André Lefaur(1879-1952)
- Actor
André Lefaur is undeniably part of the pantheon of French actors. One
of those "eccentrics of the French Cinema" as Raymond Chirat and
Olivier Barrot quite rightly dubbed them. One of these wonderful
personalities of the stage and screen who alongside Michel Simon, Louis
Jouvet, Saturnin Fabre, Raimu and several others have such a strong
personality, such a personal style that they are absolutely inimitable.
Just like the actors mentioned above, André Lefaur was first and
foremost André Lefaur. Which does not mean that he did not make the
character he played believable. Quite the contrary. But like Simon,
Brasseur or Raimu, he made them bigger than life and- accordingly -
unforgettable. It is to be noted that on the big screen was most of the
time a nobleman (at lest twenty times: six times a marquis, four times
a baron) and/or a figure of authority (four times a general, but also a
colonel, a judge or a president). However, instead of causing the
viewer to admire these figures of the elite, Lefaur invariably deflated
the ego of those pompous empty windbags. Yes, André Lefaur was nearly
always cast as a v.i.p. but this person was invariably starchy,
tyrannical ('La Fleur d'Oranger'), weak, pretentious, ridiculous ('La
Dixième Symphonie') or cuckolded ('L'Habit Vert'). On the other hand,
he never made puppets of his characters. There was always humanity
within them and the viewer tended to end up feeling sorry for them
rather than despise them. Marc Allégret allowed Lefaur to display all
his humanity in his final role, that of a loving father in 'Les Petites
du Quai aux Fleurs'), which was a nice farewell present to a man who
will always be remembered for his ability to deliver witty lines by
Louis Verneuil, Mirande, Deval, Flers and Caillavet like nobody else.
