Les Cent Livres des Hommes — Season 1
Les Cent Livres des Hommes (ORTF, 1969-1973) was a series of literary programs created by Claude Santelli and Françoise Verny, and produced notably by Santelli, Jean Archimbaud, and Serge Moati. Plann
About this season
Les Cent Livres des Hommes (ORTF, 1969-1973) was a series of literary programs created by Claude Santelli and Françoise Verny, and produced notably by Santelli, Jean Archimbaud, and Serge Moati. Planned for one hundred episodes but completed at thirty-nine, the series aimed to introduce great literary works, 'chefs-d’œuvre', to a younger audience through a mix of dramatization, reading, and documentary techniques. It marked a transfer of cultural legitimacy from writers and critics to a generation of television producers, offering a new model of educational and creative literary broadcasting - 'télévision d’auteur'.
Episodes (17)
1. Le Petit Prince de Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Aired 7 June 1970 • 33 min
'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. An introduction to the poetic and philosophical universe of Saint-Exupéry, blending analysis and adaptation of his masterpiece.
2. Le Petit Chose
Aired 3 February 1971
'Little Good-For-Nothing' or 'Little What's-His-Name' by Alphonse Daudet.
3. Le Noeud de vipères
Aired 7 April 1971 • 50 min
'The Knot of Vipers' by François Mauriac. A reading of Mauriac's novel that combines personal accounts with adapted scenes.
4. La Chartreuse de Parme
Aired 17 November 1971 • 75 min
'The Charterhouse of Parma' by Stendhal.
5. Du côté de chez Swann
Aired 22 December 1971
'Swann's Way' by Marcel Proust.
6. A la recherche du temps perdu
Aired 22 December 1971 • 60 min
A realistic and poetic evocation of Marcel Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time.' Halfway between an audiovisual adaptation and a portrait of the dandyish and reclusive writer, all in black and white by Claude Santelli, evoking the mystery, the intimacy, and the fatalism of existence.
7. Martin Eden
Aired 24 January 1972 • 51 min
'Martin Eden' by Jack London. Claude Santelli and Jean-Louis Muller interview Professor Las Vergnas, a specialist in American literature, who contextualises the book within the author's entire body of work and life. Then, Maurice Le Goas, a labor activist, shares his experience of Jack London's influence on him.
8. Le portrait de Socrate
Aired 26 January 1972 • 60 min
The portrait of Socrates.
9. L'exode
Aired 23 February 1972
The biblical Book of Exodus.
10. Les Souffrances du jeune Werther
Aired 22 March 1972 • 60 min
'The Sorrows of Young Werther' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
11. L'île mystérieuse
Aired 15 April 1972
'The Mysterious Island' by Jules Verne.
12. L'Enfance de Gorky
Aired 26 April 1972 • 55 min
'My Childhood' by Maxim Gorky.
13. Gargantua
Aired 24 May 1972 • 60 min
'Gargantua' by François Rabelais.
14. Jude l'Obscur
Aired 26 July 1972 • 30 min
'Jude the obscure' by Thomas Hardy.
15. Robinson Crusoe
Aired 20 December 1972 • 60 min
'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe.
16. Histoire de la Révolution
Aired 30 July 1973
'History of the Revolution' by Jules Michelet.
17. Alice aux pays des merveilles
Aired 28 December 1973 • 60 min
'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll. This program explores Wonderland from every angle: iconic scenes in which Brigitte Fossey portrays a mischievous Alice, readings by Claude Rich, and analyses of the 'delirious metaphysics' of this great literary classic. Lewis Carroll's universe never ceases to amaze!