More views from the rue Jenner
Bob le flambeur
Le Doulos
Le Deuxième Souffle
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Léon Morin, prêtre
L'Aîné des Ferchaux
Le Samouraï
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In an earlier piece (here) I showed Melville and Godard both filming on a street outside Melville's rue Jenner studios. For Godard this was a way of paying homage to Melville; for Melville it was just a convenience, following the time-worn tradition whereby studio productions needing to film a real street would look first to the real streets just outside the studio (see e.g. posts on this site related to R.W. Paul, Pathé, Gaumont etc.).
To be fair to Melville, he didn't follow this convention often. All of Paris was at his disposal, and I can only find two other instances where he has used the vicinity of the studio rather than go further afield. To be even fairer, in these two instances he is using the studio building as a location because it is his and he can dress it to suit his purpose, and not because he can't be bothered to look beyond the rue Jenner.
The first example is the police station in Bob le flambeur, identifiable as such by the sign reading 'Police Judiciaire | XXIe Brigade Territoriale', and by the policeman standing at the door:
To be fair to Melville, he didn't follow this convention often. All of Paris was at his disposal, and I can only find two other instances where he has used the vicinity of the studio rather than go further afield. To be even fairer, in these two instances he is using the studio building as a location because it is his and he can dress it to suit his purpose, and not because he can't be bothered to look beyond the rue Jenner.
The first example is the police station in Bob le flambeur, identifiable as such by the sign reading 'Police Judiciaire | XXIe Brigade Territoriale', and by the policeman standing at the door:
Bob le flambeur (1956)
This invented commissariat should logically be situated in or around Montmartre-Pigalle, given the topography of the film. The phone number is given as 'Montmartre 8888', and the view of an overhead section of the Métro would support the identification, but that is not a part of ligne 2 between Anvers and Stalingrad, it is the stretch of ligne 6 between Nationale and Chevaleret, viewed from the rue Jenner:
Google Maps (May 2008)
Here is the same view in two television documentaries on Melville, from 1970 and 1971:
'Jean-Pierre Melville dans les Studios Jenner' (11-09-1970)
'Jean-Pierre Melville (Portrait en neuf poses)' (16-07-1971)
The second time the exterior of Melville's studio plays a role is in Le Doulos, where it passes as the entrance to the 'Cotton Club':
Le Doulos (1962)
Le Doulos (1962)
'Jean-Pierre Melville dans les Studios Jenner' (11-09-1970)
'Jean-Pierre Melville (Portrait en neuf poses)' (16-07-1971)
There may be other glimpses of the streets around the studio that I have missed, even in the films made after they were partially destroyed by fire in 1967. If I find any more, I shall add them to this post.