Attal and Zardi, a New Wave double act


Henri Attal (1936-2003) and Dominique Zardi (1930-2009) appeared together in about 100 films between 1960 and 2003. Of the forty or so up to Chabrol's Les Biches in 1968, just under half are New Wave, New Wave-ish or para-New Wave-ish - films by directors who for a moment were New Wave fellow travellers (e.g. Vadim, Mocky, Molinaro). The other half are old school films, some by old-school directors (e.g. Chenal, Hunebelle, Joannon), some by old-school style younger directors (e.g. Borderie, Lautner, Granier-Deferre). 

Nonetheless, thanks to their work with Chabrol and Godard, Attal and Zardi are prominent features of the New Wave landscape. This post is an attempt to categorise the Attal-Zardi corpus in the New Wave period. It was produced in conjunction with Xiaoman Zhang, who is researching the shared world of the French New Wave.


Les Bonnes Femmes (Claude Chabrol 1960) - New Wave
Attal and Zardi do not appear together in this, the first film in which both appear. Zardi plays the bandleader Charlie Boston; Attal is just one of many at the swimming pool.
Les Godelureaux (Claude Chabrol 1961) - New Wave
Their first appearance in their second film for Chabrol is a characteristic role, sitting at the terrace of the Deux Magots café:
Later we see them being refused entry to an art gallery:
Later still they are guests at the Roman orgy. Here Jean-Claude Brialy is about to push a custard pie into Attal's face:

St Tropez Blues (Marcel Moussy 1961) - New Wave
Attal and Zardi are sailors in a St Tropez bar.
Goodbye Again (Anatol Litvak 1961) - old school Hollywood

As extras in this Paris-made Hollywood production, Attal and Zardi appear alongside Ingrid Bergman, leaving a Brahms concert:
Une femme est une femme (Jean-Luc Godard 1961) - New Wave
Attal and Zardi pretend to be blind men in order to beg. They apologise for trying it on with Alfred (Jean Paul-Belmondo), declaring that 'with these dark glasses we can't see a thing'. Zardi's close friendship with Belmondo seems to have helped them get roles in his films. They appear again when the very sad Emile (Jean-Claude Brialy) asks them if they have seen his wife (Anna Karina):
 Dossier 1413 (Alfred Rode 1961) - old school

Attal and Zardi are among the young people at a louche jazz dive:
Le Crime ne paie pas (Gérard Oury 1962) - young director, old school style
Attal and Zardi are in the audience at a cinema:
Les Parisiennes, 'Sophie' (Marc Allégret 1962) - old school

Attal and Zardi are passengers on a bus taken by Catherine Deneuve:
Les Ennemis (Edouard Molinaro 1962)  - New Wave fellow traveller

Attal is at the terrace of a café, Zardi is inside:
Arsène Lupin contre Arsène Lupin (Ed. Molinaro 1962) - New Wave fellow traveller

In their next Molinaro-directed film, Attal and Zardi are not in the same scenes. Attal is a mourner at a funeral, Zardi is a barman:
Les Petits Matins (Jacqueline Audry 1962) - old school

Attal and Zardi are watching a boxing match:
L'Assassin est dans l'annuaire (Léo Joannon 1962) - old school

Attal and Zardi are in the café when Fernandel starts a fight:
Landru (Claude Chabrol 1963) - New Wave
Attal and Zardi guard Landru:
Ophélia (Claude Chabrol 1963) - New Wave
In their fourth film with Chabrol they are in uniform again:
Les Vierges (Jean-Pierre Mocky 1963) - New Wave fellow traveller

Zardi is a voyeur, arrested by Attal:
Le Vice et la Vertu (Roger Vadim 1963)  - New Wave fellow traveller

Here they are Gestapo agents, in plain clothes:
Château En Suède (Roger Vadim 1963) - New Wave fellow traveller

Attal and Zardi are plain clothes police officers:
L'Assassin connaît la musique (Pierre Chenal 1963) - old school

Attal and Zardi are customers in a shop. Only the back of Zardi's head is visible in this sequence:
Fantômas, Fantômas se déchaîne, Fantômas contre Scotland Yard (André Hunebelle 1964-66)  - old school

In these three films Attal and Zardi are Fantômas's henchmen:
Picture
Fantômas (1964)
Picture
Fantômas se déchaîne (1965)
Picture
Fantômas contre Scotland Yard (1966)
Echappement libre (Jean Becker 1964) - young director, old school style

Zardi is a hotel clerk, Attal is a guest:
L'Homme qui vendit la tour Eiffel (Claude Chabrol 1964) - New Wave
Attal and Zardi are guards at the Eiffel Tower:
Le Tigre aime la chair fraîche (Claude Chabrol 1964) - New Wave-ish
Attal and Zardi are incompetent hitmen:
La Chasse à l'homme (Edouard Molinaro 1964) - New Wave fellow traveller
Attal and Zardi are gangsters:
La Mort d'un tueur (Robert Hossein 1964) - young director, old school style

Attal and Zardi are gangsters again:
Pleins feux sur Stanislas (Jean-Ch. Dudrumet 1965) - young director, old school style

Attal and Zardi are henchmen again:
Furia à Bahia Pour OSS 117 (André Hunebelle 1965) - old school

Attal and Zardi are hitmen:
Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard 1965) - New Wave
Attal and Zardi are petrol station attendants:
Masculin-Féminin (Jean-Luc Godard 1966) - New Wave
Attal and Zardi are in a café, reading aloud a louche magazine story:
La Curée (Roger Vadim 1966) - New Wave fellow traveller

Attal and Zardi are guests at a party:
La Ligne de démarcation (Claude Chabrol 1966)  - old school style, new Wave director

Attal is a French policeman, Zardi is a German soldier:
 Le Scandale (Claude Chabrol 1967) - New Wave-ish

Attal and Zardi attack Maurice Ronet in his car:
Les Biches (Claude Chabrol 1968) - post-New Wave


(I am grateful to Xiaoman Zhang for her contributions to the research for this post.)

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