Émile Couzinet

Emile Couzinet (b. 1896)was the owner of several movie theaters in the south west of France ..He had an idea which was (and to this day remained) unique:he made his own movies which were shown in his theaters .He did not care about what Parisian critics thought.The only man of the French cinema who was a writer,a director,a producer ,a film distributor, a cinema owner and manager;he had his own studios and ,like Ed Wood in America ,he often used the same actors ,particularly Jean Tissier and Jeanne Fusier-Gir . His output is hopeless.Coarse comedies abound in his huge filmography:"Le Don D'Adele (1950)told the unspeakable story of a farm girl,almost excommunicated by the local priest."Le Curé De Saint-Amour" (1952) was the tale of a priest who helped the lovers ,provided they did not sin before the wedding."Quand Te Tues-Tu?" (1953) a remake of a thirties comedy ,dealt with the problems of a bourgeois ,who could get a rich inheritance ,but he had to marry a widow or the money would go to a brass band ."La Famille Cucuroux(1953) featured broke aristocrats ,a leopard and an American Indian cousin."Mon Curé Champion Du régiment'(1955)found him going out at a peak of unbelievably corny stuff:a priest ,armed up with a breviary and an umbrella became a military boxing champ.His titles spoke for themselves .His last effort "Le Medecin Malgré Lui" (1962) was high culture: Molière's play!.Couzinet died in 1964,his works have become French guiltiest pleasure,so to speak.