French Cinema History Maurice Chevalier Signed Contract for Maurice Chevalier’s Paris, 1956

Maurice Chevalier

Manuscripts & Autographs

Chevalier, Maurice. Contract for Maurice Chevalier’s Paris, 1956, documents the production arrangements surrounding a screen project centered on the French actor, singer, and music-hall performer during his renewed prominence in American entertainment. Executed shortly before Chevalier’s return to Hollywood films in Love in the Afternoon and his subsequent appearance in Gigi, the agreement belongs to the postwar entertainment system through which established European performers negotiated appearances for international audiences. The contract provides primary-source evidence for research into performer agreements, screen production, celebrity authorship, and the transatlantic circulation of French popular culture. Chevalier appeared in an American television special in May 1956, although the relationship between that broadcast and the project named in this contract cannot be established from the supplied information.

Chevalier, Maurice. May 22, 1956. Three-page contract for Maurice Chevalier’s Paris. The document records Chevalier’s participation in the named production and demonstrates the process by which a prominent performer formally authorized or accepted contractual terms. Chevalier signs the agreement boldly in blue ink as “Maurice Chevalier” and separately initials the second and third pages, indicating his acknowledgment of the complete multi-page document. The contracting parties, compensation, production company, filming location, and specific obligations are not identified in the supplied description.

The agreement predates Chevalier’s celebrated role as Honoré Lachaille in the 1958 film Gigi and survives from the period in which he was reestablishing a substantial American screen presence after a lengthy absence from Hollywood filmmaking. No specific tears, stains, losses, or alterations are reported; good condition, subject to physical verification. A signed production document connecting Chevalier’s established French performance identity with his mid-1950s return to international screen entertainment.

Item #9509

Price: $125.00