Philippe Clair
Director
19
Películas
2
Series
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.
Detrás de Cámaras
Par où t'es rentré? On t'a pas vu sortir
Director, Escritor
Plus beau que moi tu meurs
Director, Escritor
Tais-toi quand tu parles
Director, Escritor
Les réformés se portent bien
Producer's Assistant, Escritor, Director
Si tu vas à Rio... tu meurs
Escritor, Director
Le Führer en folie
Adaptation, Director
Déclic et des claques
Director, Escritor
La Grande Maffia
Director, Escritor
La Grande Java
Director, Escritor
La Brigade en folie
Director, Escritor
Si t'as besoin de rien, fais-moi signe
Director
Rodriguez au pays des merguez
Director, Escritor, Co-Producer
Comment se faire réformer
Director, Escritor
Le Grand Fanfaron
Director
Ces flics étranges venus d'ailleurs
Escritor, Director
Como Actor/Actriz
Midi Première
Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
Par où t'es rentré? On t'a pas vu sortir
Prosper de Courtaboeuf
Plus beau que moi tu meurs
Prosper
Tais-toi quand tu parles
Ahmed
Du rififi à Paname
Les réformés se portent bien
L'adjudant Nestor
Olhar Estrangeiro
Self
Si tu vas à Rio... tu meurs
Shipowner
Cayenne Palace
José Morgan
Le Führer en folie
Le curé de Bab El Oued
Déclic et des claques
Jean-Philippe
Des gens sans importance
La Grande Maffia
Vicar
La Grande Java
La Brigade en folie
Philippot
Si t'as besoin de rien, fais-moi signe
Simon
Rodriguez au pays des merguez
Roro
Comment se faire réformer
L'adjudant
Le Grand Fanfaron
French bus driver in India / voice of Gilbert Malki (uncredited)
Ces flics étranges venus d'ailleurs
L'adjudant Prosper Perez, dit 'Tonton Merguez'