On Feb. 19, 1964, the sung-through musical film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg was released in France, premiering in the U.K. that October and in the U.S. that December as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. It is the second in an informal trilogy written and directed by Jacques Demy, which includes Lola (1961) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). Umbrellas centers on young lovers Genevieve, who works in her mother’s umbrella shop, and local garage mechanic Guy. (A plaque at 13 Rue De Port in Cherbourg honors the shop used in the film.) It’s a classic boy meets girl tale, complicated with love triangles as only the French can invent. Below is the original French trailer.
In addition to writer-director Demy, the creative team included Michel Legrand (music), Jean Rabier (cinematography), Anne-Marie Cotret and Monique Teisseire (editing), Bernard Evein (production design), and Jacqueline Moreau (costumes). The cast included Catherine Deneuve (Geneviève, sung by Danielle Licari), Nino Castelnuovo (Guy, sung by José Bartel), Anne Vernon (Mme. Emery, sung by Christiane Legrand), Marc Michel (Roland, sung by Georges Blaness), Ellen Farner (Madeleine, sung by Claudine Meunier), and Mireille Perrey (Aunt Élise, sung by Claire Leclerc). Below is a montage of the movie’s main theme song.
The film met with popular and critical success, winning three awards at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival, including the Palme d’Or. In the U.S., it was nominated for four Oscars, in addition to receiving Golden Globe and Grammy nominations. Two of its songs, with English lyrics by Norman Gimbel, bubbled under Billboard’s Hot 100: Steve Lawrence’s “I Will Wait for You” and Lena Horne’s “Watch What Happens,” which you can watch below from an 1971 episode of Kraft Music Hall.
On Feb. 1, 1979, Sheldon Harnick’s adaptation premiered Off-Broadway, with Stefanianna Christopherson (Genevieve), Dean Pitchford (Guy), and Judith Roberts (Mme. Emery), directed by Andrei Serban. In 2005, Harnick revised the piece for a regional production, with Heather Spore (Genevieve), Max von Essen (Guy), and Maureen Silliman (Mme. Emery), directed by Jonathan Fox. In 2011, Kneehigh Theatre produced the show’s West End premiere, opening March 22 at the Gielgud with Carly Bawden (Geneviève), Andrew Durand (Guy), and Joanna Riding (Mme. Emery), directed by Emma Rice. Below is the promo video for that production.