The Last Tycoons

Risk-taking producers at the tail end of a wide-open period of French cinema. Jean-Pierre Rassam lavished money on filmmakers he trusted, and didn’t bother reading scripts. Christian Fechner had to manage a shoot with a star who had just had a heart attack and nobody wanted to insure. And producer and part-time magician Claude Berri was put to the test by Roman Polanski and the sprawling production of Tess.

The 1970s expanded the bounds of the permissible in film — anything that could make it past the censors. Emmanuelle was emblematic of this new era. Produced by a former advertising director who picked up a lapsed option on the book of the same name, the film relished its 18+ rating and enjoyed a 12-year theatrical run. Many in the establishment looked down on these daring new films, but producers found ways to get them made—even resorting to blackmail.

Raymond Danon's hard-nosed, no-nonsense persona concealed a deep love for cinema and a flair for the theatrical. Danon fought for the projects he loved, knowing that no one really understands why some films hit and others flop. One of few women then producing, Albina du Boisrouvray remembers being dismissed as playing at making films. A close-up view of the working relationship between producer Serge Silberman, writer/director Luis Buñuel, and writer Jean-Claude Carrière on The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.

Producers driven by a true passion for film. Mag Bodard was a woman producing films during an almost completely male-dominated era. Her financing challenges included the stereotype that women couldn’t handle money. But she stuck with projects nobody else thought would get made. Jacques Perrin championed the political thriller Z at a time when there was little appetite for serious political films, faking contracts to secure bridge financing. Alexandre Mnouchkine and Georges Dancigers even pitched in with costuming to help get projects they loved made.