Tag Archives: French television

QUENTIN DURWARD (1971) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

quentin durwardQUENTIN DURWARD (1971) – This French-German television series ran for 13 half-hour episodes in Germany but just 7 52-minute episodes during its initial French run.

The story is based on Sir Walter Scott’s swashbuckling novel from 1823 and the action is set during the late 1460s in Scotland and France. 

amadeus augustAmadeus August stars as Quentin Durward, a fighting young Scotsman who is the sole surviving male from his Scottish clan after a brutal clan war wiped out the rest of his family. At present he is being sheltered in a monastery where the monks have told him the only way to stop the enemy clansmen from killing him to blot out his entire bloodline is to become a monk under a vow of celibacy.

The dashing and daring Quentin is reluctant, but the decision is taken out of his hands when the enemy clan raids the monastery in search of him. Quentin manages to escape and after shaking off all pursuit reaches the English Channel. 
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DESERT CRUSADER (1968-1969) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

thibaud on horsebackDESERT CRUSADER (1968-1969) – This French television series is also known as Thibaud, ou les Croisades, Thibaud, il Cavaliere Bianco, Thibaud, der Weisse Ritter and other variations of those titles. The color series ran two seasons of 13 episodes each, with those episodes lasting around 26 minutes apiece.

The setting for the storylines is the Holy Land and the trails leading pilgrims to and from that Middle East location during the fragile peace in between the First and Second Crusades. Our hero is played by Andre Lawrence and is named Thibaud (pronounced tee-bow, like Tim Tebow’s last name).

thibaud ou les croisadesThibaud and his sidekick Blanchot (Raymond Meunier) are part of the knightly efforts to safeguard people making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He often works alongside the Knights Templar but doesn’t seem to be an official member of their Order. 

Our hero Thibaud is a fascinating departure from the standard full-bore Crusader ready to go to war. He is the son of a French Baron and an Arab Christian woman, so he grew up exposed to elements of both East and West. Most of his and Blanchot’s efforts center around keeping the uneasy peace by gallantly outfighting roving gangs of violent, conniving people with hidden agendas, be they Christian OR Muslim.    Continue reading

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CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON 2016 BEGINS: FRENCH TV VERSION (1984)

TF1 logo

TF1 in France

Yes, regular readers know that the Friday after Thanksgiving every year kicks off this tradition! Balladeer’s Blog’s 7th annual Christmas Carol-A- Thon begins with one of the most visually enticing versions ever made. Unfortunately, it’s also virtually impossible to obtain for people who lack my nearly psychotic drive to track these things down.

TF1 Television in France first aired this version of A Christmas Carol, which could be described as a Carol for the arthouse crowd. Not a put-down OR a compliment, just an observation.

The performances are even more low-key than in the George C Scott version and the direction, by Pierre Boutron, is very inventive, bordering on a surrealist approach .The overall effect is like A Very Jean Cocteau Christmas or something. 

As with the Spanish Leyenda de Navidad this French production keeps the story in 1843 London and stars Michel Bouquet as Scrooge and Pierre Olaf as Bob Cratchit.

This 90 minute version of the Carol is one of the tiny handful that depict Scrooge at Marley’s funeral, like the 1969 Australian cartoon version. Marley’s Ghost has the look of a bearded badass, but delivers his warning to Scrooge with a cold and calculating air that is almost more chilling than Continue reading

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