The Great French Film Stars: When Delon, Belmondo, Gabin and Ventura Ruled the Cinemas

Gabin: The Young Were Afraid of Him, the Old Respected Him

Jean Gabin had already been a star for years when Delon, Belmondo and Ventura began appearing on the scene.

Born in 1904, he came to the screen after years spent performing in cabarets. At first, there was nothing particularly dazzling about his career. Then came films such as Pépé le Moko, La Grande Illusion and later Touchez pas au grisbi.

And Gabin became someone who was impossible to ignore.

His later screen image was built around authority. A policeman, gangster, father, boss, old hand. A man who had already seen plenty and certainly didn't need anyone explaining life to him.

Interestingly, Gabin gradually became almost as much of an authority off camera as he was on it.

Younger actors looked up to him. Alain Delon was no exception.

When the young Delon was beginning to make his name, Gabin was already a legend. And although Delon later created his own type of film hero, Gabin was one of the men whose respect he wanted to earn.

The two later appeared together in Any Number Can Win and again in The Sicilian Clan.

And the second film produced one of the most impressive casts in French cinema: Gabin, Delon and Ventura in the same story.

Delon: The Man Who Knew He Was Handsome

Alain Delon had one enormous advantage from the very beginning.

He looked like a movie star before he actually became one.

His career did not begin at acting school. He had served in the military, experienced the war in Indochina and worked a number of different jobs. He came into the film world almost by accident, helped enormously by his extraordinary looks and striking personality.

Then came Purple Noon.

Suddenly there was this young man on the screen who looked perfect, yet there was something disturbing about him at the same time.

That was Delon's specialty.

He wasn't merely handsome.

He was dangerously handsome.

His screen characters often seemed to have a secret. And the audience wanted to know what it was.

Delon also understood very well the power of his image. He was not the kind of actor who tried to convince the world that he was an ordinary guy next door.

Quite the opposite.

His confidence was part of the Alain Delon brand.

And women, of course, adored him.

One of the great loves of his life was Romy Schneider. Their relationship became one of the most famous romances in European film history.

But Delon had another kind of weakness when it came to the movies.

Competition.

And its name was Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Delon and Belmondo: Two Roosters in the Same Film Yard

This is where things get really interesting.

Delon and Belmondo were almost perfect opposites.

Delon was elegant.

Belmondo was disheveled.

Delon looked.

Belmondo smiled.

Delon seemed like a man you definitely didn't want to get in the way of.

Belmondo looked like a man you would happily go for a beer with.

And although they were often described as rivals, their relationship was much more complicated.

They had known each other since the beginning of their careers. They even appeared together in films before either had become a genuine star.

The real trouble came with Borsalino.

Delon wasn't just an actor. He was also the film's producer.

And the movie led to a dispute that seriously cooled their friendship for a while. Belmondo felt that he was not being treated as an equal partner.

So it wasn't simply: I'm better-looking than you.

It involved money, billing, publicity and ego.

And those are exactly the things that can make even people who like each other fall out.

Their relationship and the behind-the-scenes story of Borsalino became one of the best-known stories in French cinema.

Eventually, however, they made peace.

And when they met again in the 1998 film One Hundred and One Nights, it felt almost like two old kings returning to the same screen.

Belmondo: The Movie Tough Guy Who Laughed in the Face of Danger

Jean-Paul Belmondo was a completely different case.

He boxed, loved sport, and his physical fitness later became one of the central elements of his film style.

When he had to jump somewhere, run away or get into a fight, it wasn't a problem.

Belmondo looked as though danger was simply another form of entertainment.

And that was exactly what made him such a huge star.

While Delon could stand still for ten seconds and simply stare, Belmondo needed room.

To run.

To drive.

To jump.

To laugh.

And occasionally to do something completely stupid.

His career wasn't only about action films, either. He began with the French New Wave, and Breathless turned him into an international star. Later he moved comfortably between auteur cinema and major commercial hits.

And perhaps that was precisely why people loved him.

He never seemed inaccessible.

He looked like a man who was having a great time.

Ventura: The Man Who Never Wanted to Be an Actor

Lino Ventura had one enormous advantage.

He didn't have to pretend to be tough.

He simply looked tough.

Before film, he was a professional wrestler. His sporting career ended because of an injury. He entered the film world in 1953, when director Jacques Becker cast him alongside Jean Gabin in Touchez pas au grisbi.

Ventura didn't initially see acting as his future.

But then audiences saw him.

And that was that.

Suddenly there was a man with a face nobody could mistake for anyone else's.

Not a perfect heartthrob.

Not a polished idol.

But a man.

Ventura and Gabin also became close friends. Their professional relationship continued, and in 1969 they appeared together with Delon in The Sicilian Clan.

And there, in a way, their cinematic world came full circle.

Gabin – the legend of the old school.

Delon – the new idol.

Ventura – the tough character actor.

And Then Comes One Surprising Thing

Ventura was an extremely private person.

Unlike some stars of his generation, he did not enjoy interviews or having his private life constantly discussed in public. Yet his life away from the movies was remarkably interesting.

In 1966, he founded Perce-Neige, an organization that helps people with disabilities and their families.

That may be one of the nicest things that can be said about him.

On screen, he could play a man you wouldn't want to cross.

Off screen, he devoted much of his life to helping others.

And suddenly his screen image takes on a completely different dimension.

Three Generations, Four Men

There is something else beautiful about this quartet.

They weren't actually one generation.

Gabin was born in 1904.

Ventura in 1919.

Delon in 1935.

Belmondo in 1933.

Yet their careers overlapped in such a way that they created one of the most remarkable eras in French cinema. Gabin gradually passed the baton to the younger generation, while Delon, Belmondo and Ventura became stars of a new era.

And it wasn't only about films.

It was about charisma.

Today we have actors who look perfect.

Back then, all a man needed was the right look.

Or the right nose.

Or the right way of lighting a cigarette.

And that was it.

Who Was the Biggest Tough Guy?

Of course, there is no correct answer.

Delon had a face that could make you forgive him almost anything.

Belmondo had a smile and a cheekiness that made him the darling of the audience.

Gabin had an authority he never needed to force.

And Ventura had the face of a man you could trust without him saying a word.

Perhaps, though, there is no need to choose a winner.

Because together they created something that today seems almost unbelievable.

An era when an actor wasn't merely someone who could play a role.

He was a film archetype.

Delon was Delon.

Belmondo was Belmondo.

Gabin was Gabin.

Ventura was Ventura.

And the audience knew exactly what they were going to get before the first line was spoken.

Maybe that's why their films still work.

And maybe that's why we look at their old photographs a little differently from today's celebrities.

We see men in suits, with a cigarette, a glass on the table and an expression that seems to say:

“So, what are you having?”

And you find yourself thinking that you would have liked to visit that bar back then.

Just for a moment.

Sit somewhere in the corner.

Order something good.

And listen to what those four men might have been talking about when they weren't in front of the camera.

Because some film legends don't need special effects.

All they need is a table, a cigarette, a glass and a little smoke.

Sources

• Cinémathèque française – Jean Gabin retrospective

• French Ministry of Culture – Lino Ventura

• Encyclopaedia Universalis – Jean-Paul Belmondo

• Encyclopaedia Universalis – Alain Delon

• AlloCiné – biographies of Jean Gabin and Lino Ventura

• AlloCiné – Alain Delon

• AlloCiné – behind-the-scenes stories about the great French film stars

AI Disclosure

AI was used to assist with the English translation and language editing of this article. The original article was written by the author in Czech. The English version was reviewed, edited and adapted by the author before publication.