Snow White in France. Chapter 2: 1944 -1951

As Paris has just been liberated, and before the war is even over, life goes on in the French Capital City. But French films are soon insufficient: one can read in Le Film Français that there are 220 French films made during the war and 60 more that are about to be available, but production will stop completely. 40 new American films are ready to invade the market, and there are those from before the war that can still be shown.

So the America production, which had left the screen during the occupation, is coming back strongly.
From October 1944, Hitchcock's comedy M. et Mme Smith (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) comes out.
In December 1944, "Furie" is played starring Spencer Tracy, Fra Diavolo with Laurel and Hardy, Ma femme est une sorcière (I Married a Witch) with Veronica Lake, and for feature cartoon amateurs, the Paramount theater offers Max and Dave Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels dubbed in French, with much publicity since December 20.

Disney is still present though: the cartoon package film La grande parade de Walt Disney is projected (listed since December 28 in Le Figaro) at the Cinéph. Champs Elysées, where it is enjoying a successful re-release (the first release being in 1940). On December 28, Le Figaro announces that on Thursday January 4, the French association of Cinema, for its opening night at the studio de l'étoile, will show a festival of cartoons.

Movie program in the Figaro of December 30, 1944

This interest for animated films and the movies in general will be satisfied with new American releases, sometimes not yet dubbed but also by old successes which copies were kept hidden during the war and allowed limited screenings. The list of films seen in Paris still varies somewhat erraticly and the systematic weekly release that was the norm before the war is still not quite adopted.

On Saturday December 30, 1944, L'Humanité and Le Figaro both announce that Le Normandie, on the Champs-Élysées has replaced the film Florence est folle,a comedy by Georges Lacombe with Annie Ducaux, by Blanche Neige et les sept nains. On the ads, on-stage attractions are announced, as well as the "great orchestra of the Normandie".

Le Normandie 1945

This picture, taken on January 15, 1945 by an American war correspondent, Sherman Montrose, shows the facade, decorated for the occasion and the line of people waiting. Other than the obvious attraction, it seems that movie theaters then were a good and cheap shelter from the cold when many could not afford to warm their own homes

The poster retains the design of Gustaf Tenggren once again but the dwarfs are closer in aspect to what they look like in the film. Apart from that, it would seem that no other poster was designed for that release. It is very likely that, in this period of restrictions and for a limited showing, the promotional material designed before the war was re-used.

Le Normandie 2014

As a matter of fact, you can catch a glimpse of the lobby with a poster that is present in the initial release pressbook. Next to it are several pictures displayed to give an idea of what the film was about to awaiting spectators. At least two of them are recognizable: there are the images I copied below.

Until I find proof of the contrary, it seems that this release was limited to that one theater. Yet at the time, the Hachette story book is published again and the 1938 E. Séphériadès postcards are also republished by Superluxe.

From December 1945 to February 1946, the French cinémathèque organizes an exhibit on animated cartoons and the poster cannot hide who the master of the genre is: Oswald, Pluto, Donald Duck and of course Mickey Mouse are clearly displayed. I doubt that such an event would have taken place if it hadn't been for Snow White.

6 years after this Paris release, the French version of the film reappears in Brussels at the Eldorado on August 10, 1951, where it stays from 1 to 9pm until August 30, 1951.

The very next day, on August 31, 1951, the film comes back, thanks to RKO in two theaters in Paris: at Gaumont Palace (Place Clichy, 4,600 seats, the place is gone now) and at the Berlitz (31 boulevard des italiens, 1,500 seats, also gone) and the success is once again astounding.
For its first exclusive week, the films makes 8,306,418 francs at the Gaumont Palace with 43,302 tickets sold and  3,434,540 francs at the Berlitz with 14,832 tickets.
The second week, it brings 5,711,692 francs at the Gaumont Palace (29,297 tickets) and 2,347,390 francs at the Berlitz (9,946 tickets), which brings it to the top of the biggest money makers in Paris in front of On The Town and September Affair.

Inside the Gaumont Palace in 1945

On the third week, with 28 showings in each theater, 14,382 tickets are sold in the Berlitz for 3,434,540 francs (each seat is sold between 200 and 300 francs) and 43,302 tickets earn the Gaumont Palace 8,306,418 francs (180 to 250 francs a seat).

It is at the Gaumont Palace that Cinderella premiered last Christmas and a giant ad already announces Alice in Wonderland for the coming holidays.

The poster is a copy of Bernard Lancy's original one with a different font on the title and one of the two RKO logos is replaced by "Technicolor".

On September 19, Blanche Neige starts a second exclusive showing in a different theater (4 weeks until October 14) at the Lord Byron (462 seats) located at number 122 on the Champs Elysees, a place now gone too. It grosses 2,125,500 francs that week with 8610 tickets sold; on the second, 2,162,500 francs with 8650 tickets;  the third week 1,190,000 (4,760 tickets); and the fourth and last 1,147,500 (4,590 tickets). At this point, Snow White already conquered the land thanks to a national release.


In Lille, the film came out on September 5, in two theaters : the Bellevue, where 7,354 tickets sold and grossed 822,200 francs, and at the Caméo which sold 7,962 tickets for 887,085 francs.
Also on September 5, Nice sees the film opening in 3 theaters : the Excelsior which sold 4,682 tickets in a week for 552,382 francs, the Politéama (4,876 tickets for 579,850 francs) and the Royal (4,687 tickets for 556,200 francs).
On September 11, the film comes out in Toulouse, at the Trianon Palace where it grosses 2,270,434 francs with 17,460 tickets for the first week only, and 2,278,334 francs for the second one.
In Marseille, the film is shown for a week only in two theaters : the Capitole with 2,254,670 francs (16,607 tickets) and the Rialto with 1,731,375 francs (12,925 tickets).
On September 19, the Pathé and the Olympia in Nancy both play the film with grosses of respectively 1,501,570 francs (11,462 tickets) and 678,515 francs (6,558 tickets) during the one week of exclusivity.
On September 24, Blanche Neige comes out in Strasbourg and the October 12, 1951 issue of Le film français triumphantly announces the 3,530,140 franc grosses made in 12 days (27,851 tickets) at the Vox of Strasbourg, which sets a new record for this theater.
On September 26, the film arrives at the Ciné Journal of Lyon which sells 15,214 tickets in a week for 1,942,650 francs, 10,402 tickets the second week for 1,344,950 francs, and 8,293 tickets the third and last week.
In Bordeaux, at the Français, the grosses for the first week are 2,587,300 francs. The Sogec company which owns the theater, organized a drawing contest for kids under 15 who are supposed to draw a scene or a character from the film. The hundreds of drawing sent are exposed in the lobby of the theater. Participants all get to see the film for free and the ten best drawings get a special prize. First prize is a brand new bike.

To coincide with the release, the Hachette storybook is reissued as well as the sheet music. A new book comes out by Hachette in the collection "Pink albums" with new illustrations which will be used again in other books and records. Other titles will follow in this same collection such as: La maison des nains (The dwarfs' cottage) in 1953, Le couronnement de Blanche Neige (Snow White's crowning) in 1955, Le retour de Blanche Neige (The return of Snow White) in 1956 and Il était une fois (Once upon a Time) in 1959 which is actually a reissue La maison des nains followed by Noah's ark.

Although inspired by the success of the 1939 Menier albums, a new 60 franc album is issued: in the "éclair" collection (éditions populaires modernes, 39 rue Paul Barruel, Paris XV) where one is supposed to glue "a wonderful collection of 240 multicolored images". This same album is also issued in Italy at about the same time with the same images inspired by the film but with adaptations that differ almost only in the translation.

In the following years, several types of products will fill the void when the film is not showing anywhere.
In 1953 a new Hachette picture book (collection Grands albums) where for the first time appear drawings, typical of the fifties, later used numerous times where the Queen has a red dress and where polka dots appear and disappear from Snow White's skirt from one drawing to another. The mother of Snow White is also represented as well as baby Snow White in a cradle.

In 1954, singer Paulette Rollin, who was then a sort of official voice for Disney because she voice the title character in Cinderella released three years earlier, proposed an album of Disney songs by Mercury records. She had already recorded in 1947 a selection of songs of Bambi (even when the film was released with songs in English in the French version), then songs of Cinderella. In this new album, she sang some of her non Disney songs, but also those of Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Three Little Pigs, and Snow White: Heigh-Ho, Un jour mon prince viendra, Sifflez en travaillant and Un chant. The orchestra is conducted by her husband: Hubert Rostaing.

In 1955, the popular story of Blanche Neige recorded by Élyane Célis is reissued. The recording is exactly the same as the two 1938 78 rpm records but it is now on the two sides of a single 45 rpm record.

Recording equipments having evolved, Lucien Adès, who has already flooded the market with other Disney features, has a new version of the story recorded, this time with more actors for better characterization. The narrator is François Périer who will later take that same role in one of the French dubs of Fantasia. The Princess is played by Lucienne Pacley. Director/actor Roger Coggio plays the Prince at a time when he is starting a long career in the movies and the theater. Ariane Murator (or Muratore) plays the Queen and the Witch. Jacques Provins, Yonal and Joé Noël share the parts of the dwarfs. Jany Sylvaire sings for Snow White and Aimé Doniat for the Prince. For the first time, a booklet with images and text comes with this record.

Still in 1955, a drwaing from this album is used a s a cover of a book  "in 3 dimensions" (actually a pop-up book).

The French version of the film comes out in Russia with Russian subtitles in July 1955 in theaters and even on TV! Snow White will apparently be dubbed in Russian only much later for its DVD release. It is in fact a Russian 35mm copy of the first French dubbing that is now held in the French film archives of Bois D'Arcy.

In 1958, Paulette Rollin strikes again at Barclay records with a mini album of Snow White songs. This time, the album is solely of Snow White and despite the fact that the titles are similar to the previous record, the recordings are different and the orchestra here is conducted by Mario Bua. On the cover are the rubber figurines that were displayed in the original 1937 American trailer (with a few changes). In a rare occurence, that same year on February 14, in the show Au caprice du temps, singer Mathé Altéry, who had already performed the main title song in Peter Pan, sings Un jour mon Prince viendra on TV!

Meanwhile, the films comes out again in the US, and for the first time, it is not released by RKO anymore, as the company ceased most activities the previous year. For that reason, the main title is shot again with different credits: the emphasis on the fact that it is a feature film is toned down, the film now opens by a simple "Walt Disney presents" and the RKO credit is erased from the third frame. In order to achieve that, a new background, inspired by the original, has to be designed as, according to the studio, the first one has been misplaced. A new background is now available to adapt the main title of the film in an infinity of foreign versions. This is a perfect occasion to create whole new versions of Snow White throughout the world where it is scheduled to be re-released soon...

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That's all for today folks!