View source for Marcel Pagnol

{{short description|Novelist, playwright and filmmaker from France}}
{{redirect|Pagnol}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Marcel Pagnol
| image            = Pagnol Harcourt 1948.jpg
| caption          = Pagnol in 1948
| birth_name       = Marcel Paul Pagnol
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1895|2|28|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Aubagne]], [[Third French Republic]]
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1974|04|18|1895|2|28|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Paris]], France
| occupation       = Author <br> Playwright <br> Film director
| nationality      = [[French people|French]]
| notableworks     = ''[[Marius (1931 film)|Marius]]''<br> ''[[Manon des Sources (1952 film)|Manon des sources]]''<br> ''[[The Water of the Hills]]''<br>''[[La Gloire de mon père]]''<br> ''[[Le Château de ma mère]]''
|spouse = {{marriage|Simone Collin|1916|1941|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|[[Jacqueline Pagnol|Jacqueline Bouvier]]|1945|1974}}
|partner = [[Orane Demazis]] (1925–1937)<br>[[Josette Day]] (1939–1944)
|children = 5
| website          = {{URL|marcel-pagnol.com/}}
}}
{{French literature sidebar}}
'''Marcel Paul Pagnol''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|n|j|ɒ|l|,_|p|æ|-}}<small>, also</small> {{IPAc-en|US|p|ɑː|ˈ|n|j|ɔː|l}} {{respell|pah|NYAWL}};<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/pagnol|title=Pagnol: Meaning and Definition of &#124; Infoplease|website=www.infoplease.com}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|maʁsɛl pɔl paɲɔl|lang}}; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French [[novelist]], [[playwright]], and [[filmmaker]]. Regarded as an [[auteur]],<ref name="OscherwitzHiggins2009">{{cite book|last1=Oscherwitz|first1=Dayna|last2=Higgins|first2=Mary Ellen|title=The A to Z of French Cinema|url=https://archive.org/details/atozoffrenchcine0000osch|url-access=registration|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7038-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/atozoffrenchcine0000osch/page/332 332]}}</ref> in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the {{Lang|fr|[[Académie française]]|italic=no}}. Pagnol is generally regarded as one of France's greatest 20th-century writers and is notable for the fact that he excelled in almost every medium—[[memoir]], [[novel]], [[drama]] and [[film]].

==Early life==
Pagnol was born on 28 February 1895 in [[Aubagne]], [[Bouches-du-Rhône]] department, in southern France near [[Marseille]], the eldest son of schoolteacher Joseph Pagnol{{ref|reference_name_A|A}} and seamstress Augustine Lansot.{{ref|reference_name_B|B}}<ref name = "CastansChrono">Castans (1987), pp. 363–368</ref> He was secretly baptised at the [[Église Saint-Charles]] in Marseilles.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://tourisme-marseille.com/en/fiche/saint-charles-church-marseille/ | title=Planète Marseille, explorations alternatives du passé, du présent et du futur de Marseille }}</ref> Marcel Pagnol grew up in Marseille with his younger brothers Paul and René, and younger sister Germaine.

=== School years ===
In July 1904, the family rented the ''Bastide Neuve'',<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> – a house in the sleepy Provençal village of [[La Treille]] – for the summer holidays, the first of many spent in the hilly countryside between Aubagne and Marseille.<ref>Castans (1987), p. 22.</ref> About the same time, Augustine's health, which had never been robust, began to noticeably decline and on 16 June 1910 she succumbed to a chest [[infection]] (''"mal de poitrine"'') and died, aged 36.<ref>Castans (1987), pp. 27, 32.</ref> Joseph remarried in 1912.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/>

In 1913, at the age of 18, Marcel passed his [[Baccalauréat|baccalaureate]] in philosophy<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> and started studying literature at the university in [[Aix-en-Provence]]. When [[World War I]] broke out, he was called up into the infantry at [[Nice]] but in January 1915 he was discharged because of his poor constitution (''"faiblesse de constitution'''').<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> On 2 March 1916, he married Simone Colin in Marseille and in November graduated in English.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> He became an English teacher, teaching in various local colleges and at a [[lycée]] in Marseille.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/>

==Career==

=== Time in Paris ===
In 1922, he moved to [[Paris]], where he taught English until 1927,<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> when he decided instead to devote his life to playwriting.<ref name="501MD">{{cite book|title=501 Movie Directors|editor-first=Steven Jay|editor-last=Schneider|publisher=Cassell Illustrated|location=London|year=2007|page=76|isbn=9781844035731|oclc=1347156402}}</ref> During this time, he belonged to a group of young writers, in collaboration with one of whom, [[Paul Nivoix]], he wrote the play, ''Merchants of Glory'', which was produced in 1924. This was followed, in 1928, by ''[[Topaze (play)|Topaze]]'', a satire based on ambition.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> Exiled in Paris, he returned nostalgically to his Provençal roots, taking this as his setting for his play ''[[Marius (play)|Marius]]'', which later became the first of his works to be adapted into a film in 1931.<ref name="501MD" />

Separated from Simone Collin since 1926 (though not divorced until 1941), he formed a relationship with the young English dancer Kitty Murphy. Their son Jacques Pagnol was born on 24 September 1930.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> (Jacques later became his father's assistant and subsequently a cameraman for [[France 3|France 3 Marseille]].)

=== Filmmaking career ===
In 1929, on a visit to London, Pagnol attended a screening of one of the first talking films and he was so impressed that he decided to devote his efforts to cinema.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis|first=Hannah|title=French Musical Culture and the Coming of Sound Cinema|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England|isbn=978-0-19-063597-8|pages=88}}</ref> He contacted Paramount Picture studios and suggested adapting his play ''Marius'' for cinema. The film was directed by [[Alexander Korda]] and released on 10 October 1931.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> It became one of the first successful French-language talking films.

In 1932, Pagnol founded his own film production studios in the countryside near Marseille.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> Over the next decade Pagnol produced his own films, taking many different roles in the production – financier, director, script writer, studio head, and foreign-language script translator – and employing the greatest French actors of the period, also owning [[film laboratory|film laboratories]] and several movie theaters in Marseille.  Pagnol built a production system that was nearly unique as it allowed him to control all the aspects of his film's production, including [[Film distribution|distribution]].<ref name="dvdclassik">{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdclassik.com/critique/nais-leboursier|title= Naïs|date=2007-07-17|website=DVD Classik |access-date=2025-07-03|language=fr|first=Olivier|last=Bitoun}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lepelerin.com/culture/cinema/50-ans-apres-que-reste-il-de-la-gloire-de-pagnol-9422|title= 50 ans après, que reste-il de la gloire de Pagnol ?|date=2025-02-11|website=[[Le Pèlerin]]|access-date=2025-07-03|language=fr|first=Catherine|last=Escrive}}</ref> His business came to a near-complete end during [[World War II]] as both the Nazi occupiers and the [[Vichy France|Vichy]] administration wanted to get hold of his film studio's equipment. Pagnol pretexted that his company was failing in order to sell it to [[Gaumont (company)|Gaumont]], and even destroyed the copies of his latest project, ''La Prière aux étoiles'', so the German-controlled [[Continental Films]] could not get hold of it. He only kept one theater in Marseille. After the war, Pagnol created a new production company and rebuilt his filmmaking activity.<ref name="dvdclassik"/> On 4 April 1946, Pagnol was elected to the {{Lang|fr|[[Académie française]]|italic=no}}, taking his seat in March 1947, the first filmmaker to receive this honour.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/>

=== Themes of Pagnol's films ===
In his films, Pagnol transfers his playwriting talents onto the big screen. His editing style is somberly reserved, placing emphasis on the content of an image. As a pictorial naturalist, Pagnol relies on film as art to convey a deeper meaning rather than solely as a tool to tell a story. Pagnol also took great care in the type of actors he employed, hiring local actors to appear in his films to highlight their unique accents and culture. Like his plays, Pagnol's films emphasize dialogue and musicality. The themes of many of Pagnol's films revolve around the acute observation of social rituals. Using interchangeable symbols and recurring character roles, such as proud fathers and rebellious children, Pagnol illuminates the provincial life of the lower class. Notably, Pagnol also frequently compares women and land, showing both can be barren or fertile. Above all, Pagnol uses all this to illustrate the importance of human bonds and their renewal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams|first=Alan|title=Republic of Images|year=1992|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=London, England|isbn=0-674-76267-3|pages=200–206}}</ref>

=== As a novelist ===
In 1945, Pagnol remarried to actress Jacqueline Bouvier, later known as [[Jacqueline Pagnol]].<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> They had two children together, Frédéric (born 1946) and Estelle (born 1951).<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> Estelle died at the age of two from [[encephalitis]]. Pagnol was so devastated that he fled the south and returned to live in Paris. He went back to writing plays, but after his next piece was badly received he decided to change his job once more and began writing a series of autobiographical novels – ''[[Souvenirs d'enfance]]'' – based on his childhood experiences.

In 1957, the first two novels in the series, ''[[La Gloire de mon père]]'' and ''[[Le château de ma mère]]'' were published to instant acclaim.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> The third ''Le Temps des secrets'' was published in 1959,<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> the fourth ''[[Le Temps des Amours]]'' was to remain unfinished and was not published until 1977, after his death. In the meantime, Pagnol turned to a second series, ''[[The Water of the Hills|L'Eau des Collines]]'' – ''Jean de Florette'' and ''Manon des Sources'' – which focused on the machinations of Provençal peasant life at the beginning of the twentieth century and were published in 1962.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> ''L'Eau des collines'' was itself based on the film ''[[Manon of the Spring (1952 film)|Manon des Sources]]'', which Pagnol had directed in 1952 with his wife [[Jacqueline Pagnol|Jacqueline]] in the title role.

==Later life==
Pagnol appeared before a review committee of the Parisian Comite Regional Interprofessionnel d'Epuration on 27 November 1946 for three charges of collaboration. His charges were for adding [[Philippe Pétain]]'s armistice speech into ''[[The Well-Digger's Daughter (1940 film)|The Well-Digger's Daughter]]'', allowing ''La France en Marche'', a Vichy propaganda film series, to be processed at his laboratories in Marseille, and distributing a propaganda short about the [[attack on Mers-el-Kébir]]. Pagnol defended himself as the Germans banned ''The Well-Digger's Daughter'' in 1941 and only unbanned it after the Pétain scene was removed and that the Vichy government seized his studios, personnel, and distribution services. All charges against him were dismissed on 3 February 1947.{{sfn|Bowles|2009}} By that time, Pagnol had restarted his filmmaking career with ''[[Naïs (film)|Naïs]]''. 

Pagnol's second marriage, with actress [[Jacqueline Pagnol]], brought newfound happiness in his private life.<ref name="La Provence">{{cite web|url=https://www.laprovence.com/article/sorties-loisirs/4086619/jacqueline-pagnol-la-muse-de-lecrivain-est-decedee.html|title=Jacqueline Pagnol, la muse de l'écrivain est décédée|website=[[La Provence]]|date=2016-08-24|first=Annabelle|last=Kempf|access-date=2025-07-03}}</ref> In 1952, he gave Jacqueline the title role of ''[[Manon of the Spring (1952 film)|Manon of the Spring]]'', a two-part, 4-hour long film that he had written especially for her.<ref name="Première1">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.premiere.fr/Cinema/News-Cinema/Manon-des-Sources-Marcel-Pagnol-vs-Claude-Berri|title=Manon des Sources : Marcel Pagnol vs Claude Berri|date=2022-12-14|magazine=Premiere |access-date=2025-07-02|language=fr}}</ref> In 1954, the death their daughter Estelle was a tragedy from which he never quite recovered; he stopped making film afterwards.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rtl.fr/culture/culture-generale/marcel-pagnol-une-vie-semee-de-deuils-7900370601 |title=Marcel Pagnol : une vie semée de deuils|website=[[RTL (French radio)|RTL]]|date=2024-04-18|first1=Ophélie |last1=Meunier|first2= Eléonore|last2= Aparicio |access-date=2025-07-03 |language=fr}}</ref> Jacqueline's support helped him write his successful books during the following years.<ref name="La Provence"/>

Pagnol died in [[Paris]] on 18 April 1974.<ref name = "CastansChrono"/> He is buried in Marseille at the cemetery ''La Treille'', along with his mother, father, brothers, and wife. His boyhood friend, David Magnan (''Lili des Bellons'' in the autobiographies), who died at the [[Second Battle of the Marne]] in July 1918, is buried nearby.

== Translations ==
Pagnol was also known for his translations of [[Shakespeare]] (from English) and [[Virgil]] (from [[Latin]]):
*1944 : ''Le Songe d'une nuit d'été'' (''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'') by William Shakespeare, first presented in 1947, at the Grand Théâtre de Monaco; Paris, Œuvres complètes, Club de l'Honnête Homme, 1971
*1947 : ''[[Hamlet]]'' by William Shakespeare, Paris, Nagel
*1958 : ''Bucoliques'' (''[[The Eclogues]]'') by Virgil, Paris, Grasset

Pagnol's ''Hamlet'' is still performed in France, although some have criticized his portrayal of Hamlet as somewhat effeminate.<ref>Maurois, André. ''Pagnol et Shakespeare,'' Opéra, 1948</ref>

== Film adaptations ==

In 1986, the two volumes of ''[[The Water of the Hills]]'' were adapted by filmmaker [[Claude Berri]] into the two films ''[[Jean de Florette]]'' and ''[[Manon des Sources (1986 film)|Manon des Sources]]'' .

In 1990, ''[[My Father's Glory (film)|La Gloire de mon père]]'' and ''[[My Mother's Castle (film)|Le château de ma mère]]'', Pagnol's affectionate reminiscences of childhood, were filmed by [[Yves Robert]].

In 2000, [[Jacques Nahum]] produced ''Marius'', ''Fanny'', and ''César'' for French television.

In 2011, ''[[The Well-Digger's Daughter (2011 film)|La Fille du puisatier]]'' was remade by [[Daniel Auteuil]].

In 2013, ''[[Marius (2013 film)|Marius]]'' and ''[[Fanny (2013 film)|Fanny]]'' were remade, also by Daniel Auteuil.

In 2022, ''[[Le Temps Des Secrets (film)|Le Temps Des Secrets]]'' was adapted and filmed by [[Christophe Barratier]].

== Awards ==
* 1939: Best foreign film for ''Harvest'' - [[New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
* 1940: Best foreign film for ''The Baker's Wife'' - New York Film Critics Circle Awards
* 1950: Best foreign film for ''Jofroi'' - New York Film Critics Circle Awards

== Tribute ==
On 28 February 2020 [[Google]] celebrated his 125th birthday with a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/marcel-pagnols-125th-birthday/|title=Marcel Pagnol's 125th Birthday|website=Google|date=28 February 2020}}</ref>

==Filmography==
* ''[[Marius (1931 film)|Marius]]'' (1931)<ref>''Marius'' and its sequels, ''Fanny'' and ''César'', formed the basis for the libretto of [[Vladimir Cosma]]'s 2007 opera ''[[Marius et Fanny]]''.</ref>
* ''[[Fanny (1932 film)|Fanny]]'' (1932)
* ''[[Jofroi]]'' (1934)
* ''[[Angele (film)|Angèle]]'' (1934)
* ''[[Tartarin of Tarascon (1934 film)|Tartarin of Tarascon]]'' (1934)
* ''[[Merlusse]]'' (1935)
* ''Cigalon'' (1935)
* ''[[Topaze (1936 film)|Topaze]]'' (1936), first version
* ''[[César (film)|César]]'' (1936)
* ''[[Regain (film)|Regain]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Heartbeat (1938 film)|Le Schpountz]]'' (1938)
* ''[[The Baker's Wife (film)|La Femme du boulanger]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Monsieur Brotonneau]]'' (1939)
* ''[[The Well-Digger's Daughter (1940 film)|La Fille du puisatier]]'' (1940); [[The Well-Digger's Daughter (2011 film)|remade in 2011]]
* ''La Prière aux étoiles'' (1941, unfinished, destroyed)
* ''[[Naïs (film)|Naïs]]'' (1945)
* ''[[The Pretty Miller Girl]]'' (1949, in colour)
* ''[[The Ways of Love]]'' (1950)
* ''[[The Prize (1950 film)|The Prize]]'' (1950)
* ''[[Topaze (1951 film)|Topaze]]'' (1951, starring [[Fernandel]]), second version
* ''[[Manon of the Spring (1952 film)|Manon of the Spring]]'' (1952, later novelized and expanded as ''[[The Water of the Hills|L'Eau des collines]]'';<ref>{{IMDb title|0044883|Manon des Sources (1952 film)}}</ref> and subsequently remade in 1986 in two parts as ''[[Jean de Florette]]'' and ''[[Manon des Sources (1986 film)|Manon des Sources]]'')
* ''[[Letters from My Windmill (film)|Letters from My Windmill]]'' (''Les Lettres de mon moulin'') (1954)

==Bibliography==
* ''Merchants of Glory'' (1925, theatre play)
* ''Jazz'' (1926, theatre play)
* ''[[Topaze (play)|Topaze]]'' (1928, theatre play)
* ''[[Marius (play)|Marius]]'' (1929, theatre play)
* ''[[Fanny (play)|Fanny]]'' (1932, theatre play)
* ''[[César (play)|César]]'' (1936, theatre play)
* ''[[La Gloire de mon père]] and [[Le Château de ma mère]]'' (1957, [[autobiography|autobiographies]])
* ''[[Le Temps des secrets]]'' (1959, autobiography)
* ''[[The Water of the Hills|L'Eau des collines]]'' (1962, novel, in two volumes: ''Jean de Florette'' and ''Manon des Sources'')
* ''[[Le Temps des amours]]'' (1977, autobiography)
* ''Le Masque de Fer'' (1965, essay)
* ''[[Le Secret du Masque de fer|Le secret du Masque de Fer]]'' (1973, essay; 2nd expanded edition)

==See also==
*[[Lycée Français International Marcel Pagnol]]

==Notes==
:*{{note|reference_name_A|A}} Born 25 October 1869. Died 8 November 1951, age 82.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}
:*{{note|reference_name_B|B}} Born 11 September 1873. Died 16 June 1910, age 36.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Works cited==
* {{cite journal|last=Bowles |first=Brett |title=Accommodating Vichy: the politics of Marcel Pagnol's La Fille du puisatier |journal=[[Historical Reflections]] |publisher=[[Berghahn Books]] |date=2009 |volume=35 |issue=2}}
* Castans, Raymond (1987). ''Marcel Pagnol''. Éditions Jean-Claude Lattès. {{ISBN|978-2-7096-0622-6}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Marcel Pagnol}}
* {{in lang|fr|en}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080516155113/http://en.marcel-pagnol.com/ Official website]
* {{IMDb name|name=Marcel Pagnol|id=0656528}}
* {{IBDB name|7497}}
* [https://classiques-garnier.com/export/html/marcel-pagnol-classique-populaire-reflexions-sur-les-valeurs-d-une-oeuvre-intermediale-bibliographie.html?displaymode=full Complete bibliography on and about Pagnol] {{in lang|fr}}

{{Marcel Pagnol}}
{{Académie française Seat 25}}
{{Cannes Film Festival jury presidents}}
{{Honorary César}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagnol, Marcel}}
[[Category:Marcel Pagnol| ]]
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Aubagne]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie Française]]
[[Category:French film directors]]
[[Category:French comedy film directors]]
[[Category:French film producers]]
[[Category:French satirical dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:French satirical film directors]]
[[Category:20th-century French dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:Writers from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:French people of Spanish descent]]
[[Category:French male novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques]]
[[Category:César Honorary Award recipients]]
[[Category:Latin–French translators]]
[[Category:English–French translators]]
[[Category:Translators of William Shakespeare]]
[[Category:Translators of Virgil]]
[[Category:20th-century French screenwriters]]