Krin Gabbard requests: > A colleague is collecting American movies in which one or more characters > speak French on screen. He is especially interested in films that give > Francophone characters a pronounced positive or negative delineation. For > example, in _The Seduction of Joe Tynan_, the old senator played by Ed > Begley begins reciting French when he has clearly lost his mind. In _South > Pacific_, on the other hand, speaking French is definitely the thing to do, > the reason Nellie Forbush laments that "He's a cultured Frenchman, I'm a > little hick." > Any other examples of ways that Hollywood has strongly marked those who > speak French? Although he usually spoke *English* with a pronounced accent, Maurice Chevalier made an entire career in American films (not counting his French films) out of this trait, from LOVE ME TONIGHT to GIGI. Charles Boyer was similarly marked--from ALGIERS to BAREFOOT IN THE PARK. Truffaut himself is the earnest UFOlogist in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. Indiana Jones' evil archrival is French in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK Georges Guetary is a noble rival who builds a stairway to Paradise in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Bill Murray attempts to seduce Andie MacDowell by learning to speak French in GROUNDHOG DAY. Fernando Ray's "Frog 1" is a charming villain in THE FRENCH CONNECTION. Preston Sturges attempts to make farce of British-French relations in THE FRENCH, THEY ARE A FUNNY RACE. You might even consider Lainie Kazan welcoming Peter O'Toole to her "chapeau" in MY FAVORITE YEAR or the pretensions of Shelly Winters as Mrs. Haze in Kubrick's LOLITA. Other comic renditions of fractured "French" include Peter Sellers as Inspector Clousseau in the PINK PANTHER movies and Chuck Jones's Pepe Le Pew. And I believe it is French (rather than Italian?) that sends Morticia into ecstasy when Gomez speaks it in THE ADDAMS FAMILY TV show and films. Don Larsson ---------------------- Donald Larsson, Mankato State U (MN) [log in to unmask] ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama.