Line Renaud announces today that she intends to make one last film with Dominique Besnehard and not to make, then, “one too many”. She thus puts an end to an acting career which began the day after her 50th birthday. To everyone’s surprise, she announces that she has decided to stop singing, to devote herself to comedy. Some do not fail to be surprised, even to laugh. How long can this new adventure last? The bets have been made. No one imagined then that 45 years later, she would still figure prominently on the list of headliners of the ratings. This cinematographic, but also theatrical longevity should not make us forget the three decades during which it filled the music halls, starting with that of the Casino de Paris. Madelen evokes, in songs, the time when the “demoiselle from Armentières”, her hometown, was a Queen of Paris.
The images, which you will discover or rediscover, begin with the interpretation of My cabin in Canada. These couplets were born in 1948, only a few months after his meeting with Loulou Gasté. They move in together and, very quickly, she realizes that the man in her life is an artist totally unfamiliar with the necessities of everyday life. So one morning, she takes the initiative to put some order in the papers that have been lying around on the piano for weeks. His eyes suddenly stop on a text by Mireille Brocey, buried under a score. She finds it poetic and moving. There is just a music missing on these words. That same evening, she suggests that Loulou add a melody. It runs in less than half an hour. The 78 rpm is recorded in the process, and becomes such a success that, throughout the Tour de France 1949, it will be integrated into the publicity caravan, aboard a car whose decor evokes a cabin in Canada. It occurs, in the evening, in the stage town, in front of thousands of people.
Thus begins a decade marked by songs that have stood the test of time. Étoile des neiges, an American title adapted by Francis Blanche, became the anthem of Savoy, while in London, British soldiers made Mademoiselle from Armentières the Madelon from across the Channel. Having become the most famous Frenchwoman in England, Line even performed one evening, in front of Princess Margaret. Spotted by actor-comedian Bob Hope, pioneer of stand-up in the United States, she crossed the Atlantic to participate in five issues of his television show, followed each week by several million viewers. Still for the small screen, she recorded Relaxez-moi, a duet with Dean Martin, then at the height of his glory as a crooner. Back in France, she was contacted in 1958 by Henri Varna, director of the Casino de Paris. He offers her to become the leader of his next magazine, entitled Plaisirs. She will thus take over from Mistinguett and Joséphine Baker. She then remembers her meeting with the Miss, one evening, in Lille, when she was starting out as an orchestra singer. “You are made to carry the pen!” , she had thrown at him. She gives the green light and begins rehearsals that will last several months. She learns to wear feathers and aigrettes, and above all, to descend the grand staircase. Joséphine Baker in person gives him private lessons. She explains to him, among other things, how to move forward by counting each step, so as not to miss the last one. The night of the premiere, December 11, 1959, it was a triumph. It will continue for over a thousand performances. She decides to continue the adventure in Las Vegas, on the scene of the cabaret of a palace, the Dunes. The contract signed for three months will be extended for three years. In March 1966, she returned to the Casino de Paris in a new review, Désirs. In the early 1970s, she chose to divide her time between France and the United States and embarked on the adventure of producing shows. Finally, on the eve of the 80s, while conducting a final Paris Line review, she found herself at the top of the charts with Copacabana, the adaptation of a song by Barry Manilow. Here she is, winner of the gold disco trophy! This is to say if, for more than 75 years, she has never stopped entering the dance.