Chanson Du Jour: “Jezebel”


Chanson Du Jour 10/19/2016: “Jezebel” by Edith Piaf

In the États–Unis d’Amérique, Frankie Laine had a great hit with this in 1951. The Everly Brothers also recorded it, as did Prague’s legendary Waldemar Matuška.

I love Piaf’s version – recorded the same year as Frankie’s hit.

Jezebel – the Biblical woman who was a murderer, prostitute and enemy of God – reportedly preferred the version of her song that Desi Arnaz sang in the I Love Lucy episode, “Lucy Is Jealous of Girl Singer.” True! Pas de merde! Continue reading “Chanson Du Jour: “Jezebel”” →

“Sanctuary!”

The “Sanctuary!” scene from the classic 1939 version of Victor Hugo’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” starring Charles Laughton as Quasimodo and Maureen O’Hara as Esmeralda.

“Hunchback” was the only movie screened at the very first Cannes Film Festival, as the remainder of the festival was cancelled when Adolf Hitler invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939. The bell-ringing scene was Laughton’s response to impending war. The actor later said he rang the bells actually wanting “to arouse the (real) world, to stop that terrible butchery!”

“It is absurd to speak of Laughton’s Quasimodo as a great performance, as if that were some quantifiable assessment. It is acting at its greatest; it is Laughton at his greatest; it is a cornerstone of this century’s dramatic achievement; it is a yardstick for all acting.”
– SIMON CALLOW, NY Times 1988

 

 

Chanson Du Jour: “Belleville Rendez-Vous”

Chanson Du Jour 10/18/2016:”Belleville Rendez-Vous” by Benoît Charest with Mathieu Chedid

“Belleville Rendez-Vous” from the soundtrack of Sylvain Chomet’s film “Les triplettes de belleville”(2003) Benoît Charest was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for this composition.