and starringDanny Kaye,Gene Tierney andCorinne Calvet).
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