Few other French film actors inspire the sense of awe and nostalgia that Jean Gabin evokes, particularly in his native France.  In a career spanning 95 films and six decades, Gabin established himself as perhaps the greatest actor in the history of French cinema.  The range of films he appeared in is staggering, including over a score of unrivalled masterpieces (from Renoir's La Grande Illusion to Carné's Le jour se lève), popular comedies and respectable attempts to mimic American film noir.

Although the quality of the films he appeared in may vary, Gabin's performance in each film is almost always beyond reproach.  It has been said that Gabin never acted, that he became the person he was playing in each of his films.  Whatever his method, Gabin is almost entirely believable in any of his roles, bringing an almost terrifying realism to the part of the schizophrenic railway worker in La Bête humaine, whilst leaving his audience astounded by his apparent ruthlessness in Les Grandes familles.

Although he is revered today, even honoured as the single most important figure in French cinema, Jean Gabin's career as an actor was far from assured, and indeed was blighted during the 1940s to the extent that he very nearly fell into obscurity after World War II... 

Jean Gabin was born on 17th May 1904, with the name Jean Alexis Gabin Moncorgé.  He was born in Paris, but he spent his childhood in the village of Mériel, in Val d'Oise.  Both his parents were entertainers, performing in local cafés.  From an early age, entertainment was in his blood and, at 18, he took a turn at the Folies-Bergère.  He then appeared in reviews and operettas, singing and dancing, and becoming famous for his imitation of Maurice Chevalier. Through a chance meeting with the singer Mistinguett in 1928, he was given a spot at the Moulin-Rouge. 

Gabin began his film career with an uncredited appearance in Ohe! Les Valises, a flimsy silent sketch film.  His first major role came in the 1930 film Chacun sa chance where he appeared with Gaby Basset, his first wife, whom he married in 1927. 

During the 1930s, Gabin's popularity grew steadily until, by the end of the decade, he was had become the personification of the tragic romantic hero, the perfect foil for the poetic realists.  Whether he played the legionnaire (Gueule d'amour ), the deserter (Le Quai des brumes) or the head gangster (Pépé le Moko), Gabin was impeccable, bringing a tragic humanity to each of his appearances which the public adored.  The optimism in La Belle équipe evolved progressively into the fatalism of Le Jour se lève - Gabin was the man chosen to reflect the hopes and fears of his times.

Then war broke out, effectively putting the breaks on Gabin's career.  In 1940, he took up residence in Hollywood with the hope of repeating his success in America.  Here he met Marlène Dietrich, with whom he would have an affair for several years.  His film career in the States proved to be less successful: he made two films, Moon Tide and The Impostor, both of which were flops.  Disillusioned, Gabin returned to France in 1943 and enlisted in the army, serving in the Forces françaises libres.  Gabin the war hero returned to civilian life after the war and found that his adulating public had all but forgotten him.  The film stars of the day were Fernandel, Raimu and many others. It would take several years before Gabin regained his popular appear. 

In the early 1950s, Gabin would make a remarkable comeback.  Having won awards for his roles in La Nuit est mon royaume (1951) and La Vérité sur Bébé Donge (1952), he rediscovered his mainstream success in Jacques Becker's classic 1953 policier Touchez pas au grisbi.  Gone was the romantic hero of the pre-war years. This was the birth of a new Jean Gabin, a tough anti-hero, set in his beliefs, feared and respected by all.  Gabin the Godfather of French cinema had arrived.

Further successes followed, including Renoir’s French Cancanand Claude Autant-Lara’s La Traversée de Paris.  With age, a new Gabin persona emerged, more solid, more self-assured, yet always human.  He was as comfortable in the role as the fearless detective Maigret as he was as the ruthless patriarch of a bourgeois family (Les Grandes familles).  In 1958, Gabin starred in his most controversial film, En cas de malheur, in which he played the May to December lover of a new debutante, Brigitte Bardot.

Gabin's professional success was accompanied by a comparable fulfilment in his private life.  In 1949, he married Christiane Fournier ("Dominique"), who would bear him three children and with whom he would share the rest of his life.  He bought a sprawling  farm in Normandy, and was as contented in his life as the country farmer as he was acting in front of a film camera.

The 1960s saw Gabin's popularity continue, and this despite outspoken attacks from the New Wave directors that he had to great an influence over the films he starred in.  Partly in response to this, Gabin and Fernandel joined forces to form their own film production company, Gafer Films in 1963.  It was in 1960 that Jean Gabin was awarded the Légion d'honneur. 

During the 1960s, Gabin became almost typecast as the Godfather-type figure in French crime thrillers. or polars, a natural French development of the American film noir genre of the 1940s.  Whilst such films were hugely popular at the time, they were not as well made as Gabin's pre-WWII films and few are as well known internationally.  Too frequently Gabin was exploited for his popular appeal and not for his ability to act a particular role.  Particularly towards the end of his career, Gabin was steered into films which he should have avoided like the plague. 

Jean Gabin’s last great roles were in Le Chat and L'affaire Dominici in the early 1970s.  Afterwards, he would appear in lesser roles in films of varying quality.  He spent his last few years on his farm in Normandy and died on 15 Novemeber 1976.  His ashes were scattered in the sea off the coast of Brest.

Jean Gabin leaves behind a film legacy of exceptional variety and quality.  His films are highly sought after today and are regularly aired on television the world over.   His name conjures up such a mix of sentiments and memories, forming an indelible link between French cinema of the Twentieth Century and the man, possibly the world's greatest actor, who became a myth in his own lifetime. 

© James Travers 2002