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MARC LAWRENCE  

A veteran supporting player from no nonsense, New York City, brilliant character actor Marc Lawrence, at periods during his career, also sometimes called Europe home. The Bronx native's time on the European film scene can be traced as far back as the early 1950's, when the man originally born, Max Goldsmith, was first forced to exile American soil in order to continue developing his acting pursuits. The cause was due to his calling in front of the strictly right wing, House Un-American Activities Committee, in which Lawrence was brought before a hearing to investigate the political leanings of the actor, as well as those of a number of his colleagues (including fellow New Yorker, Lionel Stander). The findings would eventually conclude, with his admittance, that Lawrence had once been a member of the Communist Party. In addition, at the wrath of the Committee's pressures, Lawrence caved and was forced to name fellow performers who were also members. Now on the Hollywood blacklist and essentially banished from any chance of a continued successful run in the U.S., Lawrence packed his bags and headed for European shores. There he'd be a respected and welcome expatriate American name actor and director, billed in the casts of various Italian and Spanish pictures, in between trips back to the States, over the next 30 years.    

His earliest film roles from this time came out of Italy; the first big explosion of work there coming for Lawrence in 1952. He appeared in two adventure pictures for director Mario Soldati, playing the recurring character, Van Gould in I TRE CORSARI (THREE CORSAIRS) and JOLANDA LA FIGLIA DEL CORSARO NERO (JOLANDA, THE DAUGHTER OF THE BLACK CORSAIR). He would also appear in films like Luigi Comencini's LA TRATTA DELLE BIANCHE (SHIP OF CONDEMNED WOMEN) the same year, in which he co-starred in the role of a seedy white slave trader. Perhaps one of his biggest achievements at this time though was securing the role of heralded Trojan warrior, Diomedes, in Robert Wise’s shot-in-Rome classic, HELEN OF TROY (1956). Along with this, Lawrence would add stage work to his resumé while on the continent during the decade, performing to acclaim throughout England - with his initial stint lasting until the demise of the blacklist around the mid-fifties. Although Lawrence did soon after, for a lengthy period, go back to his homeland to perform in the United States, it was primarily television work that came at him during that point in the late fifties/early sixties.    

By the time the mid to late-sixties rolled around, Marc Lawrence found himself back on familiar ground following a slew of directorial work Stateside; shooting films in Italy and Spain. Among his first films upon returning to Italian productions, was the 1966 Franco and Ciccio comedy, DUE MAFIOSI CONTRO AL CAPONE - directed by Giorgio Simonelli. That same year, Lawrence landed a decent supporting role in the Spanish/Argentinean/U.S. western, SAVAGE PAMPAS - a Spaghetti entry from Argentina-born producer/director, Hugo Fregonese that was less any kind of big score for Lawrence and more a tough guy vehicle for an ailing, Robert Taylor. Perhaps more intriguing than the picture itself was the inadvertent connection of Lawrence and Taylor's back history involvement with the aforementioned House Un-American Activities Committee, for which Taylor (whom Lawrence had also worked with prior to SAVAGE PAMPAS) was at one time a witness. We of course already know where Lawrence stood with them. At this time, Marc would also work with French directors when the opportunity arose, taking a supporting part in the Louis Grospierre comedic adventure, DU MOU DANS LA GASCHETTE (1967) - a French/Italian co-production also titled, DUE KILLERS IN FUGA for Italy's consumption. The remainder of Marc Lawrence's time in late-sixties European offerings is best described as scattered, having only done two more films there to wrap up the decade; one going uncredited, squeezing in a cameo as a carnival barker in Don Taylor and Italo Zingarelli's, Peter Graves and Bud Spencer-lead spaghetti western, UN ESERCITO DI CINQUE UOMINI (1969) (THE FIVE MAN ARMY). The other, prior to this, was a higher profile role (if you can call it that) involving all sorts of campy shenanigans, as Marc played the character of Albert Muller; a no good, double-crossing slime ball who retreats into thick island greenery with simian mind control next on his checklist. Transforming gorillas into mindless robotic drones to do his dastardly bidding and caging lovely ladies for his own twisted fetishes are the order of the day for Lawrence in Roberto Mauri's, EVA, LA VENERE SELAVGGIA (1968) (known both fondly and notoriously in North America primarily as KING OF KONG ISLAND). With former Herculean heartthrob, Brad Harris on his tail, slipshod wackiness was bound to abound. Of all of Marc Lawrence's diversely oddball pictures from his active Euro-periods (those especially being the mid-to late sixties), KONG ISLAND is one of the most brain-bogglingly entertaining. Lawrence himself had no doubt looked around at his surroundings during his time on Mauri's miscellaneous monkey mumbo-jumbo, wondering how he went from intensely realistic street fights with the likes of Gary Cooper (see Fritz Lang's CLOAK AND DAGGER), to trying to kidnap busty, Esmeralda Barros with the aid of flea-bitten Curious George contemporaries. Whatever he felt at the time, one thing remaining consistent throughout was Marc Lawrence's undeniable veteran screen presence as a viable character actor and the professionalism he brought with it.   

As things progressed into the 1970's, Lawrence would find his luck turning back around in the United States, again picking up a slew of TV work and most notably, landing roles in not one, but two, 007 James Bond entries from the decade - DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971) and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974). The latter saw quite a sizeable guest role for Lawrence, playing up to the fullest one of his specialties - the assassin, Rodney - delivering one particularly memorable, pre-credits cat-and-mouse sequence opposite Christopher Lee. As a result of much time occupied by projects Stateside (including writing, producing, acting in and directing the very creepy, low-budget 1972 horror film, DADDY'S DEADLY DARLING - aka. PIGS, also starring daughter Toni), Lawrence wouldn't act again for Italian directors until a brief but interesting working relationship with the Corbucci brothers, Sergio and Bruno. The first picture produced from this short, but entertaining final tenure on his “Eurography” also starred fellow longtime pro out of the U.S. – the highly respected, Ernest Borgnine, as well as legendary hometown hero, Terence Hill (Mario Girotti). Both in roles opposing Lawrence, Sergio Corbucci’s POLIZIOTTO SUPERPIU (1980) (SUPER FUZZ) is a modest, sometimes funny crime caper comedy featuring Hill as central Police bumbler, Dave Speed (“He’s a super snooper, Really super trooper! “) – who, not only is essentially “allergic” to the color red, but also along with a lighthearted Borgnine, must contend with Lawrence as snarly mob shark, Mr. Torpedo, and his hired fiends. The film itself though is in all honesty more geared towards audiences as a solo vehicle for Terence Hill, who here was on one of his side cinema sabbaticals from his regular, highly successful screen partnership with the equally adored, Bud Spencer (Carlo Pedersoli). In the film, Hill (who, incidentally in his younger years, had worked with Lawrence in his very first feature, VACANZE COL GANGSTER, in 1951) is your run-of-the-mill police officer, who on one fateful trip to collect on a parking fine ends up accidentally shooting a nearby rocket carrying red plutonium (what are the odds?). This of course results in all manner of ridiculous superhuman abilities, which inevitably assist in battling Miami counterfeiting kingpin, Lawrence.

On the other side of the coin, Marc certainly wouldn’t have to venture too far outside the box from the Mafioso caricature he portrayed in SUPER FUZZ for his next Corbucci collaboration and final appearance in an Italian film. This time working under the eye of the younger of the Corbucci’s, Bruno, Lawrence would have one final hurrah on the big screen in Italy in the not dissimilar Bud Spencer-only outing (this time in his own early 80’s feature, minus Hill), CANE E GATTO (1982) (CAT AND DOG). Doing again what Marc Lawrence did best (however, much like in SUPER FUZZ, pretty much spoofing himself), he turns up in CANE E GATTO as the stereotypical mobster, this time chasing around the man who made the ‘Nico Giraldi’ police character so famous, Tomas Milian. Spencer is there to round things up in the lead role of LAPD Sergeant Parker, which first includes trying to catch up to woman-bedding, jewelry thief, Milian - who in turn gets in even deeper when he witnesses an organized assassination. Following his third-billing special guest part here, Marc Lawrence would say ciao to Italian filmgoers as he’d leave the country and continent of Europe behind on his filmography altogether for the final time.   

It was far from the last of Lawrence though. The movie business hadn’t gotten enough of the gravel-faced, sly cat with the New York accent and the ugly mug looks that made him truly the quintessential bad guy for hire. And he gave them more…much more. The stalwart character player who’d gotten his start in acting professionally back in 1932, and worked on his last Italian production in 1982, continued to ply his trade all the way up until his very last film appearance in the 2003 semi-animated feature, LOONY TOONS: BACK IN ACTION.  In that final 21 years, Lawrence remained tremendously busy, reclaiming his position as one of the underappreciated greats with a memorable turn in romance thriller THE BIG EASY (1986); roles that demonstrated he was more than capable of acting outside of his comfort zone on both STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, and ten years later, playing a more Lawrence-esque guest part on the STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE episode, ‘Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang’ (in 1989 and 1999); a small part in the Disney winner, NEWSIES (1992); working with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (who were very much fans) as the Motel keeper in the popular, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1996); taking on the important role of convincingly playing Carlo Gambino in the TV bio-epic, GOTTI (1996); and brief spots in a stop on television hospital drama, ER (in 1998) and Arnold Schwarzenegger satanic action blockbuster, END OF DAYS (1999). Lawrence would also release his autobiography during this bustling period, in 1991, which he titled, LONG TIME NO SEE: CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD GANGSTER.  

The most endearing thing of all about Marc Lawrence is that he endured, both professionally and privately. Even for a number of years after the greatest love of his life and mother of his two children – Russian screenwriter, Fanya Foss (whom with he shared a romance for 53 years) – passed away in 1995, he still marched on. The longevity certainly has to be a testimony to the man. And at a total of 216 recorded credits, clearly he was seen by others too, as not only one hell of a worthy actor, but also a unique and incredible individual formed out of a life long lead. At the time of his death in late November of 2005, Lawrence was an admirable 95 years of age, having done his last picture at 93. Not considered nearly as big as some of those he worked with (legendary names like Roy Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Abbott and Costello and John Wayne), still, in many ways, Marc Lawrence surpassed them all.   
 

MARC LAWRENCE’S EUROGRAPHY  

-VACANZE COL GANGSTER (1951) Dir. Dino Risi / AKA. VACATION WITH A GANGSTER  

-JOLANDA LA FIGLIA DEL CORSARIO NERO (1952) Dir. Mario Soldati / AKA. JOLANDA, THE DAUGHTER OF THE BLACK CORSAIR  

-TORMENTO DEL PASSATO (1952) Dir. Mario Bonnard / AKA. TORMENT OF THE PAST  

-LA TRATTA DELLE BIANCHE (1952) Dir. Luigi Comencini / AKA. SHIP OF CONDEMNED WOMEN  

-I TRE CORSARI (1952) Dir. Mario Soldati / AKA. THE THREE CORSAIRS  

-FRATELLI D’ITALIA (1952) Dir. Fausto Saraceni / AKA. THE BROTHERS OF ITALY  

-NOI PECCATORI (1953) Dir. Guido Brignone  

-LEGIONE STRANIERA (1953) Dir. Basilio Franchina  

-IL PIU COMICO SPETTACOLO DEL MONDO (1953) Dir. Mario Mattoli / AKA. FUNNIEST SHOW ON EARTH  

-BALLATA TRAGICA (1954) Dir. Luigi Capuano   

-LUNA NUOVA (1955) Dir. Luigi Capuano / AKA. NEW MOON  

-LA CATENA DELL’ODIO (1955) Dir. Piero Costa  

-SUOR MARIA (1955) Dir. Luigi Capuano  

-HELEN OF TROY (1956) Dir. Robert Wise / AKA. ELENA DI TROIA  

-SETTE MONACI D’ORO (1966) Dir. Moraldo Rossi  

-DUE MAFIOSI CONTRO AL CAPONE (1966) Dir. Giorgio Simonelli  

-SAVAGE PAMPAS (1966) Dir. Hugo Fregonese / AKA. PAMPA SALVAJE  

-DU MOU DANS LA GACHETTE (1967) Dir. Louis Grospierre / AKA. DUE KILLERS IN FUGA  

-CUSTER OF THE WEST (1967) Dir. Robert Siodmak / AKA. LA ULTIMA AVENTURA  

-EVA, LA VENERE SELVAGGIA (1968) Dir. Roberto Mauri / AKA. KING OF KONG ISLAND  

-KRAKATOA: EAST OF JAVA (1968) Dir. Bernard L. Kowalski / AKA. KRAKATOA EST DI GIAVA  

-IL KILLER (1969) (TV mini-series) Dir. Dino B. Partesano  

-UN ESERCITO DI CINQUE UOMINI (1969) Dir(s). Don Taylor, Italo Martinenghi / AKA. THE FIVE MAN ARMY  

-POLIZIOTTO SUPERPIU (1980) Dir. Sergio Corbucci / AKA. SUPER FUZZ  

-CANE E GATTO (1982) Dir. Bruno Corbucci / AKA. CAT AND DOG   
 

~CHOICE QUOTE~  

"Sure I had that no good bum killed, but you think I'm gonna tell you?!"

-Marc Lawrence ('Mr. Torpedo', SUPER FUZZ)   
 

JEAN SEBERG  

One of Marshalltown, Iowa’s biggest claims to tragic fame, the far shores of France were certainly light years away from the modest factory town in which she grew up. Jean Seberg, however, was not just any ordinary small town girl. She was a beautiful dreamer whose aspirations couldn’t be contained in the seemingly in comparison, mundane Marshalltown.   

Born Jean Dorothy Seberg in the first half of November, 1938, her earliest years were spent growing up in Iowa with her substitute teacher mother, and father, who was a druggist. By the time Jean took up studies at the University of Iowa, she had already decided what her fate was to be. Although in her later years, that same fate would grow to turn on her, Seberg began like any other soul possessing similar desires…with stars in her eyes. It would become absolutely apparent that the realization of her passion was indeed to be, when in 1957 out of a documented 18,000 aspiring starlets, Seberg would secure the role that would forever present us with her lasting image - taking on the honorable challenge of playing Joan of Arc in the intimidating Otto Preminger’s SAINT JOAN. A loose adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw play, Preminger’s film would immediately launch 18 year old Jean – who’d had no previous acting experience – straight into the public eye. The picture – which was shot in London, England – foolishly veered away from much of the content within Shaw’s original play and other aspects had been added in, resulting in overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, some of whom cruelly ripped Jean to shreds. SAINT JOAN is, however, looked at today with far more significance than upon its initial release. Preminger himself stated in his 1977 autobiography that upon viewing the picture in its entirety at the premiere, he declared in his mind from that point forward that it was a failure. He did not however attribute that to the performance of Seberg, but rather his own assumed inability to get across the true meaning of the story. The film still remains a historical classic regardless (as does the groundbreaking short hairstyle for which Seberg would launch a trend following) and set the stage for bigger things to come for the pretty American.  

Despite Preminger’s tyrannical methods – which included an incident during the filming of SAINT JOAN where Jean Seberg partially caught fire and the maniacal Austrian would not dare allow the flames to be extinguished until he captured his shot – she would again accept the offer to work with Otto on her sophomore feature, BONJOUR TRISTESSE (1958). Film opportunities following SAINT JOAN had initially been few and far between and at one point it appeared as though her rising star had already fallen. Luck would turn around, however, following Jean’s second step into the eye of Preminger’s lens. The location for the shoot; Paris, France. A country that would eventually become synonymous with Jean Seberg. In this collaboration with Preminger (which was decently received compared to SAINT JOAN), Seberg played the role of attention starved and demanding rich girl, Cecile – acting along side respected UK greats David Niven and Deborah Kerr. Certainly remembered less here for her performance and more for her hypnotically innocent beauty, nonetheless, as a result of BONJOUR TRISTESSE, France would adopt Seberg as their own and French directors would slowly begin to discover and seek her out as an acquisition for their own films.                          

Frustratingly for her, 1958 brought only one other offer from abroad; the Jack Arnold Colombia Pictures, English/French comedy, THE MOUSE THAT ROARED, featuring Peter Sellers – in which Jean was co-billed. Filming began in Manhattan, New York in October of 1958 and wrapped in December of that year, with the picture finally released in July of ’59 in the UK – eventually making its way to U.S. cinemas that Fall. Audiences however, while in general favor of the film, would find that comedic performances were not Jean Seberg’s strong point. She herself, having only done two previous movies at that stage, was still discovering exactly what that was. August of 1959, however, would prove a pivotal time in that discovery. Unbeknownst to her, a young, budding artistic French filmmaker was already mentally in hot pursuit of her for his next vision. The young man’s name was Jean Luc-Godard and the film – the revolutionary, A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (1960) (BREATHLESS).  

Co-starring the uber-cool, soon-to-be French New Wave prince, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Godard’s film was not only an influential experiment in many techniques that are considered today commonplace, but would also become a filmic achievement of huge proportions for the careers of both Belmondo and Seberg. The style in which it was filmed, the way the characters are presented, the almost awkward way in which the dialogue is delivered (Godard would feed the lines to the actors as they performed), and the authentic Paris locales, all combined to turn what could have been standard, artsy fare into left-field magic that is still looked upon with hipster awe some 50 years later. It was during this time too that Seberg would evolve her groundbreaking look, coloring her boyishly chic haircut blonde. The images of her from A BOUT DE SOUFFLE have since become timeless. Now morphing into a gradual "Nouvelle Vague" idol, the sky seemed the limit for Jean.  

With things on the upswing for Seberg in 1960; a new picture with exciting prospects having just been released in March throughout Paris and Japan, its upcoming entry into the Berlin International Film Festival, along with the subsequent popularity – her personal life was also changing. With her 21^st birthday on the horizon, she would separate from her first husband – minor French director/writer/actor, Francois Moreuil (also a supporting actor in A BOUT DE SOUFFLE) following an affair with Russian novelist, Holocaust survivor, decorated war hero, politician and eventual director, Romain Gary. Jean has been quoted as saying that her marriage to Moreuil was never for the right reasons. She would in fact, go on to wed Gary in 1962, who would later be described as becoming dominating and obsessive as the relationship with his much younger bride progressed. Before her new marriage would even take place, Jean was already pregnant with Gary’s child and what would be her only son, Alexander Diego (born July of 1963). As the sixties continued forward, Seberg – from Godard’s film on - would remain busily active on the European film scene, doing five more pictures between 1961 and 1964, perfecting her craft through France, Italy, and Spain. Among them, the recommended Jean Valére coming of age drama, LES GRANDES PERSONNES (1961) – this time paired with Maurice Ronet; a French/Italian picture opposite Gabriele Ferzetti called CONGO VIVO (1962) (ERUPTION); and a Spanish-shot reunion with her LA BOUT DE SOUFFLE co-star Jean-Paul Belmondo for the comic adventure, ECHAPPEMENT LIBRE (1964) (BACKFIRE). Seberg had also begun to be further seen on the big screen in America at the turn of the new decade, being exposed to her home country through the release of Philip Leacock’s LET NO MAN WRITE MY EPITAPH (1960), in which she’s fourth-billed amongst giants Burl Ives, Shelley Winters and James Darren, playing Darren’s love interest. It was the heralded Robert Rossen gem, LILLITH (1964), however, that would cement her in the minds of American filmgoers back home. In the part that Seberg herself considered her favorite role, as well as the performance which avid movie watchers cite as her best ever, she stars as the mentally ill, nearly otherworldly title character – playing off of Warren Beatty’s young shrink, who has somehow found himself having fallen in love with her while under his care and observation. It would be Jean Seberg’s crowning moment in the United States, and perhaps, her career. A high she’d never quite reach again.  

As the middle portion of the sixties passed and the latter half rolled in, along with all of the glaring societal changes it would bring –  individual beliefs strengthened also. Jean Seberg was no exception to this shift in power to the people. As her film career continued, both in Europe and the U.S., her political and spiritual views and values moved her to eventually become one of the more vocal members of the entertainment field. Up on the big screen, she soldiered on too, appearing again for esteemed French directors – including taking the lead in respected journeyman, Nicolas Gessner’s 1966 debut, UN MILLIARD DANS UN BILLARD (DIAMONDS ARE BRITTLE), and a pair of reunion’s with former co-star Maurice Ronet, in the brilliant Claude Chabrol’s account of Nazi occupied France, LA LIGNE DE DEMARCATION (1966) (LINE OF DEMARCATION), and husband Romain Gary’s first foray into directing – the generally panned, LES OISEAUX VONT MOURIR AU PEROU (1968) (THE BIRDS OF PERU) (the first film to ever receive an X rating from the MPAA). Around the time of filming BIRDS OF PERU especially, turmoil seemed to truly begin its eventually overwhelming manifestation in Jean Seberg’s life. Her marriage to Gary had become rocky at best, largely in part to his increasingly commanding ways. During filming of the production, the two repeatedly conflicted with one another, and the film itself seemed more an excuse for Romain Gary (who had previously written the story) to linger endlessly on his wife with the camera. All of this would, combined with a steamy encounter back in the U.S. for Jean, soon be the cause of an implosion in the couple’s formerly wedded bliss.   

It was now 1969 and Jean Seberg was set for one last trek back from France to the United States – slated to appear that year with classic cool guys, Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood in the comedic romance western musical, PAINT YOUR WAGON. An affair with Eastwood would soon follow. Discovering the news of his wife’s infidelity, legend has it raging husband Gary insanely challenged Clint to a duel – to which he declined. Misery accompanies misery, and along with this troublesome incident and embarrassment, nothing could have prepared Jean Seberg, or the tabloid reading public, for what was to come throughout the rest of 1969 and into 1970. While she remained active on the screen, her real life off of it was rapidly becoming more than she could handle. A divorce from second husband, Gary was now looming and the actress’s political choices were starting to take precedence.  Controversy began to haunt Seberg when it was revealed to J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI that she was a financial supporter of the Black Panthers. Jean had felt even more empowered to do emblazon a trail in favor of black rights following the assassination of Martin Luther King, and thus to Hoover, became a concern. From then on they were determined to have her “neutralized” – putting Seberg much on the same watch level as other high profile celebrities of the time, such as John Lennon. It became only a matter of how and when.  

In between her final two major feature films prior to leaving the Hollywood movie scene for the last time – the disaster blockbuster, AIRPORT (featuring Seberg again amongst an all-star cast that included Burt Lancaster, Jacqueline Bisset and Dean Martin) and the offbeat David Janssen-starring western, MACHO CALLAHAN (both shot in 1970)  - Jean would suffer her worst personal and professional hardships. With the FBI now keeping tabs on her daily and looking for a way to remove her as a so-called threat, anything they could use to destroy the famous American’s credibility would suffice. Sadly, they’d get their wish, learning of her recent and sudden pregnancy. Like hawks swooping in on defenseless prey, they pounced. A plan was devised within FBI headquarters to link Seberg’s ties with the Black Panther party to her unborn child and smear her name in as many dirt sheets as they could across America. Even sadder – permission was granted and Hoover officially put the garbage campaign into effect, having a phony letter delivered to columnist Joyce Haber of the Los Angeles Times. In it, a certain fictional “someone” had apparently run into Jean Seberg and inquired as to whether the child she was carrying was in fact her still husband, Romain Gary’s. According to the source, Seberg had stated that in actuality, it was not, and the real father-to-be was a high ranking Black Panther. The dynamite was now lit for a scandal and the FBI tried to rid themselves of Seberg once and for all through somebody they knew would print such trash without checking the source. In the end, so traumatized was Jean, she gave birth prematurely to a stillborn child, whom would have been her only daughter, Nina. Jean Seberg would have the last unfortunate laugh, however, when in front of the news media the next day, to show her disgust and defiance, she presented the deceased infant, who was very obviously not black. She later confessed that the person she conceived the child with was a young Spanish revolutionary whom she had also cheated on Romain Gary with at the time of a brief split between the two. He soon finalized divorce proceedings in the wake of the entire mess.  

Now more fragile than ever, as a result of such loss and heartache in a very short period, Seberg retreated to Europe for the final time. She would remain there for the rest of her life, continuing to make far less significant films than before as she tried to escape the nightmare world that had formed in front of her. Strangely enough, her first film back upon leaving the States would be another directed by her now former husband, Gary – the completely bizarre, KILL! (1971). Also starring Hollywood leading lads of years gone by, James Mason and Stephen Boyd, KILL! (known in some circles as KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!) is a mishmash of porn peddlers and drug pushers, trampoline bouncing bullet-riddled undead bad guys, and uncomfortable stabs by an obviously bitter Romain Gary at the already damaged Seberg through the dialogue between she and Mason (who incidentally, was also done up in the film to look like Gary!). Perhaps she felt she somehow owed it to him for her various trysts during their marriage. To subject herself to the very likely chance that Gary would take the opportunity to further humiliate her from the director’s chair, it inevitably could only have been for money, one would be inclined to believe. Although with Seberg’s state of mind having understandably become much more unpredictable within that last year alone, there could be several underlying reasons as to why she chose to work with Gary again.   

The remainder of the seventies professionally, was a mixed bag for Jean Seberg. Unfulfilling roles overshadowing the odd standout, for the next eight years would round out the bulk of her film work. Many of them indeed simply were for money, as the tribulations she suffered at the hands of the FBI had punctured a hole in Seberg’s radiance, causing severe depression, and little by little the life had been seeping out of her. With it, so too was her spark on the screen. Her next couple of years were spent working in Italian and Spanish pictures of varying quality. 1972 saw Jean appear in the Pasquale Squitieri Mafioso drama, CAMORRA, (together with perennially bland Italian stud, Fabio Testi), as well as playing the daughter of Fernando Rey - opposite Ugo Tognazzi - in the classier, QUESTA SPECIE D’AMORE, from Alberto Bevilacqua. This same year also saw a third husband enter the picture – Los Angeles-born director, as well as actor in French films, Dennis Berry. Although she admittedly again did certain work for no more than monetary reasons, one of Seberg’s more intriguing pictures to come out of this early to mid-seventies run in Europe was the psychological Spanish giallo, LA CORRUPCION DE CHRIS MILLER (1973) (THE CORRUPTION OF CHRIS MILLER), from award-winning director/screenwriter/actor, Juan Antonio Bardem. Co-starring with popular French child singer/actress all grown up, Marisol – as well as Norman J. Warren flick familiar, Barry Stokes – THE CORRUPTION OF CHRIS MILLER is a strangely woven, sometimes ubiquitous film in which Seberg is the rather cold Ruth Miller. Tormenting Marisol following the unexplained departure of her character’s father and Jean’s husband, she plays a kind of scorned wicked stepmother, more interested in corrupting her stepdaughter mentally than harming her. This is slightly confused however by the semi-incestuous hints at the two women’s relationship, and is further complicated by the out of the blue arrival of drifter-in-the-rain, Stokes - who beds both of them. All the while, a black slicker adorned killer brandishing a massive hook is spilling blood across the countryside, causing paranoia amongst our central characters in the process. If anything, it was certainly novel to see Jean Seberg in a giallo.   

As the middle of the decade approached, the closest Jean would ever get to mainstream Hollywood again was appearing in the London-shot TV film, MOUSEY (1974) aside Kirk Douglas. However, the more time moved forward, the less she could release the torment of the still all too fresh past, even through acquired prescription drug and alcohol addictions. She’d direct herself in a short – BALLAD FOR BILLY THE KID (1974) – and act for her husband (by then she’d been sporting reddish hair), who seemed more another directing hack looking to put wife Jean Seberg in his smutty drama; in Dennis Berry’s 1975 hard times in a brothel tale, LA GRAND DELIRE. Jean Seberg’s will to persist in her cinematic endeavors had all but dwindled down to one film a year by 1976 (Hans W. Geissendorfer’s DIE WILDENTE) and it seemed there was no turning back. The constant mood shifts, downward spirals, suicide attempts, partnerships gone sour and decline in quality movie deals, on top of human loss, had erased the once innocent newcomer from Iowa entirely. In her place was left a shell. She would turn down many attempts to get her back in front of a camera, appearing in nothing for the next two years. Turmoil was still not ready to leave Jean Seberg’s life, when again, in 1978 she departed from her third unhappy matrimony, leaving Berry and even before their divorce was complete, falling in with a suave Algerian named Ahmed Hasni. Seberg and Hasni would take part in an unofficial ceremony bonding the two in May of 1979, however by Summer of that year, she was fleeing his abusive ways only months after dropping and literally selling everything (her Paris flat) to be with him and open a restaurant. It seemed now, in Jean Seberg’s mind, nothing was to be.  

Her very last actual moments on film are haunting ones. She would turn up ever so briefly, in scant shots, not directly seen by the camera (but you knew it was her) in the silent Philippe Garrel experimental film (featuring his muse and her dear friend, Nico, along with another icon of the Paris scene, Zouzou) – the surreal, LE BLEU DES ORIGINES (1979). Appearing next to Nico as she flickers away at the keys of a piano, a woman stands watching in an oversized evening gown style dress, cut off in the frame from the neck up. Quickly, she bends down to kiss Nico on the cheek and it is then that we realize it is indeed Seberg – although if you weren’t aware of her connection to Nico, you may not have even known it was her. Jean’s presence here comes off as almost ghostly, with a kind of foreboding sense of doom when she does pop up momentarily. The fact that LE BLEU DES ORIGINES contains no sound, as well as it having been shot in black and white, only serves to heighten the feeling that we’re almost watching the actress’s bleak final home movies. The most startling moment comes when Seberg inexplicably slaps Nico hard across the face, the instance appearing as though they were actually in the midst of a very real disagreement. Like a torn spirit both showing affection and then lashing out violently, these brief captures of Jean in her closing months on Earth are almost a metaphor for her life.   

That life, sadly, and very unnecessarily, came to an abrupt end in the last weeks of a hot Paris August in the back seat of a vehicle in 1979 –  just months after LE BLEU DES ORIGINES. Jean Seberg (who’d even sunk to the sadness of watching herself in LILLITH repeatedly) had been missing for approximately eleven days when she was found; reportedly having overdosed on barbiturates, wrapped in a blanket and gruesomely decomposing in the sun as she clutched a letter to her then 16 year old son, Alexander Diego. A most horrific, heartbreaking end to a once unscathed sweetheart who fantasized about leaving her simple life behind to entertain people someday. How unfortunate it was that Jean Seberg’s calling became the spotlight that killed her.   

Lovely, tragic, sensationelle…Jean Seberg.   
 

JEAN SEBERG’S EUROGRAPHY  

-SAINT JOAN (1957) Dir. Otto Preminger  

-BONJOUR TRISTESSE (1958) Dir. Otto Preminger  

-THE MOUSE THAT ROARED (1959) Dir. Jack Arnold  

-A BOUT DE SOUFFLE (1960) Dir. Jean-Luc Godard / AKA. BREATHLESS  

-LES GRANDES PERSONNES (1961) Dir. Jean Valére / AKA. TIME OUT FOR LOVE  

-LE RECREATION (1961) Dir(s). Fabien Collin, Francois Moreuil / AKA. LOVE PLAY  

-L'AMANT DE CINQ JOURS (1961) Dir. Philippe de Broca / AKA. THE FIVE DAY LOVER  

-CONGO VIVO (1962) Dir. Giuseppe Bennati / AKA.  ERUPTION  

-IN THE FRENCH STYLE (1963) Dir. Robert Parrish / AKA. A LA FRANCAISE  

-LE PLUS BELLES ESCRQUERIES DU MONDE (1964) Dir(s). Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, Ugo Gregoretti, Hiromichi Horikawa, Roman Polanski / AKA. THE WORLD’S MOST BEAUTIFUL SWINDLERS  

-ECHAPPEMEMENT LIBRE (1964) Dir. Jean Becker / AKA. BACKFIRE  

-UN MILLIARD DANS UN BILLARD (1965) Dir. Nicolas Gessner / AKA. DIAMONDS ARE BRITTLE  

-LA LIGNE DE DEMARCATION (1965) Dir. Claude Chabrol / AKA. LINE OF DEMARCATION  

-ESTOUFFADE A LA CARAIBE (1967) Dir. Jacques Besnard / AKA. THE GOLD ROBBERS  

-LA ROUTE DE CORINTHE (1967) Dir. Claude Chabrol / AKA. THE ROAD TO CORINTHE  

-LES OISEAUX VONT MOURIR AU PEROU (1968) Dir. Romain Gary / AKA. THE BIRDS OF PERU  

-ONDATA DI CALORE (1970) Dir. Nelo Risi / AKA. DEAD OF SUMMER  

-KILL! (1971) Dir. Romain Gary / AKA. KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!  

-QUESTA SPECIE D’AMORE (1972) Dir. Alberto Bevilacqua / AKA. THIS KIND OF LOVE   

-CAMORRA (1972) Dir. Pasquale Squitieri / AKA. GANG WAR IN NAPLES  

-L’ATTENTANT (1972) Dir. Yves Boisset / AKA. THE ASSASSINATION  

-LA CORRUPCION DE CHRIS MILLER (1973) Dir. Juan Antonio Bardem / AKA. THE CORRUPTION OF CHRIS MILLER  

-BALLAD FOR BILLY THE KID (1974) Dir. Jean Seberg   

-MOUSEY (1974) (TV) Dir. Daniel Petrie / AKA. CAT AND MOUSE  

-BIANCHI CAVALLI D’AGOSTO (1975) Dir. Raimondo Del Balzo / AKA. WHITE HORSES OF SUMMER  

-LE GRAND DELIRE (1975) Dir. Dennis Berry / AKA. THE BIG DELIRIUM  

-DIE WILDENTE (1976) Dir. Hans W. Geissendorfer / AKA. THE WILD DUCK  

-LE BLEU DE LES ORIGINES (1979) Dir. Philippe Garrel   

-LA LEGION SAUTE SUR KOLWEZI (1980) Dir. Raoul Coutard (scenes deleted posthumously) / AKA. MILITARY COUP IN KOLWEZI   
 

~CHOICE QUOTE~   

"Don't be upset. Nobody gets what they really want."

-Jean Seberg ('Ruth Miller', THE CORRUPTION OF CHRIS MILLER)