Philippe Clair
Prosper Charles Bensoussan professionally known as Philippe Clair (14 September 1930 – 28 November 2020) was a Moroccan-French actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and popular humorist. Along with fellow French directors Max Pécas and Richard Balducci, his name is synonymous with the golden age of camp and low comedy in French cinema.
Philippe Clair moved to Paris in 1950 to study acting at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris. He won the Bernstein and College Stars awards, honors given to the best young Parisian actors. He performed on stage and television with major directors and writers in shows such as L'Affaire des poisons [Affair of the Poisons] directed by Raymond Rouleau, Une femme libre [A free woman] by Armand Salacrou, and Les Îles fortunées [The Prosperous Islands] by Simon Gantillon. Eventually he got a show of his own and became an important French humorist, mounting such works as the Judeo-Arabic Purée de nous z'otres [Mashed we z'otres], and Le Cid in Oued Bel [Parody of El Cid] based on the book by Edmond Brua. He specialized in improvisation and in writing comedy sketches.
In 1965 Clair directed his first film, Déclic et des claques [Clicks and Slaps] with Annie Girardot, the comic misadventures of a young pied-noir [French Algerian] in Paris. He continued his work as a singer: in 1967, his sketch Rien Nasser de courir which satirized the Six-Day War was banned because of its political overtones.
In 1970, Philippe Clair became the leading director of popular comedy. His humor usually had a French Algerian flavor. Most of his films were commercial successes, although sometimes they were panned by critics who called them vulgar or overacted. His films were often plagiarized by other directors with typical French disrespect or–as the French call it–franchouillards.
His 1971 film La Grande Java [Great Java] launched the comedy careers of the members of the French band Les Charlots. He went on to use band member Aldo Maccione in The Great Maffia, Plus beau que moi, tu meurs [More beautiful than me, you die], and Tais-toi quand tu parles! [Shut up when you talk]. He made several surreal films, such as Le Führer en folie [The Fuhrer Runs Amok], which featured Henri Tisot in the role of Adolf Hitler and in which Michel Galabru plays the role of a football referee. In 1984, he managed the greatest coup of his career by casting Jerry Lewis in the film Par où t'es rentré? On t'a pas vu sortir [How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave].
In 2013 journalist and filmmaker Gilles Botineau joined with Philippe Clair to produce a documentary portrait titled, Plus drôle que lui, tu meurs [Funnier than him, you die]. The film, lasting 55 minutes covered Clair's entire career, focusing especially on his vision of comedy. Clair retired in 1990 at the age of 60. However, he returned with a production he wrote in 2013 titled, Help, Philippe Clair returns.
Philippe Clair was not always treated kindly by the critics. Critic John Tulard in the "Dictionary of French directors" said, "His work is incredibly stupid and vulgar". The weekly French magazineTélérama opined, "Every film by Philippe Clair is worse than the last, and yet it never stops". ...
Source: Article "Philippe Clair" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For | Directing |
---|---|
Most Rating | 5.04 |
Birthday | 1930-09-14 |
Place of Birth | Ahfir, Moroco |
Also Known As | Prosper Bensoussan, |
1981
Shut Up When You Speak!
6.3/10
Giacomo has an idol: James Bond. When he dreams, he dreams of himself, his fabulous adventures, especially in Tunisia, and a beautiful wife, Belle. In...
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Shut Up When You Speak!
1982
Plus beau que moi tu meurs
5.5/13
Aldo and Marco are twins. Marco, a priest by trade, has always been an object of pride for his mother, while Aldo has already spent six periods in pri...
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Plus beau que moi tu meurs
2006
The Foreign Eye
5.8/6
Fantasies and clichés about Brazil and Brazilians as reinforced by international films, even those actually shot in Brazil. This documentary features...
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The Foreign Eye
1974
The Fuhrer Runs Amok
3.4/4
France and Germany are at war. Adolf Hitler challenges the Allies to seal the fate of the war by playing a football match.
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The Fuhrer Runs Amok
1987
Si tu vas à Rio... tu meurs
6/4
Twin brothers arrive in Rio during the Carnival. One is a priest and is going to work in a parish; the other, a drug-dealer, in a business trip to sel...
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Si tu vas à Rio... tu meurs
1984
How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave
5.5/5
Clovis Blaireau is a private detective. It is charged by Nadège de Courtaboeuf wife knew wealthy industrialist Prosper de Courtaboeuf, to obtain evide...
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How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave
1973
La brigade en folie
3/3
A police brigade and a financial brigade are sent to Switzerland to dismantle a banking sector.
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La brigade en folie
1978
Comment se faire réformer
2.5/2
Two friends, Philippe and Jeannot, are drafted the same day and assigned to the same place. They have no taste for military life and during the conscr...
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Comment se faire réformer
1980
Rodriguez au pays des merguez
1.2/1
In Bab El Oued, during the French colonization, the action takes place against the backdrop of elections. The unemployed Roro, son of skewer merchant...
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Rodriguez au pays des merguez
1965
Déclic et des claques
1/1
From their native Algeria, four friends discover Paris, hoping to find fortune and love. One of them meets the charming Sandra, who is looking for mea...
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Déclic et des claques
2006
Arte 1 Documenta
0/0
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Arte 1 Documenta
1979
Ces flics étranges venus d'ailleurs
0/0
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Ces flics étranges venus d'ailleurs
1977
Lâche-moi les valseuses!...
0/0
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Lâche-moi les valseuses!...
1966
The Upper Hand
6.303/33
In Paris, a gold smuggler is at war with other local gangsters who want piece of the action. Then the mob shows up and makes things worse. And an unde...
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The Upper Hand
1986
Si t'as besoin de rien, fais-moi signe
2/1
Once inseparable, Charles the artist and Daniel the schemer reunite after 15 years of separation and confess their mutual misfortune. Determined to st...
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Si t'as besoin de rien, fais-moi signe
1978
Les réformés se portent bien
4/2
In order to subdue the conscripts of Chamber 13, a new captain is assigned. He is an adventurer, a nostalgic of his warrior past and the resistance is...
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Les réformés se portent bien
1976
The Braggart
4/1
Lieutenant Gilles Castelet would have liked to marry like anybody else. But he has always been under the sexual spell of Colonel Popoti's wife. Once r...
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The Braggart
1962
Give Me Ten Desperate Men
0/0
This is a story that is less a developed tale than a thumbnail sketch about imaginary events on a kibbutz in Palestine. Set in the period just before...
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Give Me Ten Desperate Men
1971
La Grande Maffia
3/1
After receiving a mobster's heart as a transplant, a modest bank teller embarks on a life of criminal exploits.
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La Grande Maffia
1971
The Great Java
6.5/12
Five friends come to the city Brizul. Here they want to find Mr Auguste Kougloff who owns them money, namely 20 million.
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