THIS IS HOW KIRK DOUGLAS WAS SPEAKING FRENCH
So, have you ever seen the movie “Spartacus“?
I had planned to write about Valentine’s Day, but in the meantime we lost one of the greats.
Kirk Douglas
He lived a good long life, 103 is a number of years only the lucky (read “wise”) ones are reaching.
He is a legend in the movie industry, and legends are those who can sustain a long long career.
And inspire many.
He was just that, and will remain one of America’s icons.
This is a tribute to his life, and it has to be done now, because we must.
A tribute from Team J’Ouellette®
Kirk Douglas and France: a history of power
He was a powerful man.
Not just strong, but he had “an overpowering physical presence, which is why on a large movie screen he looms over the audience like a tidal wave in full flood”.
Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, continues his description: “Globally revered, he is now the last living screen legend of those who vaulted to stardom at the war’s end, that special breed of movie idol instantly recognizable anywhere, whose luminous on-screen characters are forever memorable.”
He was also fluent in French, reason why he portrayed a sympathetic French officer during World War I who tries to save three soldiers from facing a firing squad in “Paths of Glory“.
Watch him giving an interview to Radio Télévision Suisse
in an impeccable French (true, with a slight American accent and a very strong American pride of the western movies):
Biographer Vincent LoBrutto describes Douglas’s “seething but controlled portrayal exploding with the passion of his convictions at the injustice leveled at his men.” The film was banned in France until 1976.
Before production of the film began, however, Douglas and Kubrick had to work out some major issues, one of which was Kubrick’s rewriting the screenplay without informing Douglas first. It led to their first major argument:
“I called Stanley to my room … I hit the ceiling. I called him every four-letter word I could think of … ‘I got the money, based on that [original] script. Not this shit!’ I threw the script across the room. ‘We’re going back to the original script, or we’re not making the picture.’ Stanley never blinked an eye. We shot the original script. I think the movie is a classic, one of the most important pictures—possibly the most important picture—Stanley Kubrick has ever made.”
In 1990, he received the French Legion of Honor for distinguished services to France in arts and letters.
His last elegant gesture?
DailyMail reports that he left his entire $60 million fortune to charity, not leaving anything to the family (whose net worth is larger than his own anyway).
Kirk, who died February 5, was known for charitable contributions during his life.
A total of $50million will be distributed through the Douglas Foundation, which was founded by Kirk and his wife, Anne.
Some of the beneficiaries include St Lawrence University, the Sinai Temple of Los Angeles, the Kirk Douglas Theatre and the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
We salute you, soldier in WWII, solder in Hollywood and soldier in life.
Sources:
wikipedia.org
Les archives de la RTS
NOW IT IS YOUR TURN!
Write in the comments below what is YOUR favorite Kirk Douglas performance?
With sadness and love,
Team J’Ouellette®
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
