Edith and Marcel (1983) - full transcript

"Her life was so sad,

"it's almost too beautiful
to be true."

"He was so pure
that when he looked at me,

"I felt cleaned."

Yes, Ginou, this is Loulou...
Yes, we heard.

She doesn't know yet.

Of course, but you're in Paris
and we're in New York.

I'll call you back...
Right, chin up.

She's still asleep.

We were on our way to...

to meet his plane.



We stopped at a store
and on the radio...

Unbelievable!
She's still asleep.

She's going to need
all her strength, so...

we'll let her sleep,
and cancel tonight's show.

Why are you all here?

What's going on?

The plane?

Marcel?

Not him!

Not Marcel.

I don't want it...

It's my fault.

I made him take that plane.

It was fate.



It's my fault, Loulou.

Don't say that.

I'm the one who made him
take that plane.

I killed him.

Another one of my whims!

I'm going to sing tonight.

I'm going to sing for him tonight.

If you allow, I'll sing for you...

A song of love...

A song as simple as every day...

About two lovers...

Whose hearts were true

If you want to let my tale unfold

Of a love so new, and yet so old

Then...

Let me sing my song

All of those who've loved before

Who've lived a love...

A lover's love

Will find again
the love they swore

Somewhere in time...

Forevermore

I know wherever they have gone

They are together once again

So...

Let me sing my song

"Tonight all France is boxing
with you... Albert Lebrun."

"Tonight all France is singing
with you... Albert Lebrun."

The European welterweight
championship match...

in fifteen 3-minute rounds...

between Saverio Turiello,
champion of Europe...

and Marcel Cerdan, challenger!

For the first time
at the ABC Theater...

the Queen of the Streets,
Charlie Chaplin's kid sister...

her name is synonymous
with song: The great Piaf!

Before you...

Blind in poverty's black night...

My only ray of light.
Came from God on high.

Before you...

Still so young and green...

To know so much of pain
Till He gave me back the day

Before you...

My only family...

Were girls who, joylessly...

Plied their trade of love

Ladies who...
Took me to their hearts

They practiced that ancient art
Of what passes for love

Before you...

Fifteen, a virgin still...

Till, in a sleazy hotel,
I lost my virtue

Before you...

Hungry to the bone...

I peddled my lonely songs
For a meal or for a sou

Before you...

Violence and hate...

Until the day when fate
Found me on the street

And then I...
Orphan of cafés and bars

Was lifted to the stars...
All Paris at my feet

You can come in!

She says come in,
so we're going in.

Marguerite Monnot,
the songwriter, hugs her...

Paul Meurisse pours champagne...

Just a drop.

She puts it behind her ear,
she's not drinking tonight.

Watch the wire...
it's a live broadcast.

Momone, her long-time friend,
kisses her...

the theater manager's happy,
he'll make a pile.

The little street-sparrow
has become the great lady of song.

Cocteau says of her...

"Why should she read?
She knows what she's saying."

Thank you, all of you.

She says thank you...

"Marcel Cerdan,
champion at age 24."

"Edith Piaf, age 24,
triumphs at ABC."

...a good reason to change
your sheets! What does that say?

Not for sale.

Not for sale, you heard him!

I don't sell these sheets,
I give them away!

What does my friend say to that?

Sheets are cheap, but the broads
you put between them...

Pierre Brousset...

do you take unto you as wife,
my daughter...

Josiane de Villedieu,
here present?

Josiane, as your father
I know the answer...

but as Mayor I must ask you...

do you take unto you as husband,
Pierre Brousset, here present?

It's unbelievable but true

Inconceivable but true

Artful and bold, he knew
he controlled... a maiden's destiny

So handsome and slick...

He knows every trick

In the soft haze, as the accordion
plays... he's not recognizable

And the girl didn't see...
Didn't know it was he

As he spun her around,
she looked up and found...

he was sensational

When you're eighteen...

And all in a spin...

Any young girl can be taken in

When the old rogue
Has such a nice grin

To fall in love can't be a sin

It's unbelievable but true

Inconceivable but true

And the devil danced...

Stop!
The radio just announced war!

It's unbelievable but true

And the devil danced...

And the devil pranced...

And the devil took my love...

- Birthplace?
- Sidi-bel-Abbès, Algeria.

- Birth date?
- July 22, 1916.

- Residence?
- Casablanca.

Profession?

Welterweight champion.

I just saw the admiral.

A few exhibition fights,
after that it's gravy.

- Which admiral?
- Remy.

From ensign to admiral,
I had them all today.

You had couscous, too.

Turn around.

Speaking of love, someone wrote...

"75,000 words in our language...

"and Piaf knows only one: Love."

I'll go along with that.

So Edith Piaf's real talent is love.

Now about God...

how do you picture Him?

I don't know, it's like...

like someone always
circling around me...

protecting me, surrounding me.

Is He circling you right now?

The Red Cross gave us some names
of French prisoners in Germany.

They have no families and no mail.

I thought some of you
could write to them occasionally...

become their "wartime penpals".

I have five names...

and I'd like five volunteers.

As you see, our shows are now
on Sunday afternoon.

It seems it's harder to escape
in daytime than at night.

That remains to be seen.

Each officer in each barracks...

is henceforth responsible
for each escape.

As officer of Hut 13, I warn those
in Hut 13 to be careful.

Shut up, ham!

And now for the good news!

Next week it won't be me
up here on the stage!

It'll be... because they're doing
the grand tour...

of all the prison camps...

It'll be Charles Trénet.

"I sing night and day..."

Trénet, the singing fool,
and Edith Piaf!

You all know Edith Piaf...

Where's Georges?

Soldiers, yes, but not those!

Why put the krauts up front?

As of tomorrow, I'll spread
them around the house.

Now! Or I sing the Marseillaise!

Excuse me... I have an idea.

Who are you?

I manage the singer in the first
half... he's not very good.

I suggested he tell them
that Piaf was a great singer...

but very tiny, and in front
they'd only see half of her.

That night, Edith Piaf
sang of love to exorcise war...

took a Jewish lover,
her part in the Resistance...

and made the Germans retreat
from the 1st row to the balcony.

At the same time on that same night,
also in Paris...

Marcel Cerdan
and 10,000 patriotic fans...

proved,
for the space of an anthem...

that the German army,
victorious in 1941...

could still suffer a few rebuffs.

The grain could never grow...

If the sun should cease to shine

We could not worship God...

Without His Mystery divine

A heart,
when love is lost from view,

Will fade and die...

And I... am lost without you

She's magnificent.

Didn't we put them too far back?

Got any binoculars?

Pass them around.

You're full of ideas.

The next day,
the newspapers said that...

during the match, France took
a swing at her occupiers.

As for Edith and Marcel,
3 or 4 years still separated them.

Dear Jacques...

I don't know you, but chance
has made me your "wartime penpal".

"Chance reflects our own image",
Bernanos said.

I'm Margot de Villedieu,
age 18...

and I live in a village
near Cabourg.

Not long ago, it was
an ordinary Norman village...

so peaceful it was hard
to imagine men fighting elsewhere.

War, prison camps...
all that seemed far away.

My mother played Mozart, I read
"Autant en Emporte le Vent"...

or in the language of Shakespeare:
"Gone With the Wind".

Life marked time: The village
was Tara and I Scarlett O'Hara...

waiting for her Rhett Butler.

My sister waited for news
of her husband in prison camp.

Papa for newscasts he could
barely hear... We all waited.

We really waited for the Germans.

They came 2 months ago,
to occupy our chateau.

My Tara is now a Kommandantur.

They took the best rooms,
leaving us the garage.

How humiliating!

Now you have some idea
of my life... and a photo.

I wish you courage...
your penpal, Margot.

PS: I'm told
I look like Piaf... Do I?

I hide the cigarette-butts?

Ajanian... Bolletaux...

Barbier... Durieux...

Which Barbier?

Jacques Barbier.

Except for taxes, who'd write me?

They finally caught up with you.

"Dear Jacques...

"I don't know you, but chance
made me your wartime penpal.

"Chance reflects our own image,
Bernanos said.

"Margot de Villedieu, age 18...
I live in a village near Cabourg."

What is this?

"Not long ago, it was
an ordinary Norman village...

"so peaceful it was hard
to imagine men fighting elsewhere.

"War, prison camps...
all that seemed far away.

"My mother played Mozart...

"I read
Autant en Emporte..."

What the... Shit!

"... or in the language
of Shakespeare...

"Gone With the Wind"...
What is this?

I bet there's another Barbier
in this dump.

Why shouldn't I have a penpal,
why can't it be for me?

What gets me is
this "Gone With the Wind" bit.

She explains that...
it's Shakespeare.

Right...
You have to answer, you know.

3 lines, but you have to answer.

So I'll answer.

Margot's a nice name...
I knew a Margot once.

Maybe it's the same one,
you do everything I do.

She wore glasses, too.

Like I said, it's her.

Cigarette, Lieutenant?

Listen, Lieutenant, do you know...

Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler?

It's a wonderful book.

I've read it several times.

And... what is it?

A beautiful love story.

You wouldn't have it here?

Here, take the Bible,
it's the same story.

What page?

Go get your letter.

I'll see what Cyrano can do.

Who?

They all tell the same story.

What makes our Margot cry?

What brings a tear
to Margot's eye?

All it takes is a refrain...

A soft guitar,
a weeping Harlequin.

Innocent child of paradise...

Lost in a land of reveries

All that's sad is beautiful...

To Margot with the tender heart

What makes our Margot cry?

What melts her heart,
What makes her sigh?

A romantic tale of lovers' woe...

A Juliet... a Romeo

The echo of a haunting duet

Pierrot grieving
for his Pierrette

All that's sad is a work of art...

To Margot with the tender heart

"... where you'd kill for a blanket.

"How will this play end,
acted in German prison garb...

"with a barbed-wire backdrop?

"In this hell
that even Dante never imagined...

"your letter...

"tells me I'm not just a number,
and a girl can talk to me.

"Talk to me again.

"You are sound and color
in a black and white film.

"As for your picture,
you're much prettier than Piaf."

That's true.

"Jacques."

If the bird resembles its song...

Didn't she like my letter?

Yes, but...

she wants a photograph.

Relax...
there are no cameras here.

Enjoy your lunch.

I'll read it.

"In your first letter,
you mention Scarlett O'Hara.

"Without saying
I'm your Rhett Butler...

"I share one thing
with Clark Gable: The moustache."

What moustache?

The one you're going to grow.

Give him a moustache.

Fix me up a little, okay?

You won't know yourself.

"This week I nearly saw you...
or your counterpart...

"since Piaf was supposed
to sing here.

"But the fortunes of war...

"Instead, my friend
from the Comédie Française...

"wants me to make my stage debut."

What's that all about?

You want me
to keep writing your letters?

Nice going, Lieutenant.

"I graciously accepted...

"to act in
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.

"I'll play the Philosophy Professor.

"My friend will be the upstart
Monsieur Jourdain.

"His Charles Laughton figure...

"is the perfect physique
for this pretentious merchant...

"putting on airs
before his Countesses.

"Jacques Barbier."

Is it finished?

It's you.

It's you minus 30 pounds.

No, that's me... Absolutely!

Right... minus 20 pounds.

It's me without the beard
and before the war.

That's what I was like.

Let's see the letter.

With this, it's me!

"In your 1st letter,
you mention Scarlett..."

I've got to read that sometime.

"Without saying I'm Rhett Butler...

"I share one thing with Gable...

"the moustache"...
Good, isn't it?

Yes, yes... it's you.

You don't seem too sure.

No, it's you.

He has talent.

Maybe far away...

Another woman's heart
Is filled with melody...

Like me

With a carefree hand,
She opens... just a crack...

The curtains to her room,
Like me

She looks down below
Where her love will soon come...

To take her in his arms,
Like me

She's awaiting her love...

The dark eyes of her love...
The strong arms of her love...

Like me

Possibly right now...

She's feeling that her life
Has never been so sweet...

Like me

Now she shuts her eyes...

Hums a little tune,
Runs her hand through her hair...

Like me

Just there near her heart,
She fastens a rose...

Then glances at the time,
Like me

As she dreams of her love...

The dark eyes of her love...
The strong arms of her love...

"Fair Countess,
I die for love of your eyes.

"Or I might sigh:

"For love of your eyes,
fair Countess, I die.

"Or: Your eyes, Countess,
die I for love of.

"But quite the best
of the above...

"is: Fair Countess,
I die for love of your eyes".

The reason for that siren...
have you a solution?

Surely a prisoner...
who's seen "The Grand Illusion".

Explain it in terms less literary.

The theater is a very good escape
for the military.

Or a good escape the theater is,
very.

Or for the military
is the theater a good escape.

If it's a guy from Hut 13
who's on the lam...

then, Lieutenant,
you're in a pickle.

Curtain!

What curtain?

Haven't you read it?

I'm spending time with Jacques.

May I have my car?

- To go where?
- Cabourg.

May I come?

Will the war last long?

You really love him?

Place your bets... where will
the rat Hitler sleep tonight?

New York... Paris... Moscow?

Place your bets...

And he chooses New York!

He's a smart rat.

Where will he sleep this time...

"August 2, 1941: Darling..."

Darling?

It's called progress.

Touch wood.

"lf war opposes those
who hate each other...

"it also separates those
who love each other."

Nice...

"You say you know nothing
of men...

"After a year in this hole...

"I've forgotten
what a woman looks like."

Isn't that too...

I never knew how to pray,
Never learned how to do it

Sometimes I'd make believe
When hunger drove me to it

Now when morning comes,
I pray to God above

Give me this day...
His daily love

A tree without the rain
Will fall into decay

A rose can never bloom
Without the light of day

A fish who's taken from the sea
Will surely die

And I... am lost without you

The sailboat can't set sail
If there is no more wind

If no more music plays
The dance comes to an end

"The Allies in North Africa...
their victory in El Alamein...

"give me the courage to say...
but sit down first..."

Why should she sit down?

Yes, why?

Read the rest.

If you go too far,
I'd rather write my own letters.

Fine... they'll be more personal,
more weighty, more like you.

No, but...
why'd you have to butt in?

I just asked...
she can sit down, it's okay.

Yes!

There is spring in the air

It's marvellous...

Someone's painted the day...

Every rainbow hue

When you love me...

And I love you...

It's marvellous!

We'll have a lifetime of bliss...

Singing our tender love song

For a love as ecstatic as this...

A whole lifetime isn't too long

Our ballad will last
till the dawn...

Our love song will never be done

"I often dream.

"of an unknown woman
whom I love and who loves me.

"This is what Rhett Butler
will say to you after the war...

"and what Scarlett will answer,
in their own code...

"which is never the same,
yet never different."

What's all that?

What they might say to each other
in a train station.

We're stopping...

We tell the truth and that's it!

Because we do!
Because I'll never lose weight!

Your charm lies
in your sense of humor.

Let's see my latest letter.

"I often dream
of an unknown woman...

"whom I love and who loves me"
That's nice.

What does it mean?

It's what you can say
at the train station.

It's over...
One last letter to tell the truth.

Or else... you see what I mean...
you know me!

Heads I stay, tails I go!

Let's see that again...

"This is what Rhett Butler"
Him again!

"... will say after the war...

"and what Scarlett..."

Look at those jerks,
they'll be at it all night.

Get up!

The Germans are leaving!

Josiane,
the Germans are leaving!

The Americans have landed!

Stalag 26?

Jacques Barbier?

"I often dream of..."

"... of an unknown man
whom I love and who loves me."

Are those for me?

Before the war, after the war...
always the same crowds!

Who are you?

Chance, Margot... chance.

You have ties in Paris?

Sure... In a trunk
with my other clothes.

Maybe we could stop by
so I can change, because...

Come on with us and have some fun

Come have a ball, it's in the air

Goodbye to care, gloom's on the run

Red, white and blue's in store
for everyone

No more room!

Stay here... I'll try to con
our way in with a phone call.

Chance doesn't reflect our image.

A 4-year separation
and already we're splitting up.

To split up,
we first have to meet.

It's not me that's making you cry?

Since you believe in chance...

heads, you take the subway...

tails, we see if we can meet.

The man that I shall love...

Such a long time
I've adored him!

When at last we meet...

He knows just how I'll be

You're not very talkative.

You're more a man of the pen.

You read that piece
on Shakespeare?

What did it say?

The usual...
Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare...

but someone else
who used the name.

Shall we go to Cabourg
and wander down "Proust's Way"?

Proust?

Of course.

He had no ghost-writer.

About this wedding,
I'm not superstitious, but...

the day my elder daughter
was married...

World War II broke out.

It's simpler if I leave.

Thank you for the paté.

A promise is a promise.

Come on with us and have some fun

World War Two's past history

A year's gone by, imagine that

Here in the club
we're going on a spree

Come on, Piaf, give us a song

The Little Sparrow's here tonight

Your "compagnons" will sing along

And you will put
our blues to flight

Where have I seen
those gorgeous eyes?

Michele Morgan, I'm going to swoon

Now I know I'm in paradise

With such an angel
right here in the room

Come on with us and have a fling

All Paris is here,
there's no one missed

Except Juliette Gréco,
who's gone to sing...

For other Existentialists

There's the Moroccan Bomber,
hello, Marcel

And Jean Cocteau's not far away

He's got his eye on Jean Marais

It's truly
a star-studded clientele

De Gaulle is out, or so we hear

But Chevalier's still number one

A few GI's... give them a cheer

Welcome my U.S. Friends

Come on with us and have some fun

And here is Jo Longman...

one of the founders
of our nightclub!

For you sports fans here tonight...
you should see the other guy!

After we dance...

Josephine Baker and Fernandel
will hold a raffle...

to benefit the war orphans.

Then the big surprise
of the evening...

Edith Piaf and
Les Compagnons de la Chanson...

will give a musical farewell
before their USA tour!

Destiny, like the postman,
always rings twice.

Six months later,
when Edith and Marcel...

were in America,
a legend would be born.

Jo, what does this mean?

"Cerdan vs. Green
in semi-final..."

No, there!

"Cerdan's having problems
with his right..."

Who told them that?

This'll hold you
for 20 minutes, no more.

Your hand won't last
more than 3 rounds.

If you don't KO him by then,
we stop the fight.

She's knocking them dead!

I'll call Jean-Louis Jaubert.

Hurry, she's really down!

This is Jo Longman.

I'm in New York with Marcel Cerdan.

He just fought Green...
took him in 2 rounds, a great match!

Yes... he wanted
to say hello to you.

I hear you're a big hit
at the Club Versailles.

I'll put him on... See you soon.

So you're in New York, too?

Two French people in New York!
Let's have dinner.

Leave your number... I'll have
my secretary take it down...

congratulations,
and here's to your next trip.

Thinks he can make Piaf
on the phone!

That's enough! We're having
dinner at the Chantecler.

I'm too depressed...
I'd rather just go to the hotel.

The hotel and the club,
that's all you see of New York.

What is it, Marc?

We'll go out in the hall...
I'll be right back...

He's at the Shelton.

Ginou...

We'll go to the hotel
and get plastered!

Again?

Jaubert's due back tomorrow,
anyway, I need a break from love.

Which do you want first:
The good news or the bad?

The bad.

Your accordionist wants a raise.

The good news
is that Marlene Dietrich

reserved for tomorrow!

I'm going to the hotel, I promised
Jaubert to finish his sweater.

You never finished
one for any man!

Because I knit too slow
and I love too fast.

Let's go to dinner.

To the hotel!

I'm deciding!

She's a monster on the phone.

You talk better in the ring.

Let's go have some pastrami,
Mr Roupp.

We've had pastrami
8 days in a row.

This'll make nine.

What's wrong with pastrami?

Hold on, I'll get him.

You don't talk badly, after all.

I just found out your sign
is Cancer.

Where shall we eat?

What's that all about?

She was told the man of her life
would be a Cancer.

Looks like you and I are eating
alone... what's your sign?

They're all boxers.

That's Joe Louis.

Know him?

He's very good.

So are you.

He's world champion.

You will be, too.

That's nice of you.

You like this place?

It's interesting.

You wouldn't think
you'd find this in New York.

Your fight went well, then.

Yes... very well.

You're pleased with it.

Your show's going well?

You're not much of a talker.

You intimidate me.

You sure you won that fight?

Yes, why?

Your eye and your hand...
what does the loser look like?

Want your coat off?

Yes... it's warm in here.

What's your hotel?

The Shelton.

I always stay at the Waldorf.

It's very nice.

Well... two French people
in New York...

You like hitting people?

Why do you only sing sad songs?

To make myself happy.

I hit people to make myself gentle.

Our jobs are just alike.

Think so?

Before, during or after,
we're always scared.

Where do you put happiness?

Between the scary moments...
like tonight.

To look at, he's quite ordinary

But if he's the one you go for...

He's Apollo, he's extraordinary!

The man I've got a yen for...
Isn't handsome or rich

But we're on the same pitch

A man like the others...

A man among so many others...

Well, this is where...

Where I take a taxi.

You think I'm going
to let you take a taxi?

Don't look at me like that.

Know what Jean Gabin would say
to Michele Morgan right now?

Like it?

- Want a beer?
- I wouldn't mind.

I have some Pastis
direct from Paris.

Beer is fine.

Do you want a laugh?

Come see my "ring".

You won't make fun of me?

Come get comfortable.

You can put on any record you want.

Will you open it?

I'll go make myself beautiful.

Behave yourself!

Wake up, Ginou!

The last decan in Cancer...
it's ideal!

Wake me in 2 hours...
the usual routine.

If his coat's not off
by the end of the song...

he's not my Cancer.

You like this song,
or is it to please me?

I almost sang it...
If I'd known you liked it so much...

Your coat is very, very nice.

I like it a lot.

Shall I put it on?

Don't you dare!

Jaubert is here!

Go back to bed,
everything's fine!

He's furious, he wants
to tear the place apart!

Tell him who I'm with,
that'll make him change his mind!

What do I say to him?

That your boss has a new boss!

What's all the commotion out here?

Marcel Cerdan is in Piaf's room.

Pretend you're Jaubert.

I'm fine!

She's fine.

What is this, a joke?

Very funny at 4 AM!

You're not
the ones who get up early!

What's going on?

An act we put on.

I was going to kick you out
before you could leave me.

Do you always do that?

I don't like men to leave me.

And if I didn't like you,
I wouldn't tell you.

Hurry up and go...
I already miss you.

I didn't expect you so early.

Sit down, I'll be right with you.

I felt like an idiot last night!
Well?

My man, my warrior, my god...
all my songs rolled into one!

A true Cancer.

And what a Cancer!
I'm done for!

The English teacher is here...
I'll deal with her.

Buy some books on boxing.

So it's Miss Davidson.

How old are you?

Would you rather be a good-looking
40, or 30 and a bit...

There, you see?

I'm not here!

Coffee?

Use the phone in the bedroom,
you ask for...

since your English beats mine,
and I'll have orange juice.

It's Aznavour.

The little genius?

Hello, Charles?
How are you?

There's a guy
who's come into my life

And he says things
that go to my head

You're beautiful...

You're beautiful...

Things no one ever said

Montreal agrees with you!

More?

There's a guy
with the look of an angel

And his voice is an angel's caress

You're beautiful...

I'm wild with happiness

Good thing I believe in God,
otherwise I'd believe in you.

I have a hole in my shoe

My dress is ragged and torn

My coat is full of patches,
Everything about me is worn

I don't care
if gossip's going round

Let people point in mockery

I just want to laugh and sing
my heart out

It's crazy what's happening to me

Can we make love a success?

Yes!

That's terrific ending,
we'll keep it!

You like it?

Fabulous! I'll rehearse
this afternoon and sing it tonight!

You can talk contract with Ginou.

He wrote a fantastic song!

I know, I saw your faces.

That's good news.

Call a rehearsal...
and deal with that English teacher.

Always me!
She's in your room?

Give Charles my love.

Jack Dempsey,
heavyweight champ in 1919.

Georges Carpentier,
knocked out Levinsky in 1920.

He failed to take heavyweight title:
1921 in Jersey City.

Avenged in 1926 by Tunney...
stop me if I'm wrong.

5th curtain call: Marcel Cerdan,
champion of Europe in 1939!

This is Loulou, my manager...

You already know Ginou.

The boss here...

Marc Bonnel,
my favorite accordionist...

Flying home tomorrow?

Loulou?

I'll get a car.

The head chef...
he's French, too.

My dressing room...

It'd be nice if he missed his plane.

I got the message.

Marcel and Marinette had 2 sons,
with a third on the way.

Cerdan was now a natural contender
for world championship.

But the Americans, more generous
with dollars than with titles...

insisted on other bouts first.

"They'll wear you down",
said Lucien Roupp, his manager.

"The next time we go to the US,
it's for the title".

Now the world championship?

Almost.

What's in the way?

A few details.

So you missed the plane
because of her driver?

He didn't seem to know
New York at all!

How's the bar?

Your victories
are good for business.

Well? What's Piaf like?

Nice... very nice.

That's all?

It's that same old thing...

That "something in the air"...

Which, for hours on end...

Keeps you sitting in your chair

Next to a telephone...

Waiting for his call

Next to a telephone...

Which never rings at all

It's that same old thing...

That "love to end all love"

It knocked me for a loop...

Gave my heart a shove

That feeling something's wrong...

Just when you're feeling high

All at once you're down...

Without quite knowing why

To keep Edith happy...

Marcel took on fights in the US
he had no business accepting.

Notably against Raadick,
the Chicago Killer.

He began having arguments
with his manager...

the press blamed Roupp
for Cerdan's excesses.

I don't know what you do to me

But what you do is new to me

Can we stay together?

Take it again.

The old mike was better.

I don't know what you do to me

But what you do is new to me

It goes in here,
it comes out there

And then it's gone,
I don't know where...

Days like this...

Who came in?

No one, it's just me.

I talked to Ginou,
he's on the plane.

What time is it?

- 5 o'clock.
- In the plane!

I don't know, around 11...
he'll be having dinner.

Don't like it?

It's different, it's interesting...
what is it?

It's for Marcel.

Very nice, from the front.

Edith and Marcel had
15 wonderful days in New York...

days he should have
spent training in Chicago.

He then had to lose 6 pounds
in one day... disaster for a boxer.

You have three more songs!

I don't care!

Give us this day
our daily happiness

Show us the way,
Shed Thy light in our lives

In the terror of the night,
Forgive us our sins

As we forgive those
Who have sinned against us

Tormented us... forsaken us

A miracle just happened...
but it's our secret!

We won!

By a knockout?

By a miracle!

- You drunk?
- No, but we will be!

On the phone, he couldn't see
I was... I acted normal?

Anyway,
you can't see over the phone.

He's the one who asked me
to dinner...

You didn't open your gifts.

So many gifts, so many lies!

I get your laundry and kids!

The laundry goes
to the one you love.

And the world championship?

After the European match
with Delannoit.

- Where will you train?
- Paris.

So she's coming back to France.

She's a friend, nothing more.

You swear on your sons' heads?

Slow down, we're in a hurry.

You swore on your sons' heads?

Don't be angry.

I'll try to fix it
with Saint Theresa.

You know what to say to her?

You're moving in with me:
Driving lessons, good books...

I already have a manager.

Big joke! Outside of boxing,
what does he know?

Give us this day
our daily happiness

Show us the way,
Shed Thy light in our lives

In the terror of the night,
Forgive us our sins

As we forgive those
Who have sinned against us

Tormented us... forsaken us

Marcel will be right down.

- Any mail?
- I think so.

Sit down, I'll go tell him.

How are you, Mr Roupp?

Croissant?

Mr Roupp! How are you?

Real silk!

Italian shoes...

That's not all,
come over to the light.

Porcelain teeth for a boxer...
very practical.

There's more...

You're here nice and early!

To remind Marcel he's fighting
Delannoit in Brussels on the 23rd.

And today's the 10th... already!

When's the world championship?

When you sing in Paris,
Marcel fights in Paris...

you're in Berlin, he's in Berlin.

When you next sing in the US,
that's when the fight will be!

Don't get angry...

Sing "La Vie en Rose" to Delannoit!

I was waiting for you...

We were waiting for you...

The little genius
is getting talented!

Did my love understand that
the one we were waiting for was you?

Know what Cocteau
just said about Cerdan?

"He's Odysseus... Greek tragedy
in the art of the duel"... A poet!

It's bedtime
for the poet of the ring.

I was waiting for you, dreaming
my dreams of impossible things

A waif in the street, I yearned
for my knight, my invincible king

I was waiting for you...

I was waiting for you, and you came
to me with your wonderful smile

This was Edith's trick
to out down the noise...

so the champ could get
almost a normal night's sleep.

Wash away my past, your heart
to my heart, your lips to my lips

Your hand stroking my thighs

With a tender caress,
Enter into my life, awaken my desire

And fill my nights with sighs

It's 6 AM...
your bath is running.

Did you like Gide?

He wouldn't be slightly...

No more than Cocteau.

I was waiting for you...

My fingers!
I play the piano!

We'd heard Cerdan's training
was a joke...

this match confirms it!

He's in his corner,
Delannoit jumps up...

the referee comes
to the center of the ring...

and the winner is Delannoit,
the new champion of Europe!

Marcel Cerdan has been beaten
for the first time in his life!

He falls on his knees,
he's crying like a baby...

You are in my blood

No doubt about it

You stick around stubbornly

I tried so hard...

To kick the habit

But you just won't let me be

You are in my blood

No doubt about it

All of me burns with your fire

I'm cold...

I'm hot...

I feel your fever...

Everywhere!

What do I care
what the world may think?

I'll shout from every mountaintop

You're everything to me,
my meat and my drink

And my love for you
will never stop

It's Brussels... hold on...

Well?

We only won on points.

We won!

Ladies and gentlemen,
I have just learned that...

Marcel Cerdan recaptured
the European title from Delannoit!

Next stop: The world championship!

You're singing here tonight!

I'm going to Brussels!

You're so quiet.

- What's this?
- Twin beds.

For who?

We have different dreams...
it's better than a divorce.

You know the clock's stopped?

What's that?

That's
Elle Magazine

And him?

That's Francis Roman.

- You know him?
- Everyone knows him.

What's wrong?

Nothing...
"What's wrong?" she says.

We just became millionaires.

"What's wrong!"

Read the article on Cerdan and Piaf:
They're back in NY.

Clark Gable is here,
he wants to say hello to you.

Send him in.

Four years!

Need a letter?

You hadn't met since the war?

Never! If we hadn't run
into each other in the street...

I have to make a phone call...
Be good...

"I often dream of..."

"... an unknown man
whom I love and who loves me."

You're prettier without glasses.

And you without a moustache.

How do you know I had one?

Rhett Butler always has one.

How does one become superstitious?

I don't know...

I was blind and I see,
I couldn't read music and I sing.

They say you're a fixture
at Cerdan's training camp.

Once and for all, Marcel Cerdan
and I are just good friends.

I interviewed him earlier,
and when I said I'd be seeing you...

he told me to give you a big kiss.

For the last time,
between Cerdan and Piaf...

there is friendship,
nothing but friendship...

forever friendship!
It's very simple!

Who'll believe that?

All those who love Edith and Marcel.

Congratulations.

I hear you've been picked
to broadcast the fight to Paris.

Well, time to get to work.

Did you underline it,
or cross it out?

Guess.

Good night... We pushed it today,
so we'll start at 7 tomorrow.

Marcel's gone to bed?

A second ago.

Offer me a drink?

Why not?

I brought the New York papers.

It must be love,
when I play spare tire.

It's for you, it's Charles.

The little genius?

Charles. How did you know?

Find Marcel
and you've found Edith...

Pretty clever, right?

I wrote something fantastic...
Got a minute?

If I hurt your pride...

If I cut you up inside...

Put your head on my shoulder
and cry

It's not a song for me.

Right now, I want happy songs.

Don't get angry... I come at 8:30
every night and leave at 9.

All I do is say goodnight,
isn't that right?

Right... Anyway, I've never been
in better shape.

If you can forget...

Our little lover's spat...

My darling...

We can be happy yet

If you go away...

If you break my heart one day...

My darling...

Passengers on the
"Marcel Cerdan flight" to NY...

I'm the one who'll cry

Where'd you put Edith?

Right here.

Not in front?

It was her choice.

Sit down.

Can you see?

Beautifully!

If Jacques calls, tell him
I'm in Cabourg with Papa!

Where would you go in Cabourg?

Suppose that...

you're with a pretty girl...
because she's very pretty...

- What hotel would you go to?
- Grand Hotel.

Did you have to bring him?

I might've done the same as he did.

Jacques Barbier...

It was a good letter...

"Gone With the Wind" and Tara...

I have a drink and then...
I have another!

Ever see "Gone With the Wind"?

What's it about?

It's a love story.

Here we go again!

Lieutenant, they all tell
the same story...

the Bible and all of them!

Because it didn't just happen once!

Three times the coin said
"Do it"... and pow!

I take the car, I go there,
it's over in a hurry!

Well, why not?

I walk in, there he is...

I kill him, right?

It is now exactly 2 AM in Paris
and 8 PM in New York...

an hour or so before
the long-awaited match...

between middleweight champ
Tony Zale and Marcel Cerdan.

All France is awake,
even at the Elysée Palace...

where President Vincent Auriol
will be listening to the fight.

While we wait for
our announcer in Jersey City...

let's have some music by...
guess who?

Everything's okay.

Loulou's buying the papers.

Tony Zale is still the favorite.

He never fought Saint Theresa.

I'm scared to death...
it's worse than when I sing.

Millions are following
this great sports event...

which may result
in a French world champion!

It's 10 PM here... 4 AM
for you boxing fans in France!

We're waiting for the two boxers.

When they weighed
in this morning...

title-holder Zale told the press
he'd beat Cerdan...

in three rounds!

As for Marcel, since leaving
the church where he went to pray...

he's been closed off
in his changing-room.

There's Edith Piaf
making her entrance...

into Roosevelt Stadium!

Her compatriots
from Paris applaud wildly!

Edith delayed her show
to attend tonight's match...

she'll see Cerdan fight
for the first time!

Each time he had a match,
she was singing!

She touches the ropes for luck...

I interviewed her the other day...

and I can confirm that she
and Cerdan are just good friends!

Here's a telegram
from his children in Casablanca...

it says... listen to this...

it's beautiful,
I have tears in my eyes...

With you...

You lay wreaths,
lunch with the President...

act the playboy...
what about La Motta?

Must I choose between you and Piaf?

No, this time it's between
Piaf and La Motta!

We're through!

I got you the title,
now you keep it!

I can't help it if my son is sick.

It's one of those days!

I'll be back when he's well.

Ask Momone to come.

I don't want to see her!

I promise to stay
till the La Motta fight.

La Motta!

He's not my best friend.

Latest from Paris:
"Cerdan quits Roupp for Longman".

They'll say I bring bad luck again!

Tell you later.

It's good news, isn't it?

As Edith said, "Success is
often more costly than failure".

9 months later... June 19, 1949,
Cerdan fought Jake La Motta...

and lost in 30 minutes
what it had taken a lifetime to win.

Hurt in Round 2,
he continued to box one-handed...

27 minutes of brutal punishment.

It had to happen...
Cerdan beaten in the 11th round.

You, too... in the 9th month.

"Come on with us
and have a fight..."

"When he takes me in his arms...

"The magic of his charms...

"I see
La Vie en Rose".

Heads I stay, tails I go!

"When he whispers in my ear...

"The words I long to hear..."

Frankly, my dear,
I couldn't care less!

Gable... "Gone with the wind!"

It's always the same story,
since how is it going to end?

They say you arranged it to get
a more profitable return match.

Talk's cheap outside the ring.

What is La Motta's connection
with the Mafia?

We don't know what you mean.

When's the return match?

The sooner the better...
3 months or so.

I've a question for Marcel...

they say Piaf disrupted
your training program.

The Piaf story is all publicity.

But ask me again
when I have two arms.

No comment.

I'm going to the men's room.

Here I am.

What's happening?

That's the other end of the world!

It's 6 o'clock.

How are you, my love?

I was thinking,
since I'm not singing Sunday...

you could move up your trip.

That way, we'd have
the weekend together.

Airplanes are never full!

What did Edith want?

For me to move up
my trip to New York.

The tickets, the press...
it's all laid on for Tuesday.

Anyway, the flights are full.

When you became my manager,
you said Mr Jo could do anything.

Due to weather conditions,
our captain has chosen...

to fly the southern route.

We'll make a stopover
in the Azores around 3 AM.

After 15 hours in the air,
we'll reach New York at 11 AM...

Local time.

We are happy
to welcome aboard our flight...

the celebrated violinist,
Ginette Neveu... and Marcel Cerdan.

Don't you feel well?

What is it,
where does it hurt?

Here's the trouble... the wine.

All this drinking is bad for you.

I'll get some water.

I feel better.

It's the first time
that ever happened to me.

You had me scared.

That song about God could be great.

But it takes someone with talent.

You're better?

I don't know what it was.

I'll go see how long we've got...
you're all right?

What time is it?

It must be late... or early...

It can't be!

The Azores!

It's not possible!

It's not possible...
not Marcel!

I killed him!

Dear God...

Please let him stay
a little while...

My only love

One day...

Two days...

Eight days...

Please let him stay
a little while...

With me

I have no faith, no prayer...

When you are far away

There's darkness everywhere...

Without you

The world's a joyless place...

A wasteland of despair

I need you
as I need to breathe the air

There's a guy
with the look of an angel

And his voice is an angel's caress

You're beautiful...

I'm dizzy with happiness

After you...

You are in my blood

No doubt about it

You stick around stubbornly

I tried so hard...

To kick the habit

But you just won't let me be

If ever you leave,
leave me for good...

If ever we part...

That day I shall die,
die of my love...

My love, my own heart

He whispered to me, tender words
of love, words all his own

He didn't mean to go, since in spite
of his love, he left me alone

If one day,
life takes you from me...

If you die
when you are far from me...

I won't care that you love me...

Because I will also die

And we'll share all eternity...

In that blue and vast immensity

We'll leave behind
our earthly worries...

And our love will fill the sky

"He died close to Heaven...
that's where he is."