Happy Birthday, Sacha Guitry! Born today in 1885 as Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry, this French impresario, stage actor, playwright, film actor, screenwriter and director of the Boulevard theatre was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry. He later followed his father into the theatrical profession.
Guitry's plays range from historical dramas to contemporary light comedies. Some have musical scores, by composers including French composer, organist, pianist and conductor André Messager and Venezuelan, naturalised French, composer, conductor, music critic, diarist, theatre director, and salon singer Reynaldo Hahn.
When silent films became popular Guitry avoided them, finding the lack of spoken dialogue fatal to dramatic impact. From the 1930s to the end of his life he enthusiastically embraced the cinema, making as many as five films in a single year.
According to his film credits, Guitry is best known for narrating, starring, writing and directing the 1936 French black and white drama/comedy film 'Le Roman d'un tricheur' (sometimes known in English as 'The Story of a Cheat', but also as 'Confessions of a Cheat', 'The Story of a Trickster,' or 'The Cheat').
Adapted from Guitry's 1935 novel (his only one) entitled Les Mémoires d'un tricheur (Memories of a Cheater), the film follows a likable scoundrel (Guitry), simply referred to as Le Tricheur (The Cheat). He recalls his life from childhood through years of dabbling in crime with two women.
The film is considered to be Guitry's masterpiece; a fleet, witty picaresque about a gambler and petty thief being a whimsical delight. With its innovative storytelling and visual style, Guitry's clever chronicle of a charming crook's life has proven to be one of the most influential films ever made.
Guitry had been active from 1902–1957.
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