Sébastien et la Mary-Morgane

Sébastien et la Mary-Morgane (English: Sebastian and the Mary Morgan [1]) is a French television series broadcast in 1970. It was created by French actress Cécile Aubry, based on her book Belle et Sébastien and TV series of the same name, [2] about a six-year-old boy named Sébastien and his dog Belle, a Pyrenean Mountain Dog, who lives in a village in the French Alps close to the frontier with Italy. In this spin-off series, Sébastien is now 12 years of age and his beloved dog, Belle, died a few months ago leaving him lonely and upset, "inconsolable".[3] His father sends him on vacation to the northern coastal town of Fécamp to stay with his curious old uncle, captain of a fishing vessel, named the Mary-Morgane.[4]

Sébastien et la Mary-Morgane
GenreDrama
Created byCécile Aubry
Written byCécile Aubry
Directed byCécile Aubry
Composer(s)Daniel White
Country of originFrance
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Producer(s)Etienne Laroche
Running time26 min.
Release
Original release10 March 1970

Sébastien et la Mary-Morgane aired on ORTF.[5] The series was produced by Etienne Laroche and stars Mehdi El Glaoui as the boy Sébastien. It premiered on March 10, 1970 and 13 episodes were produced, each lasting 26 minutes. It was shown in France and Canada.[6] The music to the series was composed by Daniel White.

Plot

Sent by his father, Sébastien gets to know an old uncle, Captain Louis Maréchal, a fishing-boat operator, in his mansion at Morsant. He meets Jonathan and Clarisse who work in the household of Sophie-Virginie, the daughter of his uncle's business partner. Little by little, he learns the secrets behind his uncle, a former resistance fighter who lost his wife and his son 25 years ago, time stopping for him in January 1943. In the light of the different stories he hears, Sébastien first blames him but then shows understanding and affection for his old uncle.

Cast
  • Mehdi El Glaoui : Sébastien Maréchal
  • Charles Vanel : Louis Maréchal
  • Jacqueline Dano : Clarisse
  • Jacques Godin : Jonathan
  • Carl Schell : Carl Walter
  • Paul Barge : Gwen Théphanie
  • Yutta d'Arcy : Sophie-Virginie « Siza » Walter
  • Henri-Jacques Huet : Dr Grégoire Savel

Production
The fishing town of Fécamp where the series is set

The series was shot in 1969,[4] partly in the commune of Fécamp on the English Channel of northern France. The main actor, Mehdi El Glaoui, playing the boy, was 13 years old at the time of shooting. He was the son of the series creator, actress Cécile Aubry and Si Brahim El Glaoui, caïd (local administrator) of Telouet, incidentally making him the grandson of T'hami El Glaoui, pasha of Marrakesh.[7][8] Charles Vanel, a veteran French actor who had played a desperate truck driver in Clouzot's The Wages of Fear (1953), and a restaurateur opposite Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955), was cast as Sébastien's eccentric but friendly fisherman uncle Louis Maréchal.[9][10] Actress and singer Jacqueline Dano was cast as Clarisse the housekeeper, and Israeli pop star Mike Brant also appears.[11]

Release

Classed as a comedy-drama,[4] Sébastien et la Mary-Morgane premiered on March 10, 1970 on ORTF and 13 episodes were produced, each lasting 26 minutes. The scenes of Sébastien riding along on his stallion and then sobbing were noted by critics.[10] Capitalizing on the success of the character, the theme soundtrack to the series, composed by Daniel White and featuring the boy singing in French, was released on Philips Records, subtitled "la sirene au longs cheveux série tv". The credits to the series featured the theme soundtrack with the boy singing, with a dark orange and dark shadowed background shadowing the ships associated with the town of setting, with a video introduction by the creator, Cécile Aubry.

Unlike the original series Belle et Sébastien which was dubbed into English and became essential "school holiday" viewing in the UK, it wasn't shown in the UK and was only screened in France and Canada.[6] It was aired again on French television in January 1978,[12] and was released on Gaumont Home Video. [13] It was released on DVD as Belle et Sébastien - L'intégrale on 23 November 2005.

Episodes

13 episodes were produced:[14]

  1. Le Manoir de Morsan
  2. Si Jonathan voulait parler
  3. Mademoiselle Sophie-Virginie
  4. La Cave de Morsan
  5. SOS au large du Groenland
  6. Une si longue attente
  7. Pour ceux qui attendent le Narval
  8. Le Retour du Narval
  9. Morsan ne répond plus
  10. La Vérité
  11. La Fête chez Angèle
  12. L’Appel de la mer
  13. Les Dernières Volontés du capitaine Maréchal
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References
  1. Holmstrom 1996, p. 314.
  2. Bosseno 2011, p. 36.
  3. "Sébastien et la Mary-Morgane" (in French). Allocine.fr. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  4. "Sebastien et la Mary-Morgane" (in French). Gaumont.fr. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  5. Doniak 1998, p. 518.
  6. Benson & Conolly 1989, p. 243.
  7. Perrone, Pierre (31 July 2010). "Cécile Aubry: French actress who went on to create the much-loved children's TV series 'Belle et Sébastien'". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  8. "Obituary: Cécile Aubry". The Scotsman. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  9. Jélot-Blanc 1993, p. 501.
  10. Wolf & Lenoir 1994, p. 12.
  11. Lebleu 2005, p. 40.
  12. Le Bulletin du livre (in French). January 1978. p. 27. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  13. Hennebelle 1998, p. 235.
  14. Livres hebdo (in French). Éditions professionelles du livre. 1988. p. 19. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
Bibliography
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