MAURICE CHEVALIER, MISTINGUET... AND THEIR TIMES. Cont'd.
Maurice Chevalier was the superstar of “Le Casino de Paris”. He shared fame and fortune with his co-female superstar Mistinguett. They had different personalities and divergent characters, yet they were friendly on the set. Mistinguett was very jealous and envious of the success of any female or male Parisian artist who was a threat to her, regardless where she or he performed. Chevalier was a perfect gentleman on and off stage. He had a lot of class and was very permissive by nature. Mistinguett was a very loving and generous person but, a shrewd, tough cookie artiste.
I
have devoted a large part of this work to the biography of Mistinguett “La
Reine de Paris”, the queen of Paris as the Parisians used to call her and to
Maurice Chevalier as well. Please refer to. The French did not consider
Mistinguett as a “great singer”. They saw in her the perfect Cabaret artiste
with a very unique stage presence. She had legs! She had charisma! She was
outrageous! And she was multi faceted. Chevalier was looked upon as the
perfect Parisian music hall singer, artist and entertainer. Both had national
and international hits. Chevalier had his “Gigi”, “Valentine”, “Mimi”,
“Louise” and “Thanks for the Little Girl”. Mistinguett had “Ca C’est Paris”
and “Mon Homme”, a song which became an international success. Almost all the
great French singers one day will sing her song, Patachou the protégé of Edith
Piaf recorded it, and decades later, Barbra Streisand will record it too
under “My Man”.
Photo:
Mistinguett and Maurice Chevalier at the dawn of their shows collaboration at
“Le Casino de Paris”
Maurice Chevalier was born in 1888 in Paris, France. He began his artistic career in 1901 as a comedian and a singer. He made a dozen of movies in France and in Hollywood. Please refer to the previous part (link) to see Chevalier’s photos with world famous screen superstars. His first motion picture was in fact his first Hollywood musical "Innocents of Paris" in 1929. In 1959, His two motion pictures “The Love Parade” and “The Big Pond” both shot in 1929-1930 made him an international motion picture star. His fame and talent as a solid cinema actor were cemented in the 1950’s “Gigi” and “Love in the Afternoon”. In 1959 he was honored by the Academy Awards and received a special Oscar for his long life contributions to the world of entertainment and life achievements. He kept on performing and entertaining millions around the globe until his late seventies. Maurice Chevalier’s 1921 first appearance at “Le Casino de Paris” was coincidental. The Casino had its own superstar, the one and only « Mistinguett ». CONTINUES NEXT