Lyon is a city resolutely focused on the 7th art. With the birth of photography 200 years ago in a small village near Lyon, the invention of cinema by the Lumière brothers, and a Festival and Institute that today bear their names, Lyon is a resolutely driving (and driving!) city. What’s less well known is that in 1952, a Lyonnais wrote a play that was twice adapted and performed by some of the biggest names in cinema.
Albert Husson, the Lyonnais with an incredible destiny
Albert Husson wasn’t destined to write, yet his talents spread beyond Lyon and across the Atlantic. Between the wars, young Albert obtained his doctorate in law and inherited the family jewelry business. But what he loved most of all was not selling jewelry, but writing about it! In his spare time, he wrote several plays, winning numerous awards.
After the Liberation, Albert Husson joined the Théâtre des Célestins as General Secretary, later becoming co-director. During his years at the helm of this Lyon institution, the theater underwent a veritable transformation, modernizing both literally and figuratively. His play La Cuisine des Anges (The Kitchen of Angels ) was a runaway success in the theater, and even played on Broadway, before being adapted for the first time for the cinema in 1955, to become a true classic…
A Lyonnais among Humphrey Bogart, Robert De Niro and Sean Penn
He’s probably the only one who can boast of having played these sacred monsters of cinema. Humphrey Bogart, perhaps less well known to younger generations, is quite simply considered by the American Film Institute to be the greatest male Hollywood star of all time. 1955 with Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov, then again in 1989, this time with Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and Demi Moore. Not a bad family photo, eh?