U.S. and France
France in American Film - 1950's
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
1950
Director: Michael Gordon.
Cast: Jose Ferrer, Mala Powers, William Prince.
Location: Paris.
BREAKTHROUGH
1950
Director: Lewis Seiler.
Cast: David Brian, John Agar, Frank Lovejoy.
Location: Normandy.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
1951
Director: Vincente Minnelli.
Cast: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guetary.
Location: Paris (various locations, including: Montmartre; the Moulin Rouge; the Place de la Concorde).
Notes: Only a few of the opening scenes (set in Montmartre) were actually filmed in Paris; the rest of the film was photographed on MGM's back lot.
LES MISÉRABLES
1952
Director: Lewis Milestone.
Cast: Michael Rennie, Debra Paget, Robert Newton.
Location: France.
SCARAMOUCHE
1952
Director: George Sidney.
Cast: Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, Mel Ferrer.
Location: Filmed partly on location, notably at the Chateau de Pierrefonds (Oise).
THE MERRY WIDOW
1952
Director: Curtis Bernhardt.
Cast: Lana Turner, Fernando Lamas.
Location: Paris.
MOULIN ROUGE
1952
Director: John Huston.
Cast: Jose Ferrer, Colette Marchand, Suzanne Flon, Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Location: Paris (various locations, notably Montmartre and Pigalle); the family chateau near Bordeaux (Gironde).
Notes: Filmed in France and England.
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES
1953
Director: Howard Hawks.
Cast: Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn.
Location: Paris (nightclub district).
Notes: Scenes taking place in Paris appear at the end of the film.
DESIREE
1954
Director: Henry Koster.
Cast: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Merle Oberon, Michael Rennie.
Location: Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhone); Paris; Malmaison (Ile de France).
PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE
1954
Director: Roy Del Ruth.
Cast: Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin.
Location: Paris.
SABRINA
1954
Director: Billy Wilder.
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden.
Location: Paris (various locations).
Notes: Scenes taking place in Paris appear at the beginning of the film.
THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS
1954
Director: Richard Brooks.
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Donna Reed.
Location: Paris; the Riviera, particularly Cannes.
Notes: Exteriors were filmed partly on location.
TO CATCH A THIEF
1955
Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
Cast: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams, Charles Vanel.
Location: The Riviera, particularly Cannes, Nice and Monaco.
Notes: Filmed entirely on location.
LUST FOR LIFE
1956
Director: Vincente Minnelli.
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Everett Sloane.
Location: Paris; Arles and Saint-Remy (Provence); Auvers-sur-Oise (Ile de France).
Notes: Filmed on location in France.
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS
1956
Director: Michael Anderson.
Cast: David Niven, Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine, Fernandel.
Location: Paris (various locations, including: Gare du Nord; Rue de Rivoli); Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhone).
Notes: Scenes taking place in France appear at the beginning of the film. Filmed on location.
ANASTASIA
1956
Director: Anatole Litvak.
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner.
Location: Paris.
THE VAGABOND KING
1956
Director: Michael Curtiz.
Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Oreste Kirkop, Rita Moreno, Cedric Hardwicke.
Location: Paris.
DIANE
1956
Director: David Miller.
Cast: Lana Turner, Roger Moore.
Location: France.
PATHS OF GLORY
1957
Director: Stanley Kubrick.
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready.
Location: Meuse region, around Verdun and Fort-Douaumont.
Notes: Filmed in Germany.
FUNNY FACE
1957
Director: Stanley Donen.
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson, Michel Auclair.
Location: Paris (various locations, including: the Eiffel Tower; the Louvre Museum; the Bateaux-Mouche on the Seine; the Flower Market); various locations in the Paris vicinity.
Notes: Filmed on location in and around Paris. Several scenes were filmed in Coye-la-Forêt and Chantilly (Oise).
LES GIRLS
1957
Director: George Cukor.
Cast: Gene Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall.
Location: Paris.
SILK STOCKINGS
1957
Director: Rouben Mamoulian.
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Peter Lorre.
Location: Paris.
THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
1957
Director: Billy Wilder.
Cast: James Stewart, Murray Hamilton, Patricia Smith.
Location: Paris.
Notes: Filmed on location.
LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON
1957
Director: Billy Wilder.
Cast: Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier.
Location: Paris (various locations, including: the Opera; the Ritz Hotel; Rue Malebranche).
Notes: Filmed on location in Paris and at the Chateau de Vitry (Ile de France).
THE SUN ALSO RISES
1957
Director: Henry King.
Cast: Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Errol Flynn, Juliette Greco.
Location: Paris (various locations, including: Place de l’Opera; Rue de la Montagne Sainte Geneviève; Restaurant Le Pharamond, rue de la Grande Truanderie; Restaurant Le Select, boulevard du Montparnasse; Montmartre; the Sacré-Cœur Basilica ); Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
Notes: Scenes taking place in France appear during the first half and towards the end of the film. Filmed on location.
SAINT JOAN
1957
Director: Otto Preminger.
Cast: Jean Seberg, Richard Widmark, John Gielgud.
Location: Domremy (Lorraine); Orleans (Loire); Compiegne (Oise); Reims (Champagne).
BONJOUR TRISTESSE
1958
Director: Otto Preminger.
Cast: Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Jean Seberg, Mylène Demongeot.
Location: The Riviera (various locations); Paris (various locations).
Notes: Filmed on location.
GIGI
1958
Director: Vincente Minnelli.
Cast: Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Eva Gabor.
Location: Paris (various locations, including: the Tuileries Gardens; the Bois de Boulogne; the Palais des Glaces; Maxim’s Restaurant).
Notes: Filmed partly on location.
THE YOUNG LIONS
1958
Director: Edward Dmytryk.
Cast: Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Hope Lange.
Location: Paris; Alsace-Lorraine region.
Notes: Filmed partly on location. The final confrontation was filmed on the site of Struthof-Natzwiller, an actual concentration camp located near the French-German border.
PARIS HOLIDAY
1958
Director: Gerd Oswald.
Cast: Bob Hope, Fernandel, Anita Ekberg, Martha Hyer.
Location: Paris.
Notes: Filmed on location.