Yoyo (1965)

Director:

Pierre Étaix

Writers:

Pierre Étaix (scenario and adaptation) and
Jean-Claude Carrière (scenario and adaptation)

Release Date:

19 February 1965 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

Plot:

A man has everything: dozens of servants, a palace, vast woods, gardens, a lake, mechanical toys, private...

Plot Keywords:

Clown | Yo Yo | Servant | Elephant | Circus

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Pierre Étaix	...	Yoyo / le millionaire
Claudine Auger	...	Isolina
Philippe Dionnet	...	Yoyo enfant
Luce Klein	...	L'écuyère
Arthur Allan
Amédée
Armand Andrieu
Baixas
Martine de Breteuil	...	Madame de Briac
Philippe Castelli	...	Le domestique (as Castelli)
Luc Delhumeau	...	Le douanier
Gabrielle Doulcet	...	La dame au collier
Les ballets de René Goliard
François Lalande
Georges Loriot		(as Loriot)
Claude Massot
Pierre Moncorbier	...	Le pique-assiettes
Henri Roger
Roger Trapp	...	Le représentant en farces et attrapes
Nono Zammit	...	Un artiste du cirque
Michèle Alex
Boby Althoff
Pinder	...	Elephant Wrangler (as le troupeau d'élephants Pinder)
Les Antares	...	Aerialists
Dario	...	Clown
Mimile	...	Clown
Pipo	...	Clown
Fregis
Les French Clowns	...	Clowns
Jacques Gambys
Serge Gambys
Fernand Guiot	...	Le paysan
Kach Maht	...	Juggler (as Kachmath)
La Troupe Sándor Károly	...	Bareback Riders
Eugene Leonard		(as Eugène Leonard)
Licques	...	Clairvoyant (as Madame Licques)
Marcellys		(as Marcellys et son orchestre)
Georges Metras
Barbara Poludniak	...	Bear Wrangler (as Barbara et Eugène Poludniak et leurs ours)
Eugène Poludniak	...	Bear Wrangler
Concha Romero		(as Conchita Romero)
Esmeralda Theron	...	Unicycle Artist
Germaine Theron
Wyston Tort
Lélé de Triana	...	Gypsy Dancer
Vasseur
Siam		(as l'éléphant Siam)
Bambi		(as le chien Bambi)
Caïd		(as le cheval Caïd)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Coryn	...	(uncredited)
Jocelyne Loiseau	...	(uncredited)
Mary Petrov	...	(uncredited)
Annie Savarin	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Pierre Étaix

Writing credits
Pierre Étaix		(scenario and adaptation) and
Jean-Claude Carrière		(scenario and adaptation)

Produced by
Paul Claudon	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean Paillaud

Cinematography by
Jean Boffety

Film Editing by
Henri Lanoë

Production Design by
Raymond Gabutti
Raymond Tournon

Costume Design by
Jacqueline Guyot

Makeup Department
Boris Karabanoff	....	makeup artist (as Boris de Banov)

Production Management
Jean-Marie Bertrand	....	assistant unit manager
Tonio Suné	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pierre Aubert	....	assistant director

Art Department
Michel Suné	....	props

Sound Department
Jean Bertrand	....	sound
Lucien Moreau	....	sound assistant

Visual Effects by
Charlotte Quemy	....	restoration supervisor (restored version)

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Forster	....	still photographer
Vincent Gagliardi	....	grip
Christian Guillouet	....	camera operator
Guy Lecouvette	....	second assistant camera
Jacques Lefrançois	....	first assistant camera
André Thiéry	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Yvonne Suné	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Jacqueline Meppiel	....	assistant editor
Chantal Rémy	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jean Bouchéty	....	orchestrator (as Bouchety)

Other crew
André Bureau	....	technical consultant
Sylvie Carré	....	script supervisor
Hélène Desse	....	production administrator
Jacqueline Doye	....	accounting administrator
Georges Fontenelle	....	location unit manager
Clément Ollier	....	location unit manager

Thanks
Philippe Andrau	....	special thanks
Jean-Claude Carrière	....	special thanks
Philippe Giraudel	....	special thanks
Charles-Edouard Renault	....	special thanks
Odile Étaix	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• C.A.P.A.C.

Distributors

• Studio 37 (2010) (France) (DVD)
• Filmtrade (2011) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Arte Editions (2010) (France) (DVD)
• Magna (1967) (USA) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• S.I.M.O.  sound post-production (as SIMO)
• Fondation Groupama Gan pour le Cinéma  restored version
• Fondation Technicolor pour le Patrimoine du Cinéma  restored version
• Studio 37  restored version

Also Known As:

"Yo Yo" - USA
"Jo-Jo" - Finland
"Yo-Yo" - Portugal (original subtitled version)
"Yo-yo" - Greece (imdb display title)
"Yoyó" - Spain (dubbed version)
"Yoyo, der Millionär" - West Germany (imdb display title)

Runtime:

92 min | 97 min (restored version)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Auray, Morbihan, France

Company:

C.A.P.A.C.

Trivia:

The film was awarded the 1965 Grand Prix Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival, and the First Prize of the International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual (OCIC) at the Venice Film Festival.

Movie Connections:

References La strada (1954)

How has this disappeared?

I remember in 1965 seeing a clip of this movie on TV the week it came out. It featured a rich woman being driven slowly round the square by her chauffeur and 'walking' her dog by sitting in the back of the limousine with her dog on a lead to the pavement. That quirky and humorous image stuck in my impressionable young head and I promised myself I would go and see it when it came to the local cinema. Needless to say, it never did and it has never been on TV or DVD that I'm aware of.

I'm still waiting...

This is so often the case in the UK. I am a huge fan of Japanese cinema but most of the movies reviewed highly on sites like Midnight Eye never get over here. Are subtitles so unbearable to UK moviegoers? We lap up some of the tripe from Hollywood but anything where English is not the main language really struggles. One thing is for sure, most of the challenging and original stuff is not coming from Los Angeles.