Alice Arno: Interview from 1975
This is an interview with Alice Arno originally published in the French
fanzine Sex Stars System #1, 1975. The interview was conducted by P. Emile
Gir, the chief editor.
Unfortunately, I can’t see any interviews
with this important cult film actress available online. So this was a valuable
find for me.
I’m publishing my French-to-English translation of
this interview, to make it available for the English-speaking worldwide
community of
Euro exploitation film
lovers, and especially fans of
Jess Franco’s films.
Now, let’s get down to business.
Alice Arno: Undressed
Interview with Alice Arno (Marie-France Broquet), in presence of her sister
Chantal Broquet, conducted by P.E.G. [P. Emile Gir, the chief editor of Sex
Stars System].
A banal question, to start: how did you get into the cinema?
... Through relationships, fellows who did cinema and photography, and I found
myself involved… actually, mainly into photography.
What differences do you feel between the nude photography and a nude scene
in a film?
A nude photoshoot is very different. There is much less action in
the nude photography. You are limited to posing, but you can do more beautiful
things more confidently in photography… When you make a session of poses, it
happens that you work for four or five hours. What interests me is taking
different poses non stop, expressions too…
Nudity in the cinema
isn’t much more difficult, but it’s less fun.
When did you undress for the first time?
Oh, I’ve been
walking naked since I was a little child. My whole family are naturists; so I
don’t really remember the first time when I got naked… As for my first
sessions as a photo model, I had already done naturist photography with
friends… so there was no problem.
What are the differences for you between being filmed nude alone compared
to being nude in the arms of an actor?
What embarrasses me most in films where I have to show myself
naked are the erotic scenes with boys: it’s not always very funny… The contact
with a boy itself isn’t embarrassing, but I always ask myself what his
reaction will be… and how it will go. Otherwise, I’m relatively laid back no
matter the scene to play.
|
| Alice Arno and Robert Woods in How to Seduce a Virgin (Plaisir à trois), 1973, by Jess Franco |
Which scene is easier for you to play: an erotic scene with a girl or an erotic scene with a boy?
Ah, it’s not similar at all. It’s easier to do an erotic scene
with a boy, I believe… Girls are really much more used to being with boys, so
they know much more… You can help each other… You know much better the way you
behave with a boy in real life… At least for me there aren’t many
difficulties.
With a girl it’s more difficult. I don’t have a huge
lesbian experience, I don’t have their manners… So I feel quite uncomfortable
when I find myself in bed with another girl. What are we doing?.. What are we
not doing? And sometimes, there are odours that aren’t very pleasant, skin
that isn’t very pleasant to touch…
So for me, it’s true that I
don’t know at all how to behave with a girl in bed. I’ve seen some things,
I’ve been told about them… Well, I know all this, but it’s never natural. It’s
always more difficult to be natural with a girl.
How can a male director (who is, apparently, even more distant from this)
direct this kind of scene?
In the case of Jess Franco, he explains to us beforehand what we
are going to do. Consequently, there are no problems, no surprises… and
moreover, if the sound isn’t direct, he helps us by giving instructions during
the take: where to place the hands… if I should kiss the girl, how to caress
her…
Because he knows, he sets his little cinema in motion; and
it’s true for all directors: they have a little cinema inside their head, and
they envision immediately what they want to show to others. A precise
direction is necessary because otherwise it’s always who knows what.
Of
course, it happens that I’m left to do what I want, but it always stays
connected to the plan we are shooting or to the position of the camera. If
you’re starting to kiss the lady’s breasts and you are framed in a closeup on
the face, or if you’re kissing her thighs or the belly and you’re leaving the
frame all the time, it’s not good! It’s also a technical problem, first of
all. It’s taken away and cut to pieces without end. And with a boy it’s
similar!..
It’s not very joyful!
Oh, not at all!.. But with a boy, I
find it quite funnier. We tend to tell funny stories to each other when nobody
sees us!... I’m more relaxed… We’ve got our kicks from jokes!.. Even details
can be funny: “Be careful: like this my zizi is visible!” or “Oh, I have a fat
fold there!”...
We tell things to each other because it’s necessary
to laugh, after all, when filming these scenes, because otherwise it would be
hard!... With a girl, on the other hand, it’s more painstaking, it’s less
easy, it’s not funny! Playing about with a woman: yuck!
|
| Alice Arno in The Perverse Countess (La comtesse perverse), 1974, by Jess Franco |
For the fans of Alice Arno, I made this print T-shirt design. Shirts (as well as hoodies, dresses, and other clothing) with this design on them are available at my online store.
Do you make a distinction between erotism in the cinema and erotism in the
rest of your life?
Ah yes! Yes! Yes! Oh lala!.. Those are two completely separate
things; the cinema is fake!.. It’s a different thing!.. There is no connection
at all! By the way, outside shooting, I have few contacts with actors,
directors, or producers… Those are two quite different things for me!
What do you think about your male target audience?
I rarely think about this. I went to see ‘Justine’, it was a
normal clientele: there were couples, many young people… and in their
majority, they were ok. Oh, of course, there are always crazy, sexually
obsessed people or men who are bored and want to entertain themselves, to
think about something else…
But when filming, I don’t think about
this. I play in a film because I like it, but not at all for the audience… I’m
not at all willing to meet people who go to watch my films. This doesn’t
interest me, I’m not one of those actresses who walk around with a whole pile
of photos in their pocket to hand them out… I don’t shout everywhere that I do
cinema.
Would you be able to undress now in front of the first random viewer, like
this, without considering any money aspect?
Ah no!.. No, no!..
There is an expression “to turn a guy on”. Don’t you think that it’s
pretty much what you do by filming nude scenes, in relation to the
viewers?
In normal life, I don’t turn guys on at all… On the screen, it’s
not at all similar; although when filming, of course, I try to choose the best
angle: I’m like all other actresses. I try to place myself in front, or cheat,
to present myself the best possible: I draw my stomach in, I put my chest
forward…
Yes, those are two different characters: when I’m filming
and during rehearsals. When the camera is filming, I’m different… and I don’t
like making an effort to play during rehearsals: this makes me tired, this
wears me out. I learn my places just not to fail, but I only play during the
filming, and it’s good in the first or second take. I don’t want to wear out
my trick before the scene, because afterwards it’s daunting to spend time
redoing a similar one…
Also, by the way, it’s better to be prepared
quickly, because we can’t make many takes: we’re always limited financially.
Yeah… Although these
films
bring a lot of money, they always invest so little in them, not more than
before… As for me, I’m always paid quite poorly.
What kind of nude scene (that nobody has ever asked you to play) would you
like to play?
Oh… This is hard to answer! It’s a little difficult. In fact, I
don’t want to play nude. This annoys me deeply when I have to. Or at least to
play nude, but provided that I can play. But being nude just for nudity
itself, making love in bed and nothing else, this isn’t funny at all, and I
don’t want this anymore.
Regarding your play: you are naked in bed, in the arms of a guy, and you
are playing a dramatic scene in these conditions. What problems do you
encounter?
It’s true that it’s difficult to play well when being nude… But
in fact: no. I think about Jess again, who had me play nude in quite dramatic
scenes, and it went well. Obviously, with a director who couldn’t put me in
the necessary condition, this could go not as well.
With Jess, we
discuss a scene in advance… During the preparation, he explains to me exactly
what he wants, and it’s my job to find a way to deliver it. He knows well how
to explain what he expects… I remember a scene where I had to cry and roll
nude in bed: this wasn’t easy, but we’ve done it.
The hardest is to
start a scene. Then you play, you forget yourself… When it takes off, it’s
fine, even with a naked actor in front of me… And this is why I can’t do a
scene when I rehearse: because I’m not “started”… This comes little by little.
|
| Alice Arno and Kali Hansa in Les Gloutonnes / Les Exploits érotiques de Maciste dans l'Atlantide, 1973, by Jess Franco |
During rehearsals, the actors aren’t naked, are they?
Yes,
it’s rare. And after all, rehearsals are for rehearsing the lines, to avoid
blowing them, to keep them in the head, and to preview the route in case they
are too long or complicated… and it’s similar for lights: we rarely adjust
them on our bodies…
How is body make up made?
Chantal Broquet:
She is always tanned… and she doesn’t have scars: makeup is useless for
her.
Alice Arno: Yes, I’m never made up…
|
| Chantal Broquet (Alice Arno's sister), (right) and Kali Hansa (left) in Les Gloutonnes / Les Exploits érotiques de Maciste dans l'Atlantide, 1973, by Jess Franco |
|
| Alice Arno playing the Queen of Atlanteans in Les Gloutonnes / Les Exploits érotiques de Maciste dans l'Atlantide, 1973, by Jess Franco |
If you had a son, would you be able to film a forced incestous scene with
him?
Oh, not me!.. Neither with my boyfriend!.. Impossible to film
with him. It would be probably easier for me to film erotic scenes with my
fellows, someone whom I know well, but a husband or lover — no!
Apparently, the job of an actress (excluding the problem of
sacrificing yourself for nudity) is the only one that interests you?
Yes… Yes…
So let’s talk about this… What captivates you in doing cinema?
Well… It’s the fact of playing… being among the group with whom I
have the same work in common. The technique also interests me… Everything that
constitutes the shooting of a film. I like knowing I’ve played a scene well, I
like to play with good actors or to film difficult lines alone.
The
whole job of an actress, but also the whole other side of the camera: meaning
that I’ve done still photography on the set… From time to time, I take care of
costumes or makeup, things like that…
How do these small jobs help you be an actress?
Oh, because
they make me much closer with the other members of the crew. For example, I
don’t like to film in Paris. We arrive in the morning, we film, I come home,
and nothing happens, I’m not in the game.
What I like is going on a
trip, being at a hotel with the crew for two or three weeks and really living
together. Like this, we manage to do things better… Even if there are problems
within the crew, we try to resolve them together, and this interests me… We
are all united…
But in such a group, there must be sexuality-related problems arising very
soon, especially while shooting this kind of film?
It’s rare… Because it happens that idylls appear inside the
group, but it’s rare… Oh, and also everyone is so tired in the evening that
they really no longer have the desire to have sex, secluded in their rooms… On
the contrary, we eat, we talk, we play cards, but we don’t think of… those are
rather friendly relationships. Everyone is so fed up with seeing naked butts
during the day that in the evening we don’t think about it at all.
Everyone
of us, in fact, performs multiple tasks. Actors don’t normally have to take
care of technical problems, but it happens that at some point we take on them
just to help our fellows who have too much to do. And then, there are other
small tasks: I often do the script for match cuts of gestures or costumes.
Before the growing wave, will you switch to porno only or will you leave
the cinema?
I’m asked about this more and more often, certainly… Oh yes, I
will quit the cinema… If I’m only obliged to do scenes that I don’t want to
do, if they no longer do more than “butt”, if acting is absent, I will abandon
it.
Chantal Broquet: we will open a little brothel
together!
Alice Arno: Exactly (laughs)... And we will
recruit people from the cinema!
Really?
Chantal Broquet:
Nooooo, of course not! It’s a joke… There are other things to do in life… This
was just to imagine!
Alice Arno: We will continue to work in the family as this is the case
currently, when we aren’t filming. With our father and brother, we sell items
from South America… All crafts from Latin America… I work as a secretary, I
also meet with clients, I organize exhibitions, a whole lot of things like
that… In any case, I must be busy between two films; it’s impossible to stay
inactive.
That said, I dream of being able to spend my time filming
non stop, like Jess Franco… Last year, for example, I filmed for ten months
out of twelve, it was wonderful!
You are often called for filming “additional scenes”. In this case, doesn’t
this mean nothing but “butt”?
Oh, yes… This is no longer real cinema… Apart from the match cut
of the beginning and the match cut of the end… Nothing!
Ah,
actually… One day, with Jess, we did additional scenes for other reasons: the
main scenes that we had to correct had been shot undressed, and we needed the
same scenes dressed, for Spain… It was quite complicated… We had to play the
same scenes, the same lines, dressed this time, and with other decorations. In
this case, after all, there is an interesting job to do. Otherwise, it’s just
“butt” and “butt”!
Recently, we did it for
Maciste in Atlantis [Les Gloutonnes / Les Exploits érotiques de Maciste dans l'Atlantide
by Jess Franco, 1973]: ooooh!....
You told me that you had started with photography. What difference do you
make between posing and filming?
I prefer nude photography to occasional nude scenes in the
cinema. It’s more interesting, you work more… It’s more varied. One should
first tame the photographer, and it’s necessary that he tame you as well, and
so you make wonderful photos!
Also, in the cinema, it’s too short.
With photos, you can choose the best one afterwards… You look for diverse
expressions or poses, you can look for diverse decorations, accessories,
jewelry, scarfs, lingerie… All this in one afternoon!
One can more
easily take care of a photographic posing session than a “butt” scene, as you
say…
|
| Alice Arno playing a photo model in Eugénie de Sade, 1973, by Jess Franco |
And where is still photography positioned in relation to what you’ve just
told me?
It happens that photos are taken during mute shots. Or most
often, we take them after each scene, when the lights are still in place. This
happens very fast, and it’s often botched… Anyway, it’s far less thorough than
a session of poses.
Chantal Broquet: Also, still photography
is like a rehearsal: it’s empty, we don’t rehearse, we don’t invent anything.
While for a photo session, nothing happens on its own: during the first hour,
you aren’t doing much valuable. It’s after two or three hours that you obtain
good photos… You feel more trust between you and the person in front of you,
you start getting to know them… You know a little better what you want, you
talk more…
Photography is harder but passionate. I remember a
series that we did with Papo. It was a shock for Alice and myself, and he
really knew how to take us… He took fantastic photos… All this, in any case,
is a question of climate.
Alice Arno: With Roland Carré too,
we did good things… And then you should have noticed that most of the time, I,
in fact, played small roles of a photo model. I even played in
Eugénie without knowing it was Jess!
I also did photography
as a photographer: reports in Levant… I liked it too!...
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