Pierre Mac Orlan

Pierre Mac Orlan, sometimes written MacOrlan, (born Pierre Dumarchey, February 26, 1882 - June 27 1970) was a French novelist and songwriter.

His novel "Quai des Brumes" was the source for Marcel Carné's 1938 film of the same name, starring Jean Gabin. He was also a prolific writer of "chansons", many of which were recorded and popularized by French singers such as Juliette Gréco, Monique Morelli, Catherine Sauvage, and Germaine Montero.

Life

Born in Peronne in northern France, Mac Orlan lived in Rouen and Paris as a young man, working at a variety of jobs and learning to play the accordion. In his twenties, he travelled widely in Europe, before returning to Paris and becoming a noted figure in Bohemian art circles. In particular, his song performances were a regular feature at the Lapin Agile cabaret. [Francis Carco, "The Last Bohemia" translated Madeline Boyd, Henry Holt & Company, New York 1928] During this period, he was part of a broad circle of writers and painters including Max Jacob, Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Utrillo and Francis Carco.

He fought in the war against Germany until wounded in 1916, following which he worked as a war correspondent. In later years, he lived as a writer at Saint Cyr-sur-Morin, outside Paris. In the late 1920s, he became an influential critic of film and photography, writing important essays about the work of Eugene Atget, Germaine Krull and others.

In addition to "Quai des Brumes", his many novels included "A Bord de l’Etoile Matutine", translated into English by Malcolm Cowley as "On Board the Morning Star". Among the popular "chansons" written by Mac Orlan are "Fille de Londres", "Le Pont du Nord" and "Nelly". The French singer Germaine Montero released an extensive set of her interpretations of Mac Orlan songs on the CD "Meilleur de Germaine Montero".

The French writer and political theorist Guy Debord, founder of the Situationist International was a constant reader of Mac Orlan's novels of urban adventure and "low life". [Andy Merrifield, "Guy Debord - (Critical Lives)", Reaktion Books, London 2005] . The well-known photographer of New York in the 1930s Berenice Abbott was highly influenced by Mac Orlan's writings on the "fantastique" and the "social fantastique." [See Peter Barr's PhD dissertation "Becoming Documentary: Berenice Abbott's Photographs, 1929-1939" (Boston University, 1997)]

References

External links

* [http://www.pennilesspress.co.uk/prose/mac_orlan.htm brief biography]
* [http://www.thebrooklynrail.org/express/sept04/macorlan.html notes on Mac Orlan by Guy Debord biographer Andy Merrifield]
* [http://www.bopsecrets.org/recent/brassens.htm references to Mac Orlan's popular songs]