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Gaston Modot is a Actor and Scriptwriter French born on 31 december 1887 at Paris (France)

Gaston Modot

Gaston Modot
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Birth name Gaston Victor Modot
Nationality France
Birth 31 december 1887 at Paris (France)
Death 19 february 1970 (at 82 years) at Paris (France)

Gaston Modot (31 December 1887 – 20 February 1970) was a French actor. For more than 50 years he performed for the cinema working with a number of French directors.

Modot lived in Montmartre at the beginning of the 20th century where he met Picasso and Modigliani. In 1909 he started his career with Gaumont and for the following 20 years he covered all silent film genres. In 1917 he was the main actor in Abel Gance's Mater dolorosa. He played in Germaine Dulac and Louis Delluc's avant-garde films La fête espagnole (1919) and Fièvre (1921). With Max Linder, Modot played in Abel Gance's Au secours! (1924). Towards the end of the 1920s he performed in German-French co-productions.

He is still famous for his role of "Manns" in Luis Buñuel's L'Âge d'Or (1930).

He had his first role in a sound film with Rene Clair's Sous les toits de Paris (1930). He and Jean Gabin are main characters in Julien Duvivier's Pépé le Moko (1937). He acted in the Jean Renoir classics La grande illusion and La règle du jeu as well as the three hour poetic film Les enfants du paradis (1945) for Marcel Carné.

In 1962 Gaston Modot ended his acting career. He had acted in more than 100 films.

Biography

Fils d'un architecte, Gaston Modot s'intéressa à la peinture et fréquenta des artistes comme Picasso et Modigliani, mais aussi des écrivains (Blaise Cendrars). Après s'être essayé à la peinture, il a créé des décors de cinéma et de ce fait est devenu acteur.
Dès 1909, il se consacra au cinéma et participa à l'aventure comique de la bande des « Pouittes », avec Jean Durand. Il joua dans les séries Onésime et Calino.
Avec Joë Hamman, il tourna, en Camargue, des séries de western.

Après guerre, Gaston Modot s'intéressa davantage au cinéma intellectuel français. Il prit part aux projets de Louis Delluc, Germaine Dulac ou Abel Gance.
En 1930, il est dans L'Âge d'or de Buñuel, puis enchaîne des rôles marquants : Fantômas de Paul Fejos, Sous les toits de Paris de René Clair, La Bandera de Julien Duvivier, Lucrèce Borgia d’Abel Gance. Il collabore beaucoup ensuite avec Jean Renoir : La Grande Illusion (1937), La Marseillaise, La vie est à nous (1937), La Règle du jeu (1939), French Cancan (1954). On le trouve aussi dans Pépé le Moko (Julien Duvivier), Casque d'or (Jacques Becker), Les Enfants du paradis (Marcel Carné), une filmographie impressionnante. Il avait gardé de son expérience d'acteur de cinéma muet une gestuelle très expressive.

Il est inhumé à Paris dans le cimetière des Batignolles (11e division).

Best films

Antoine & Antoinette (1947)
(Actor)
Silence Is Golden (1947)
(Actor)
The Beauty of the Devil (1950)
(Actor)

Usually with

Jean Durand
Jean Durand
(112 films)
Ernest Bourbon
Ernest Bourbon
(59 films)
Joë Hamman
Joë Hamman
(27 films)
Clément Mégé
Clément Mégé
(23 films)
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
(7 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Gaston Modot (228 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

The Devil and the Ten Commandments, 2h7
Directed by Julien Duvivier
Origin France
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Crime
Themes Films about animals, Films about religion, Demons in film
Actors Michel Simon, Louis de Funès, Micheline Presle, Françoise Arnoul, Lucien Baroux, Charles Aznavour
Roles Le grand-père
Rating66% 3.333333.333333.333333.333333.33333
The film consists of seven roughly 15 minute episodes, each showing what will happen if one or more of the Ten Commandments will be broken. The episodes are either mini-dramas. The version available in Germany and Japan has eight episodes.
House of Sin, 1h30
Directed by Edmond T. Gréville
Genres Drama
Actors Dawn Addams, Jean Servais, Claude Brasseur, Francis Blanche, Roland Lesaffre, Anne-Marie Coffinet
Roles Carlotti
Rating59% 2.96832.96832.96832.96832.9683
Jeune et jolie Australienne, Norma est venue faire du théâtre à Paris. Sans grand succès. Elle partage la vie bohème de Dominique, un photographe roublard et peu assidu au travail.
The Doctor's Horrible Experiment, 1h35
Directed by Jean Renoir
Origin France
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Horror
Actors Jean-Louis Barrault, Jean Topart, Teddy Bilis, Michel Vitold, Gaston Modot, Sylviane Margollé
Roles Blaise, le jardinier de Cordelier
Rating65% 3.2963153.2963153.2963153.2963153.296315
Maitre Joly, notaire, reçoit le testament du docteur Cordelier, un célèbre psychiatre, qui désigne comme héritier l'un de ses patients, un certain Opale. Ce dernier se révèle être un dangereux meurtrier. Mais on découvre bientôt qu'Opale et Cordelier ne font qu'un : le docteur s'est en effet transformé en buvant une drogue dans le cadre de ses recherches sur la source du mal et des forces des ténèbres.
The Lovers
The Lovers (1958)
, 1h30
Directed by Louis Malle, Alain Cavalier, François Leterrier
Origin France
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality
Actors Jeanne Moreau, Alain Cuny, Gaston Modot, Jean-Marc Bory, Judith Magre, José Luis de Vilallonga
Roles Coudray
Rating71% 3.592823.592823.592823.592823.59282
Jeanne Tournier (Moreau) lives with her husband Henri (Alain Cuny) and child in a mansion near Dijon. Her emotionally remote husband is a busy newspaper owner who has little time for his wife, except when he chooses to place demands upon her; often they sleep in separate rooms. Jeanne escapes to Paris regularly when she can spend time with her chic friend Maggy (Judith Magre) and the polo-playing Raoul (José Luis de Vilallonga), Maggy's friend and Jeanne's lover.
The Lady and the Gipsy, 1h38
Directed by Márton Keleti, Jean Dréville
Origin France
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Nicole Courcel, Colette Deréal, Julien Carette, Jacques Dacqmine, Gaston Modot, Hilda Gobbi
Rating44% 2.2231052.2231052.2231052.2231052.223105
Georgina vient voir sa sœur Gladys à Paris afin de la dissuader de s'attacher à Rigo, un chef d'orchestre tzigane. Quand elle rencontre ce dernier, c'est le coup de foudre. Louis, le mari de Georgina, n'accepte pas cette situation.
That Is the Dawn, 1h40
Directed by Luis Buñuel, Marcel Camus
Origin France
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Georges Marchal, Lucia Bosè, Julien Bertheau, Jean-Jacques Delbo, Giani Esposito, Nelly Borgeaud
Roles Le nouveau locataire de Sandro
Rating68% 3.440043.440043.440043.440043.44004
In a small town in the south of France, Dr. Valerio is committed to caring for the poor. His young wife, Angela, cannot stand the place and wants to move to Nice, but the doctor does not want to leave before finding a replacement. Valerio is sympathetic to the working poor of the area, particularly Sandro, a farm worker who maintains the trees belonging to Gorzone, a rich industrialist and the primary employer in the town. Angela becomes ill and wanders the town's slum quarters in a delirium, ultimately leaving the town for a holiday without her husband. The Commissioner of Police takes Valerio to a mountain village in order to sign medical reports for a little girl who had been raped by her grandfather. There, Valerio meets Clara, a rich young widow. He considers a menage a trois, but is rebuffed. Meanwhile, Sandro is dismissed by Gorzone, forcing Sandro and his tubercular wife, Magda, to leave their home, a move that results in Magda's death. Distracted by grief, Sandro shoots Gorzone. Valerio hides Sandro from the police, a decision that results in Angela leaving the doctor for good. Sandro leaves Valerio's protection and, when cornered by the authorities, shoots himself. Valerio refuses to shake hands with the Commissioner, and the last scene shows Valerio and Clara walking away at night, arm in arm on the quayside, followed by some of Sandro's cronies.
Elena and Her Men, 1h35
Directed by Jean Renoir
Origin France
Genres Drama, Comedy, Historical, Romance
Actors Ingrid Bergman, Jean Marais, Mel Ferrer, Jean Richard, Juliette Gréco, Pierre Bertin
Roles Le chef des bohèmiens
Rating61% 3.0968153.0968153.0968153.0968153.096815
Produced in 1956, and set in 1890 France, Elena and Her Men tells the story of a young, beautiful, and free-spirited Polish princess in fin de siècle Paris who specializes in granting people good luck. Elena's family has run out of money, and in order to save them she agrees to marry an wealthy, older family friend. No sooner has she agreed to this engagement than she meets a handsome stranger during a 14 July celebration, who turns out to be the famous General Rollan's aide, Count de Chevincourt (Mel Ferrer). Sparks fly with the Count, but when he introduces Elena to General Rollan (Jean Marais) , the General is quite taken with her as well. By the end of the day, Elena finds her hands full with her engagement, and the romantic interests of two new men. To further complicate matters, General Rollan's political advisers see the General's romantic interest in Elena as a way to influence him to overtake the French government, and they employ her to grant him the luck he needs to do so.
Les Truands, 1h46
Directed by Carlo Rim
Origin France
Genres Comedy, Crime
Actors Eddie Constantine, Noël-Noël, Jean Richard, Yves Robert, Sylvie, Lucien Baroux
Roles Justin Benoit
Rating59% 2.966672.966672.966672.966672.96667
This is the story of racketeer Amédée who recalls the story of his life when he is already more than 100 years old. He tells his family about his rise and his rivals. This is all to explain why he couldn't help but nick the watch of the mayor who came to congratulate him.
Meeting in Paris, 1h30
Directed by Georges Lampin, Jean Léon
Origin France
Genres Comedy
Actors Robert Lamoureux, Betsy Blair, Jacques Castelot, Julien Carette, Raymond Bussières, Gérard Séty
Roles The concierge at the Temple (uncredited)
Rating52% 2.6313952.6313952.6313952.6313952.631395
Nancy Blanding est une richissime héritière américaine qui séjourne à Paris et qui dépense sans compter, jusqu'à ce qu'elle se fasse couper les vivres par son père. Le marquis de Cernay qui courtise la jeune femme mais qui a surtout des vues sur sa fortune engage Maurice Legrand afin de la suivre. Nancy désormais sans ressource se débrouille pour trouver du travail et une chambre dans un petit hôtel. Maurice se prend tellement au jeu en suivant la jeune femme qu'il en devient follement amoureux. Afin de retenir son attention, il simule un fracture en dégringolant d'un escalier public. La jeune femme le soigne et une idylle commence à se dessiner entre les deux jeunes gens. Cependant le marquis de Cernay informe Nancy que Maurice ne peut avoir de fracture puisqu'il l'a vue faire du vélo. La jeune américaine gifle Maurice et retourne à sa vie mondaine.
French Cancan, 1h48
Directed by Jean Renoir
Origin France
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical theatre, Musical, Romance
Themes Dance films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Jean Gabin, Françoise Arnoul, María Félix, Giani Esposito, Jean-Roger Caussimon, Michel Piccoli
Roles Le valet de Danglard (uncredited)
Rating72% 3.6463053.6463053.6463053.6463053.646305
Set in 1890s Paris, Henri Danglard is the owner of a cafe, which features his mistress, Lola, as a belly dancer. Losing money, Henri finds himself in Montmartre and finds that the old-fashioned can-can is still being performed there. Inspired, Henri comes up with a new business scheme that aims to revive the can-can, featuring a new dancer, Nini, a laundress he meets by chance.
Papa, Mama, the Maid and I, 1h37
Directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois, Pierre Granier-Deferre, Maud Linder
Origin France
Genres Comedy, Romance
Actors Robert Lamoureux, Louis de Funès, Gaby Morlay, Fernand Ledoux, Nicole Courcel, Madeleine Barbulée
Roles Le violoniste de rue
Rating66% 3.312073.312073.312073.312073.31207
Robert, qui est stagiaire chez l'avocat Turpin, vit encore chez ses parents. Flirtant avec une collègue, il est licencié par son patron jaloux.
Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy (1953)
, 1h37
Directed by Bernard Borderie
Origin France
Genres Thriller, Crime
Themes Films set in Africa
Actors Eddie Constantine, Dominique Wilms, Howard Vernon, Roger Hanin, Darío Moreno, Jean-Marc Tennberg
Roles L'inspecteur #1
Rating59% 2.953142.953142.953142.953142.95314
Set in Casablanca, it recycles aspects of the atmospheric noirish French films of the 1930s together with pulp-fiction American detective films of the post-war period.
Casque d'Or, 1h36
Directed by Jacques Becker, Marcel Camus, Alain Jessua, Michel Clément
Origin France
Genres Drama, Crime, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Erotic thriller films
Actors Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Claude Dauphin, Gaston Modot, Raymond Bussières, Odette Barencey
Roles Danard
Rating75% 3.794083.794083.794083.794083.79408
Marie (Simone Signoret), a woman of considerable beauty, is distressed at her treatment by Roland, a criminal who is a part of a local syndicate. When Marie is introduced to the handsome stranger Georges, a humble carpenter, she falls in love with him instantly, much to the chagrin of Roland. When Roland's jealousy builds after a number of meetings between Marie and Georges, Roland decides to confront Georges behind a club where a number members of his syndicate watch. After Georges gains control of a knife that had been thrown between them to initiate the fight, George manages to stab Roland in the back after a brief scuffle, killing him almost instantly. When the police arrive at the scene everyone flees, including Marie, who seeks refuge away from the syndicate at a nearby village.