Johnny Hallyday in D'où viens-tu... Johnny (1963)

French postcard by Encyclopédie du Cinéma, no. EDC 551 Vis. 5. Photo: Johnny Hallyday and Evelyne Dandry in D'où viens-tu... Johnny?/Where Are You From, Johnny? (Noël Howard, 1963).

Flamboyant singer and actor Johnny Hallyday (1943-2017) was the father of French Rock and Roll. He was a European teen idol in the 1960s with record-breaking crowds and mass hysteria, but he never became popular in the English-speaking market. In later years he concentrated on being an actor and appeared in more than 35 films.

Johnny Hallyday was born as Jean-Philippe Smet in Paris in 1943. His French mother Huguette Clerc and Belgian father Léon Smet separated not long after his birth, and he was raised by his paternal aunt, Hélène Mar. Iamkaym at Everything2 writes that his aunt Hélène was "a dancer and frequenter of the Parisian world of performing artists. In 1944 she took him on tour with her two young daughters, also dancers. During the following decade, the little troupe led an itinerant existence, shuttling between theatres and cheap hotels in London and in various continental cities of Europe. His first stage performance, in Copenhagen, was as a 9-year-old singer, presenting a between-the-acts rendition of 'La Ballade de Davy Crockett' while his cousin Desta and her dancer boyfriend, Lee Halliday, changed costumes." Jean-Philippe made his film debut at age 12 with a bit role in the classic Noir thriller Les Diaboliques/Diabolique (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955) with Simone Signoret. In 1957 he saw the film Lovin' You (Hal Kanter, 1957), starring Elvis Presley, and decided to become a rock and roll singer. By the end of the 1950s, Jean-Phillippe was a regular at the Golf Drouot, a Parisian club frequented by young rock and roll fans. He sang Presley songs for his friends, began going to auditions and got some singing engagements. According to Everything2, he had no style of his own but borrowed heavily from Presley, the French singer/poet Georges Brassens, and American country music. In 1959 he appeared on a TV program and was spotted by the artistic director of Vogue Records, which signed him immediately. In March 1960, his debut single was released with the songs 'Laisse les filles' (Let the Girls) and 'T'aimer follement' (I love you like crazy), a take-off on an album by popular singer Dalida. His pseudonym was borrowed from his cousin's friend, the American artist Lee Halliday; the surname turned into Hallyday when it was misprinted on the record label. Johnny Hallyday was still only 16 at the time.

Johnny Hallyday's first album, 'Hello Johnny', was released in 1960. He rolled on stage, something that had never been done in France. In 1961, he introduced the Twist with his cover of 'Let's Twist Again'. One side of the single was English, and the flip side was French: 'Viens danser le Twist' (Come Dance the Twist). It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. It topped almost every European chart. He became a teenager idol with record-breaking crowds and mass hysteria. Huge European hits followed like 'Tes tendres années' (1963) and 'Pour moi la vie va commencer' (1963). The Yé-Yé generation was born and lasted almost five years. Hallyday's fame as a rock and roll heartthrob landed him parts in films like Les Parisiennes/Beds and Broads (Marc Allégret, Michel Boisrond, a.o., 1962) with Catherine Deneuve, and D'où viens-tu, Johnny?/Where Are You From, Johnny? (Noel Howard, 1964). In these films, he mostly played singers. Iamkayme describes his style: "His stage style is a blend of hip-swivelling Elvis and supreme French arrogance. There are those who say he also adds a bit of James Dean rebelliousness and more than a soupçon of melodramatic Liberace vulgarity. While Hallyday never had the golden tenor tones of Elvis Presley, his voice has always been deep and powerful. Unkind critics claim he simply 'bellows' his songs. Unlike Presley, he often appeared in a costume that showed his biceps to best advantage."

After the British invasion and the rise of politically motivated folk music, Johnny Hallyday’s rock and roll career began to flounder. He attempted suicide and after his recovery, he issued the despairing single 'Noir, C'est Noir' (Black is Black) as a commentary on his near-tragedy. In 1965 he married French singer Sylvie Vartan, the first of his five wives. His son David Michael Benjamin Smet was born the following year. David would also become a well-known singer as David Hallyday. Johnny and Sylvie formed a popular singing duo and they recorded a smash duet, 'J'ai un Problème', that became one of France's biggest hits in the early 1970s. The 'golden couple' of the French music scene divorced in 1980. After his teen films in the 1960s, Johnny Hallyday stopped for several years as an actor and then started to work again in films by directors like Jean-Luc Godard in Détective (1985) with Nathalie Baye, and Costa Gravas in Conseil de famille/Family Business (1986). With Nathalie Baye, he had a relationship and in 1983 they had a daughter, the actress Laura Smet. His later films include the gay comedy Pourquoi pas moi?/Why Not Me? (Stéphane Giusti, 1999), and Crime Spree (Brian Mirman, 2003), a bi-lingual farce with Gérard Depardieu and Harvey Keitel about inadept French criminals on assignment in Chicago. His best film was the well-received thriller L’Homme du train/The Man on the Train (Patrice Leconte, 2002). In his review at AllMovie, Todd Kristel wrote: "This appealing film could be considered a conversational chamber piece that's based on the accumulation of small, revealing character moments. Not much happens in terms of plot or action, but there's little wasted time here; the filmmaking is remarkably efficient for a talky, low-key movie. Director Patrice Leconte does manage to find time to slip some relatively unobtrusive humour into his movie, such as spoofing Once Upon a Time in the West at the beginning. But the movie's main appeal lies in the performances of the two leads. Jean Rochefort and Johnny Hallyday are both iconic figures in France, so seeing them together onscreen might not seem as significant to audiences outside their native country. Nonetheless, they have a great rapport, and Rochefort in particular is a delight to watch as he reveals the impish side to his character." In December 2005, Johnny Hallyday had his third number-one single in France, 'Mon Plus Beau Noël' (My Most Beautiful Christmas) - after 'Tous ensemble' (All Together) the official French song for the 2002 World Cup, and 'Marie'. The song was dedicated to his daughter Jade, a young girl from Vietnam, adopted by Hallyday and Laeticia Boudou, whom he had married in 1996. Marlène Pilaete comments: "'Mon plus beau Noël' was indeed his third number one since the Top50 was established in 1984. But there were other hit parades before the Top 50 and I assume that Hallyday, given his popularity and his long career, had other number ones before 1984." Johnny starred alongside Fabrice Luchini in the comedy Jean-Philippe (Laurent Tuel, 2006) in which he played himself. According to IMDb, it’s one of his greatest films. Johnny Hallyday passed away in 2017. He was 74.

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Taken on: September 12, 2024

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D'où viens-tu... Johnny?

1963

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