Beginning in 1931, she appeared in more than 110 films. She was one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career was among the longest in film history. She turned 100 in May 2017.
Darrieux was born in Bordeaux, France during World War I to a physician who was serving in the French Army. Her father died when she was seven years old. Raised in Paris, she studied the cello at the Conservatoire de Musique. At 13, she won a part in the musical film Le Bal (1931). Her beauty combined with her singing and dancing ability led to numerous other offers, and the film Mayerling (1936) brought her to fame.
In 1935, Darrieux married director/screenwriter Henri Decoin, who encouraged her to try Hollywood. She signed with Universal Studios to star in The Rage of Paris (1938) opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Afterwards, she elected to return to Paris.
Under the German occupation of France during World War II, she continued to perform, a decision that was severely criticized by her compatriots. However, it is reported that her brother had been threatened with deportation by Alfred Greven, the manager of the German run film production company in occupied France, Continental. She got a divorce and then fell in love with Porfirio Rubirosa, a Dominican Republic diplomat and notorious womanizer. They married in 1942. His anti-Nazi opinions resulted in his forced residence in Germany. In exchange for Rubirosa's freedom, Darrieux agreed to make a promotional trip in Berlin. The couple lived in Switzerland until the end of the war, and divorced in 1947. She married scriptwriter Georges Mitsikidès in 1948, and they lived together until his death in 1991.
She gave a good performance in the 1951 MGM musical Rich, Young and Pretty. Joseph L. Mankiewicz lured her back to Hollywood to star in 5 Fingers (1952) opposite James Mason. Upon returning to France, she appeared in Max Ophüls' The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) opposite Charles Boyer, and The Red and the Black (1954) opposite Gérard Philippe. The next year she starred in Lady Chatterley's Lover, whose theme of uninhibited sexuality led to its being proscribed by Catholic censors in the United States.
During the late 1950s, she played a supporting role in her last American film, United Artists' epic Alexander the Great (1956) starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. In 1961 she went to England at the request of director Lewis Gilbert to star in The Greengage Summer opposite Kenneth More. In 1963, she starred in the romantic comedy La Robe Mauve de Valentine at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris. The play was adapted from the novel by Françoise Sagan. Then, in 1966, she played a memorable supporting role in Jacques Demy's musical The Young Girls of Rochefort. She is notable for being the only principal actor in any of Demy's film-musicals to sing her own songs. (All other actors had a separate person voice their singing parts.) During the 1960s she also was a concert singer.
In 1970, Darrieux replaced Katharine Hepburn in the Broadway musical Coco, based on the life of Coco Chanel, but the play, essentially a showcase for Hepburn, soon folded without her. In 1971 and 1972 she also appeared in the short-lived productions of Ambassador. In 1982, she worked again with Demy for his film Une chambre en ville, an opera-like musical melodrama reminiscent of the director's earlier masterpiece The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Once again, Darrieux provided her own vocals for her songs.
For her long service to the motion picture industry, in 1985 she was given an Honorary César Award. She continued to work, her career spanning eight decades, most recently providing the voice of the protagonist's grandmother in the animated feature, Persepolis (2007), which deals with the impact of the Islamic revolution on a girl's life as she grows to adulthood in Iran.
Danielle Darreux died on 17 October 2017 aged 100.
She was paid homage in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009): when Shosanna Dreyfus is preparing to take the Nazis down, her assistant calls her Danielle Darrieux.
Une charade
Danielle Darrieux Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Un peu bête j'en conviens
La réponse sera vite prête
Je commence, écoutez bien
Mon premier c'est un coeur timide
Qui pour moi ne saurait jamais mentir
Mon second c'est deux bras solides
Mon troisième des baisers sonores
Comme on aime à les imaginer
Et mon tout c'est l'homme que j'adore
C'est facile à deviner
Ah vraiment c'est une charade
Pour laquelle on ne cherche pas
Et pourtant vous restez en rade
Vous donnez votre langue au chat
Pour que vous l'ayez bien en tête
Je la répète, écoutez-la:
Mon premier c'est un regard tendre
Mon deuxième un sourire moqueur
Mon troisième les mots que j'aime entendre
Et mon tout se trouve dans mon coeur
Il y tient même toute la place
Et c'est pour lui qu'il bat à grands coups
Cette fois je le vois, vous avez deviné
Que mon tout c'est vous
The song Une charade by Danielle Darrieux is a play on words and a guessing game, where the singer presents a riddle made up of clues that hint at the identity of the person she loves. The lyrics are in French and describe a four-part charade. The first part of the charade refers to a "timid heart" that never lies, which represents the letter "C." The second part of the charade refers to "strong arms" where one can "snuggle up," which represents the letter "O." The third part of the charade refers to "loud kisses," which represents the letter "U." The fourth and final part of the charade is the answer to the riddle, which is the person the singer loves.
The second verse of the song repeats the structure of the first, with different clues representing the letters "R," "I," "E," and then the answer, "vous," meaning "you." The lyrics become more expressive and emotional towards the end of the song when the singer reveals that her whole heart belongs to the person she loves.
The song is a beautiful and poetic expression of love and devotion that captures the spirit of French romanticism. It's a clever and playful way of revealing the identity of one's love interest without being too direct or explicit. The song's catchy melody, charming lyrics, and the singer's tender voice make it an enduring classic of French chanson.
Line by Line Meaning
Je connais une devinette
I know a riddle
Un peu bête j'en conviens
A little silly, I admit
La réponse sera vite prête
The answer will be ready quickly
Je commence, écoutez bien
I start, listen carefully
Mon premier c'est un coeur timide
My first is a shy heart
Qui pour moi ne saurait jamais mentir
That could never lie to me
Mon second c'est deux bras solides
My second is two strong arms
Où l'on peut si bien se blottir
Where one can cuddle so well
Mon troisième des baisers sonores
My third is loud kisses
Comme on aime à les imaginer
As we like to imagine them
Et mon tout c'est l'homme que j'adore
And my whole is the man I adore
C'est facile à deviner
It's easy to guess
Ah vraiment c'est une charade
Ah, truly it's a charade
Pour laquelle on ne cherche pas
For which we don't search
Et pourtant vous restez en rade
Yet, you're still stranded
Vous donnez votre langue au chat
You give up trying to guess
Pour que vous l'ayez bien en tête
So you have it in your mind
Je la répète, écoutez-la:
I repeat it, listen to it
Mon premier c'est un regard tendre
My first is a tender gaze
Mon deuxième un sourire moqueur
My second is a mocking smile
Mon troisième les mots que j'aime entendre
My third is the words I love hearing
Et mon tout se trouve dans mon coeur
And my whole is in my heart
Il y tient même toute la place
It even holds the entire space
Et c'est pour lui qu'il bat à grands coups
And it's for him that it beats wildly
Cette fois je le vois, vous avez deviné
This time I see it, you have guessed
Que mon tout c'est vous
That my whole is you
Contributed by Aubrey C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Philip Chretien Karlsson
Enfin, une claire et fraîche version de cette charmante chanson, du film "Battements de Coeur", de 1939. j'ai le 78 tours originale, de chez Polydor, et dont le son, même sur disque neuf est tout simplement affreux: on entend à peine la fin, tant le bruit de surface est fort! Bravo et merci pour la restauration sonore !
MoSkent1
Etrange que cette magnifique et délicieuse chanson soit présente dans un disque regroupant les succès des années 50 de l'éternellement sublime Danièle Darrieux, alors que cette dernière la chante dans le non moins délicieux film "Battements de Coeur", tourné par son époux Henri Recoin en 1939, et sorti sur les écrans Parisiens en 1940...