Jack Nicholson: When an actor shocked Lino Ventura

After the incredible success of Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob in 1973, director Gerard Urim felt the wings grow. He had just tried to film with crocodile Louis de Funes, but the actor suffered two heart attacks a few months before filming, which was therefore canceled.

With his daughter Daniel Thompson, Owy embarked on another project and wrote the screenplay for an ongoing film between France (a little) and New York (a lot) called Sugar Daddy. This is the story of a French conductor who confronts an American policeman.

The project materializes with Lino Ventura in the cast, and for this occasion the feature film undergoes the first change of title and becomes L’Entourloupe. Ours describes it as follows *:

Like all my stories, the starting point is dramatic, but the sequel is considered a comedy. Lino has the role of a man imbued with destiny, overwhelmed by a series of disasters. Everything happens in one day, i.e. it all explodes, closes and opens in 24 hours.

For the film, which is 95% * set in the United States, Oury and its producer Andre Genovese contacted American studio Paramount, Le Cerveau has already co-produced with Bourvil and Belmondo.

Our continues:

I think we will do a great job with Lino Ventura. He is a brilliant character. Extraordinarily brilliant with the logic of the script, the intelligence of the script, the sense of its character.

“He came home from work for months”Always trust the director. “I managed to observe him, I wrote this role according to him. When we start filming, I think there will be a lot of things I will not have to say anymore, I found with him a little bit of what he was. In Burville, that is, a person with an actor at the same time, which is quite unusual. “

A financial agreement has been reached, and Gerard Oware, like Lino Ventura, will travel to the United States to find out who will execute this American policeman. The name waltz begins and circulates Al Pacino (who is going to shoot Bobby Derfield) or Woody Allen (who comes out of War and Love and prepares Annie Hall). Meanwhile, the project was dubbed Conductor and Owen was thinking about Jack Nicholson, who had just been filmed in Chinatown.

A meeting between Lino Ventura and Jack Nicholson takes place at his home in Los Angeles. The American star waits and Lino observes the teapot placed in the corner. He raises his head and notes that it is full of powdered sugar. Or so he thinks.

When Nicholson finally arrives, first of all, he gets a line with “powdered sugar”, actually cocaine. Lino immediately leaves the comedian’s house speechless. That ended the meeting.

Despite this failure, Gerard Ower continues to search for a solo actor and is considering releasing Sylvester Stallone Rock. Before you know it, is it really possible to collaborate, producer Andre Genovese goes bankrupt and conductor Alia L’Entourloupe’s rights are lost in the Genoese archives and blocked for legal questions.

Gerard Ower continues his search for a lone actor and is considering Sylvester Stallone, who was then crowned with success. Rocky. Before you know it, is it possible to collaborate, producer Andre Genovese goes bankrupt, and conductor Alia L’Entourloupe’s rights are lost in the Genoa archives and blocked for legal questions.

So he avoids his patient project and moves on to the film, which combines the context of May 68 and comedy, again with “Friend’s Film”: La Carapate with Victor Lanus and Pierre Richard. As for L’Entourloupe, the title will be used by Gerard Pierce in 1980 for a film starring Jean-Pierre Mariel, Jacques Dutron and Gerard Lanvin.

* Figures and quotes from Philip Durant’s “Lino Ventura”, first document, 2014.