Yes, I have a great deal of trouble imagining myself as an old lady.
I tend to think Im just beginning, Im just about to discover the secret.
Playing Gigi really was an enormous gift.
And Fannys just one of the great romantic parts.
I loved being Lili, and I loved The Glass Slipper.
Well, an American in Paris, thats where I got my start.
Just imagine the thrill of working with Carey Grant.
The great Henry Fonda, and Orson Welles.
And I got to dance with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire,
the two greatest dancers in the world.
That was such a perfect situation. The whole world wants to be a movie star in Hollywood.
And I did not.
Gene Kelly came to Paris to meet me, to make a test with me and see if I could
be his leading lady in An American in Paris.
I said, "Jazz, I dont know jazz, I dont dance jazz."
Just to be polite, I said "Ok, Ill do the test."
You know, polite.
And so we did the test and I promptly forgot about it and thought: all nonsense.
Then two weeks later there was this phone call:
Youve been hired to do an American in Paris, youre leaving in three days for Hollywood and a contract of, a seven year contract.
Heh Thats not what Id planned!
This is my birthplace. My grandparents built this house.
You see this very tall windows there, that is the living room which is on two floors,
and coming down was a staircase with a fishtank going all the way down.
Something you know, magic, something so exotic for a child.
Oh we had such wonderful wars there, Indians and Americans and Tarzan and,
it was magic, it was wonderful, and I played with all the boys.
I was dreaming that one of them would get wounded and I would take care of him, I was the nurse, you know, that sort of thing.
And when the war started I thought, whats the big fuss? Wonderful! I can wear nurses uniform and take care of the soldiers.
This is Les Champs Elysees. On Sunday they would march up Les Champs,
and us French people were humiliated and hostile in response.
Even as a child I remember the feeling of hatred.
I cannot stand the goosestep, I cannot stand people marching like military precision, I cannot stand even to see the pompom girls.
It reminds me of the German parades. Busby Berkeley, I cannot bear Busby Berkeley.
I dont like those formations of swimmers, its too military.
Yes, this is where we lived during the war.
When the Germans were occupying Paris, it was easier to enter into the building than it is now.
Shes mad!
During the war the apartment was just so sinister. And getting dustier and dustier.
It just was a sad place.
My mother became very depressed, and she didnt really get up, didnt really get dressed, and during the whole war she actually took to her bed.
I was not to expect tenderness, motherly behaviour, she never took me to school, never took my hand to cross a road, never.
Shed tell me, "Sweetheart, I, no, Im not there now. But I will be there when you are a star.
Which is a very odd thing to say to a little girl.
So I understood there was only one thing for me to do if I wanted my mother to be around, its to become a star.
Yes, I remember the, whew! The feeling of space and ownership,
you were on stage, and it was just fabulous, you could hear them think, you could hear them look at you, it was all those brains concentrated on you.
It was something that you never forget.
Sixteen, imagine. Sixteen and being thrown into this circus!
Well, I found myself very comfortable. It was warm, all those human beings there, staring at you.
Sometimes you could see, diamonds, jewels, glittering. It was lovely.
And then at the end of the number this sort of thunder, like rain, applause. I thought, oh, thats what it sounds like!
I announced to the family that I wanted to become a professional ballet dancer, and I heard my grandfather whisper,
"Margaret, do you want your daughter to be a whore?"
"Voulez"
Very very strong words, and I heard them.
I dont think he meant for me to hear it, but I heard it,
and it had an enormous weight on my shoulders throughout my career.
I felt that I was in a very inferior profession and doing something very despicable. I was, yeah, quite ashamed of what I was.
The second season, I guess, I was something like seventeen.
I was given a solo ballet.
We were doing Oedipus and the Sphinx and guess who was the Sphinx?
The fact that I was given that part, this incredible luck, I mean, of all the dancers in the world.
And that is the night Gene Kelly was in the audience, and I was chosen to do an American in Paris.
My mother said well, you know, this is the kind of offer you cannot refuse!
From high on the hills the city below looks like any other sprawling metropolis.
Yet this one is different. Its fame has spread to the four corners of the earth.
For this is fabulous Hollywood.
Of course I was starstruck! Of course I was!
I cant tell you what an effect when I met Vivian Lee, Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Ethel Barrymore,
ah Ethel Barrymore!
Esther Williams, yes Esther was rough. Swore like a trooper.
Naturally Judy Garland, my favourite. Judy was real sweet. She hugged me, kissed me, and said good luck, honey.
Gene Kelly was passionate about the technical side of filming.
He loved the camera, he loved the gadgets, he loved the lenses.
He loved all the things you can make a camera do.
He had this mathematical technician passion.
He knew how to place dancers, this way, that way, up, down, all that.
And the imagination, its a kids imagination.
And thats what he had.
For instance, every time I see the beginning of an American in Paris and he does that waking up number,
and this room is folded up, lifted up, things open, things are on the table, its just one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three,
and his coffee is ready! Its absolutely breathtaking! Absolutely breathtaking! Well, that's games, its kids games!
I must say I did not enjoy making an American in Paris, for several reasons.
I felt very disadvantaged because I had never worked in front of a camera.
And then I didnt speak English. So a lot of it I had to repeat the inflections that Gene Kelly would give me.
I only let you do this because I didnt want to make a disturbance.
And I dont have a wife. I just threw that in to make it look respectable.
Oh, that was very considerate.
As far as the dancing is concerned, first of all it was a cement floor, which doesnt give when you jump, and its very hard on your legs and your ankles.
And also they used to paint it flamboyant, shiny colours which made it slip. And it makes you fearful. Are you going to slip and fall.
So all that made it a very difficult job for me.
Everyone was invited to come to a showing outside of LA,
there I was with everybody else, the first time seeing myself on the screen and I felt absolutely awful, sick, and Gene said, how do you feel?
And I said Oh Gene Ive got the flu I think, I feel really terrible,
and he said no, honey, you dont have the flu, youve just seen yourself on the screen for the first time!
When you were first hired, the salary started very low, just about what a secretary got.
It seemed a lot to me, because it certainly was more than I got in the ballet,
and after the deprivations of the war, it seemed, you know, quite a lot.
You could buy a whole dress, you could buy food, you could buy bananas.
Also I did give ballet lessons; I dont think many stars do that nowadays.
Have to give ballet lessons to keep going in between films.
When you see other versions of Cinderella, all those young ladies are,
you know, lovely with lashes and pink cheeks and so on, and I played it with soot on my face.
I cut my hair in ways that the studio didnt approve, but I just wanted to look scruffy and rebellious.
Well I took every part very seriously and to me, Ella is a rebel. Is a little rebel. She is angry.
I am not ugly! Youre ugly! You smell of butter and you have a big fat bopu, and you here have a voice like a pig!
The film that inspired me and was an influence on me during that film is On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando.
Youre a cheap, lousy, dirty, stinkin, mug!
I must have seen it about 20 times. So I played this little rebel, I thought, as Marlon Brando would play her.
No, this is why Im running away. I cant bear to live here!
You dont understand, I could've had class! I could've been a contender.
He would have laughed, I never told him.
I did one after the other, I finished the Glass Slipper on a Saturday and started on Daddy Long Legs on a Monday.
When I was in training as a child, my mother used to say, go and see Fred Astaires films, hes the best there is for timing.
Gene danced closer to the ground, and Fred was sort of one or two feet off the ground, he had this lightness and elegance.
Fred used to say, look at my hands, you know, enormous hands, and he would sort of do this with his hands so they wouldnt look so big.
And really when you danced with him, you knew where to go, right or left, because his hand in your back was giving you direction.
MGM was really like a big school or factory, if you will.
You were told how to behave, and very often you were given a leading man to go out with.
They would say, On Wednesday night theres a big premiere, and so and so will come and get you.
It made you very nervous, cause there you were spending an evening with somebody you didnt know.
And I was just so shy, it really was very difficult.
It was the period when the newspapers needed glamour shots, so everybody was made to do that.
You were put on the bicycle, you were, they would rent a boat, you were on a yacht, you know, in a bathing suit .
All those things were completely made up.
But yes, we were told to always pull one shoulder back, and lift your chin, and when you sat, sat, you know, all that sort of thing.
We all did that, whether we were good or bad actresses, everybody had to play that game.
And of course, the legs, you had to show your legs.
And losing ones shoe was, you would be on the chair and one shoe was off, I mean.
There was a lot of this soft porn element.
And finally I found it really humiliating and I said I wouldnt do it anymore.
I was so lucky to get the script of Lili. I took hold of the script and together we worked on it.
Lili was a bit of a halfwit, found herself in a town completely on her own. No money, no job, no family.
It was a character that reflected very much the way I was thinking at the time. Just a poor little orphan lost in this unknown country,
and trying to survive.
And I could remember that it was my war experience that made me play Lili rather well.
I was very believable as this wounded little animal who has lost everything.
In the beginning of the film she wants to kill herself. She sees a ladder and she starts going up.
Life is over, maybe she will jump. And then theres this little funny voice, high pitched voice,
-Hey!
, you know.
- Come over here
And to her the puppet becomes a person.
The song of love is a sad song.
The puppet asks her to sing with him, and its the start of the film.
Hi Lili, Hi Lili, Hi Lo, Hi Lo
Lili to me was going absolutely wonderfully well.
I didnt realize that I was the laughing stock of the studio because I was very unglamourous.
And so Arthur Freed, the great producer, came to see me on the set,
and he said Leslie, Ive got to do another film with you to bring back the glamour that they are destroying right now.
Oh? He said, Ive got to do another film with you, have you any ideas. So I threw up one or two ideas, and then I said Gigi.
So here we are, in the Bois Boulogne. This is the first scene in the film, and the first scene we filmed.
Thank heaven for little girls, for little girls get bigger every day.
Thank heaven -
Thank heaven for little girls.
They grow up everyday, in the most delightful way.
It was a long, very difficult day, with all the carriages, all the costumes, the hats, the makeup people, the crew.
It was a very very big thing to shoot. Difficult, but great fun.
This was the first time a big producer in Hollywood decided to do a musical in the real locations.
And the problems were enormous, the sounds, airplanes going over
I dont understand the Parisians. Thinking love so miraculous and grand.
There were lots of cars and there were television antennas
I dont understand the Parisians
but the result is you cannot match the beautiful sets that are throughout Paris.
So here we are in the Jardin de L'Observatoire.
The fountain in front of which Gaston, Louis Jardin, discovers Im really the most desirablee, enchanting young lady, and decides Im the one for him.
: Oh no, I was mad not have seen the change in you.
Maxims. The Maxims of Paris. Absolutely magic, historically.
We had about a hundred and fifty extras, all the tables crowded with all those beautiful women with enormous hats.
All the crew, electricians, sound men and so on. It was so crowded. The tempers were very short.
Especially Vincente Minnelli, the director, was extremely worried about the quality.
He wanted everybody to be animated, animated. And when we started doing our scenes, Louis Jardin and myself, he really was very frustrated.
And the head waiter was taking us to our place once, twice, we did the scene about four times.
And finally, Vincente Minnelli exploded, and said, cant somebody teach that man to hold the menu!
Silence. And then somebody, the first assistant, came and said, Mr. Manelli, this is the real head waiter.
Of course there were things that I knew, which nobody on the set knew.
Vincente Minnelli didn't know what to do with a cigar.
I was somebody who had seen my grandfather choose a cigar.
So I knew that you smelt it, I knew that you tried for freshness, Id seen men do that.
So I said, this is the way one does it. And he was delighted, because it came out just like a prostitute would do.
I suspect there was a censorship problem,
because the story, basically, which a lot of people have forgotten, is the bringing up, the education of a cocotte, a lady of ill repute.
Oh, Gaston, thats beautiful.
I dont want to say it, a bad word, but anyway.
So I think this is why he turned it into a musical, in order to sort of drown the fish, so to speak.
Please, dont be vulgar
Oh, she looks adorable, so fresh, so eager, so young!
Its true that mothers took their daughters to see the film without realizing that in fact she was being educated to
May I come in?
Yes
She lives in this calculating sordid background where you have to obtain things from men.
And she is as pure as a diamond, she just wants to give joy and receive joy.
She strives towards happiness and succeeds.
Shes not going to accept the domination of men.
And its this fierce independence that people recognize, which is very winning.
The reason why the whole world loves the character of Gigi is because she gets her way.
There came a time when I felt, if I stay in Hollywood Im going to shrivel.
Im going to not grow anymore.
Women were kept in a very inferior position.
Better to be brainless, better to never discuss anything.
I wanted to see far more of the world than was available in Hollywood.
At that time I met Peter Hall and was so definitely in love with him and impressed by his theatre, by his work,
and by the movement of theatre that happened in England at that time.
I wanted very badly to be part of that, so I broke my contract and moved to England.
Peter, youre a director married to a star.
How many times have you directed your wife in her work?
Only once actually; Leslie came to London to star in the stage production of Gigi.
And we met then and subsequently married.
Leslie, does this mean that youve finally put roots down here in London?
My roots are wherever my husband and children are really.
I do remember, before we were married, one conversation in the car,
where he said to me with great surprise, but why do you want to keep on working
Barely had we married that he wouldnt let me work anymore, and to me it was like cutting my arms and legs.
Ah, the Children. Oh!
Hello Christopher!
Bonjour Monsieur...
I am conscious that I had a very privileged childhood and
I met and witnessed extraordinary people at work and at play.
Some people might say, oh there were negative aspects to it.
Divorce, separation from parents.
But given the characters that they were and their driving ambitions, I suspect they wouldnt have stayed together.
No matter what. Theres not many sort of high powered showbiz couples that stay together.
I still feel guilty for having moved on and left him.
I think my children suffered, and had I been cleverer, had I been stronger, I could have manipulated, or maneuvered, or insisted on having both.
The marriage and the life I wanted in the arts, but I did not have the strength to achieve that.
The L-Shaped Room was an enormous film for me. It was the novel of the year, and the project of the year, of British cinema.
And of course the part was written for an English girl. And the producer offered it to me.
Listen, what is that accent
Ah, French, I suppose.
Oh, youre French are you?
Yes, its odd, but French people often do talk with a French accent.
It was a heavy film to do, lots of dramatic scenes, lots of scenes with a dark mood. That was the first time I was doing that.
So I asked Brian Forbes, the director, and I said, "Brian, I rely on you to wipe the Hollywood smile off my face."
Im pregnant.
Oh no
Its alright, dont be so worried, Im not going to make a scene.
I had had at least my son. And I was able to put in a lot of realistic details about giving birth, which nobody had ever done on film.
At that time film was very discreet about delivery, about pregnancy and delivery.
And you saw a tiny little bulge, maybe the dress was a bit fuller here.
I remember in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, you see Jane Powell.
Because Im gonna have a baby
She says Im pregnant, and the waist is just as slim and lovely as ever and thats the way it was done.
But when we were shooting, I came waddling in. One of the top gossip columnists of Hollywood had come in
. When she saw that I was really very realistic.
She thought: this is so shocking, a Hollywood star. That worried me, of course.
But I took the chance and thought, this is what one must do.
-Hes a girl!
-Hes a girl! Oh. Hes a girl!
That was my first grand dramatic part. And thats what I wanted to do.
-And theres Warren Beatty! She drives him crazy in this picture.
-Promise Her Anything!
-We really must accommodate the fact that a woman needs a lover.
-True, very psychological!
Warren was a delightful companion for two years, but throughout our relationship I felt a great sense of danger.
Im somebody rather staid. I dont like the wild life, I dont like excessive fame and excessive public life.
Whereas he absolutely revelled in those circumstances. I was out of breath throughout.
Those were the days when I didnt have the children. They had to go their fathers. So I felt desperate.
Quite desperate. I couldnt see them, play with them, be with them, yeah.
And so I would give a party, to fill in the gap.
We went to see Francois Truffaut. Warren wanted to meet him.
He wanted to do Farenheit, and Francois said no, no.
But if you want to do a film together, there's one script that I cannot do.
-Clyde Barrett
-Hi, Im Bonnie Parker
And the one person who advised him to go ahead, go for it, was me.
-This heres a stickup
He feared that it was a Western, and Westerns were not popular at that time.
I said, it is not a Western, its a gangster story, and there havent been any for a while.
Itll be fantastic, go for it.
-Im hungry, hey Buck!
Then he told me I wasnt right for the part!
He said youre too old. Because you're older than me. I was, five years and a half.
So...it was quite a shock to begin with, but I think he was right.
I mean that relationship could not last. Indeed, could not.
Warren was still like a bee, with every flower.
Plucking the honey. And he was a little too overposessive, and so we parted.
My brother called me to say that our mother had died.
She had decided not to live anymore, but I dont think it was the first time.
I think she was often near taking the steps, and, the step.
And I dont, I think it was a spur of the moment thing.
She just, this minute she couldnt live, so this minute, she wanted to end it.
Living with a depressed mother who eventually kills herself makes it very difficult to be strong.
I think I have been depressed for many, many, many, many years.
You sort of feel theres a curse on you, a malignant curse, and you are going to follow the same pattern.
And at the age of 67 I was taking the same route.
Yeah, shes tough on herself about, you know, her experiences with alcohol, with prescription drugs and things like that.
But you know, heroic in combatting that and overcoming that. She is an addictive personality.
And perhaps another aspect of the work is that its an addiction.
I played the mother in Louis Malle's Damage. And I played the most deadly aspects of my mother in that part.
-Im sure Inez told you
-About the brother she had.
-Mother.
I had this sort of shadow of my, the dark side of my mother.
You think it isnt bad enough? You think I constantly need to be reminded.
Oh my. Im sorry, Im sure. Perhaps this is why we shouldnt meet.
Yes, I spent all my life repairing what my mother didnt get the chance to do right.
My mother wanted to write, so I wrote.
She wanted to be a dancer, I became a dancer.
She wanted to be a star, I became a star.
She wanted to be world-famous, so I became world-famous.
And when it was too hard, at that moment I had to make the decision: do you want to let yourself go and die, or survive?
And I made a quite, the words came in my mind: I will survive.
The next film I was offered was a comedy.
-I... I asked you first.
Well you know, the greater the actor, the star, the more fun, and the easier it is.
It really was just a piece of cake working with Carey Grant.
-If youre waiting for the big finale, Im sorry, this is all I do.
He had such a twinkle in his eye, he was so wicked.
-Ooh, isnt it getting hot in here, isnt it getting hot in here.
-Oh, you mustnt move around, now. Come on, just, thats right, lie quietly.
-I bet you think Im an iceberg.
You can see that if you were
going through this with him, you would have a tough time not laughing.
-Weve lived in eleven countries. I can speak seven languages.
-Im double-jointed, and I know how to ride a camel!
I think I ruined a few takes because I, he made me laugh so much.
-Im really angry that the public didnt go for it.
And didnt appreciate his new, this new character he was playing. Of a bum.
- If you think Id want to get involved with an undisciplined, self-indulgent escapist like you!
- Well thats better than being a frustrated spinster who cant find a husband!
He could have gone on and on if this film had been a great success financially.
He made one more film and that was it, he gave up.
He thought, Im too old, the public doesnt want to see me old, got to give up.
I decided forty years ago I was French, I wanted to be French again,
I wanted to be part of the French cinema, theatre. So I came back to France.
Francois Truffaut gave me a lovely part in his film.
But, there was no follow up for some reason.
He thought I was good in it, but the profession didnt open up to me.
Truffaut said, ha, I wish I had listened to him.
He said, you can never get back, you can never come back.
The only roles I was ever offered came from America or England.
I worked on a lovely film called Funny Bones, with Jerry Lewis.
And I was given a small part in Chocolat, with Johnny Depp,
And I even won an Emmy for my role in Law and Order!
- You know its true Marty!
- You swore you wouldnt say anything!
- You grabbed that kitchen knife from the counter.
- You made me pull down my pants and you raped me.
So I kept thinking, it will happen, France will ask me to be part of the French scene.
Life was empty.
There was no phone calls, nothing to do, and I was just going to become an old lady waiting,
as graciously as possible, for the end to happen.
And I thought, thats not fun! I dont want that!
I came to France in order to work with my country, for my country, but they wanted none of me.
I should have left a long time ago.
It took me about two years to decide, because I was really embedded here.
You know, all the paintings and the furniture, the books.
Now Im quite near the moment, and Im strangely elated.
I decided theres only one thing to do. Ive got to get my ass out of this sofa and go.
I am so thrilled here in England, where I am appreciated.
Theyre respectful, I can see the love and affection and immediately it just does you so much good.
Hello, were here to see the countess
Well, the minute, the minute I said I was going back to England, I was offered this part.
We all reckoned the role of the countess needed someone spectacular and special.
And the casting directors turned to me and said, "Would you mind if we suggested your mother?"
And I said, "Well, no, I mean shes always saying she wants to work in British TV and why wont I find her a part?"
And here we have the part of an exotic European aristocrat. Maybe thisll work.
Very still and quiet please...and action
-Your principal function will be to read to me as my eyes tire easily.
- I know, mine are the same.
- Well, I hope not.
- No, sorry, I was just trying to agree with you.
I grew up watching Leslies film and its so, like an American in Paris was one of my favourite films when I was younger,
so when I found out Leslie was playing the countess, I was literally just like, oh my god.
- So I am delighted to have you here as my companion.
- Director: cut, lovely, very good, one more straight away, lovely.
Youll notice that next to the countess theres a very familiar dog.
And when my mother was cast, my mother asked if it would be alright to bring Chichi along.
Clearly our scriptwriter fell in love with him, because in the next draft the script, the countess suddenly had another companion.
- Like you, Im a widow and, well, Im struggling.
- Im sure we can find something
- Director: I tell you what...
- He doesnt want to be there.
- Director: OK. OK, lets cut.
: It just sounds like a definite no, doesnt it? Just for me. No-o-o.
- I hope this is alright.
- Its very good.
he made me, take down, take down, take down
- Well you started at a certain level, and then he played with you.
- Yes.
- Yeah, its good.
- Its probably right.
She likes to act, she wants to act.
And this sort of job, and this is tough what shes doing here.
You know, she has, she gets up at 5 in the morning, makeup call, 6 o'clock til 8 o'clock, then shes working, all day.
- OK.
- Hes not camera shy.
Its tough for people of half her age, but shes a trooper and she wants to do it.
And so, yeah, there is something driving her.
I have been trained like a soldier, not to go to war but to work as an artist, as an actress,
and to, if I cant express myself that way, I just die.
- No, no, no, no, no!
- Yes, yes, yes!
- Um, yeah! If I wrote that
- You did!
Its not true!
- Hand me that book, Ive circled it.
- The best part of my life is over. Now is the time to reflect."
- Ok! And I reflect that its not over!
I looked for joy, there was some dark moments in my life of course.
But I kept trying to find the solution, the light at the end of the black hole.
Thats the aim, thats what you have to do, is to try, keep trying, keep trying.
And its never too late! Im having very good times now.
I find life absolutely wonderful, and Im really so grateful for all the good things that have happened, and that keep happening!
Surprise surprise!