Louis Jouvet: Act, Act, Act!
 

PostED ON 15.10.2025

The art of acting in everything with unforgettable style characterises Louis Jouvet. Nearly 75 years after his death, his iconic line with its unique delivery still echoes in our ears: ‘Did I say bizarre? How bizarre’, from Bizarre, Bizarre/Drôle de drame.

© CICC / DR
Jouvet face à Jouvet, Les Amoureux sont seuls au monde

Louis Jouvet wore several  artistic hats at the same time: Actor, director, theatre manager, and even professor at the National Superior Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. The Lumière film festival has chosen to honour him by screening selections from his filmography shot between 1936 and 1951. A theatre enthusiast, Jouvet abandoned his studies in pharmacy to take classes with Charles Dullin. Between 1933 and 1951, he made more than thirty films. This king of actors, born in 1887, worked alongside stars like Jean Gabin, Arletty, Bernard Blier and Michel Simon, and was directed by the likes of Marcel Carné, Jean Dréville, Jean Renoir, Henri-Georges Clouzot or Julien Duvivier. Within this wide realm, he showcased performances that were double, triple, quadruple... and beyond.

Tall and slender, he always maintained an upright posture, and was not one to ever laugh out loud. His performances were lively, without attempts at over-agility. With his long arms always held slightly away from his body and deliberately fixed gaze, Jouvet was an impressive presence, yet able to absorb his characters. He exercised his craft like few before him, as if one role was not enough for him! He multiplied his identities on screen, even accomplishing the feat of taking on several parts in the same film! He played both a dapper pimp and a dirty gangster in Hôtel du Nord/North Hotel; a wealthy aristocrat who becomes a homeless man in The Lower Depths/Underworld; a thuggish nightclub owner and also a lawyer in Life Dances On/Dance of Life; an old actor haunted by his own roles in The End of the Day; a flamboyant director obsessed with his naive boy past, prompting him to change his name in A Lover’s Return; a military friend in the guise of a police inspector in The Alibi; a shrewd cop who takes on the identity of a crooked lawyer in Between Eleven and Midnight, where even the opening scene pokes fun at his stories of doubles and doppelgangers (!!); or finally, a con artist-murderer who swindles movers, rich clients, elderly aristocrats, then comes face-to-face with his real lookalike in the aptly named Carbon Copy/Confessions of a Rogue/Perfect Double - the apex of identity theft, courtesy of Jouvet!

© DR
Jouvet face à Jouvet, Copie conforme

Rarely married on the silver screen, he tended to play characters who were witty, adventurous, dangerous, somewhat boorish. On the other hand, he could also play clear-sighted detectives and sensitive, perceptive individuals. They all had one thing in common: they understood others. They were intelligent, even when they acted like fools. They were capable of depth to the point of obscurity. They knew how to be both serious and sarcastic (thanks to Henri Jeanson's dialogue) or moving when tempted by love, as in Monelle/Lovers are Alone in this World. On screen, Jouvet lent his inscrutable face to characters who observed and peered into souls. He was able to say intense things with cold detachment, like one of his most fascinating characters, the formidable Inspector Antoine from Quai des Orfèvres/Jenny Lamour, who tracked down scoundrels and arranged the fate of the vulnerable, because he knew life.

Virginie Apiou

Our thanks to Gaumont, Les Acacias, Les Productions Jacques Roitfeld, MK2 Films, Pathé, René Chateau, SND, Tamasa. In partnership with the INA, presenting archives on Louis Jouvet at certain screenings. 

The Programme

The Lower Depths by Jean Renoir (1936, 1h33, VFSTA)
Pathé Bellecour Wed 15 7:15pm | Comœdia Fri 17 10:45am | UGC Astoria Sun 19 2:15pm

Life Dances On/Dance of Life by Julien Duvivier (1937, 2h05)
Pathé Bellecour Thu 16 10:45am | UGC Astoria Sat 18 2:15pm

Bizarre, Bizarre/Drôle de drame by Marcel Carné (1937, 1h38)
Comœdia Thu 16 6:45pm

The Alibi by Pierre Chenal (1937, 1h24)
Lumière Terreaux Thu 16 2:30pm | Pathé Bellecour Fri 17 6:30pm

Hôtel du Nord/ North Hotel by Marcel Carné (1938, 1h35, VFSTA)
UGC Confluence Wed 15 1:30pm | Pathé Bellecour Thu 16 2:30pm | Lumière Terreaux Sat 18 6:45pm

The End of the Day by Julien Duvivier (1939, 1h45, VFSTA)
UGC Astoria Thu 16 5:45pm | UGC Confluence Sat 18 11:15am

A Lover’s Return by Christian-Jaque (1946, 1h47, VFSTA)
UGC Confluence Wed 15 11:15am | Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon Sat 18 6:15pm | Pathé Bellecour Sun 19 5:45pm

Carbon Copy /Confessions of a Rogue/Perfect Double by Jean Dréville (1947, 1h45, VFSTA)
UGC Confluence Wed 15 6:15 | Pathé Bellecour Sun 19 11;15am ST-SME

Quai des Orfèvres/Jenny Lamour by Henri-Georges Clouzot (1947, 1h45, VFSTA)
UGC Astoria Wed 15 11am | Comœdia Thu 16 11:15am | Rillieux Sat 18 7:30pm | Institut Lumière (Hangar) Sun 19 2pm

Monelle/Lovers are Alone in this World by Henri Decoin (1948, 1h44, VFSTA)
Lumière Bellecour Fri 17 9pm ST-SME | Pathé Bellecour Sat 18 11:15am

Between Eleven and Midnight by Henri Decoin (1949, 1h40)
Comœdia Fri 17 5:15pm | Pathé Bellecour Sat 18 2pm | Institut Lumière (Villa) Sun 19 2pm | Institut Lumière (Villa) Sun 19 2:15pm

Doctor Knock/Dr. Knock by Guy Lefranc (1951, 1h44, VFSTA)
Pathé Bellecour Thu 16 11:15am | Caluire Thu 16 8:30pm | Pathé Bellecour Fri 17 5:15pm | UGC Confluence Sun 19 11:15am

Young Love by Guy Lefranc (1951, 1h34, VFSTA)
Lumière Terreaux Fri 17 1:45pm | Comœdia Sat 18 10:45am