Project Cinema (12): Geneviève

Guestpost-time again! Here's Natasha-la-la, with a post on Geneviève Grad:

At first glance Geneviève Grad seems to be just another blonde actress who "was a bit of a singer", as the French politely put it when singing is not someone’s strong suit. But unlike many other actresses who recorded songs despite their audible lack of talent, Grad actually has vibrato in her voice and stays on key. Born in Paris in 1944, she is best know for her role as Nicole Cruchot in movies such as the 1964 film Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez and a year later

Le Gendarme à New York, both starring French funny man, Louis de Funès playing her father, police officer Cruchot. Until 1982 Grad starred in about 15 films, including another ‘Gendarme’ film Le Gendarme se marie and has long retired from the spotlight.

Her claim to fame as a singer is no doubt the catchy twist number from the ‘Saint-Tropez’ film entitled Douliou Douliou Saint-Tropez, which was also notably covered by Québec yé-yé singer, Jenny Rock. For those of you who can’t find ‘douliou douliou’ in a French dictionary, it’s a bastardization of ‘do you do you’. In an interview, composer Raymond Lefèvre had this to say about the hit song: "We wrote this song before shooting the film because it was to be used as a playback number on the set. The rest of the music had to be composed during the summer, right in the middle of August. I had just bought a summer home in the country and I didn’t want to leave there. And then finding musicians in Paris in the middle of summer was next to impossible. Then the next year with Le Gendarme à New York, same problem: composing music in the middle of summer..."

As for the song Les garçons sont gentils from New York, it is as naïve as it gets. Feel free to sing along: "When I’m away far from my home, they do everything to please me, whether it’s John or Pierre, boys are nice to me." I’ll bet they are.


Geneviève Grad – Douliou douliou Saint-Tropez

Geneviève Grad – Les garçons sont gentils