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Here's a terrific photo we haven't seen before sent in by Lorenza of Italy. It's from a 2001 issue of Voici magazine. Grazie, Lorenza!

Here is some added information on the film, La Felicita non costa niente, that I've been able to pick up on the Net. Special thanks to Cinzia Masina for her Italian translations. This is a French-Italian production, directed by Mimmo Calopresti, with the script written by him in collaboration with Heidrun Schleef and Francesco Bruni. The main theme is the search for happiness by Sergio played by Mimmo himself. He is an architect in his forties, well-off, with a beautiful wife and children. It appears that he has everything, but he feels there is something lacking in his life. He leaves everything and begins a journey toward isolation. While looking for his true self, he encounters love in a mysterious woman, played by Francesca Neri. Calopresti had thought about this actress while writing the script after having seen her in Matromoni and Almodovar's Carne tremula. He explains, "I liked her kind of romantic beauty that can make one dream." Vincent and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi (Calopresti's ex-girlfriend) will have minor roles.

Penelope Cruz will co-star with Vincent in Fanfan la Tulipe

News from Cannes - Luc Besson seems to have been successful in his negotiations with the agents of Penelope Cruz. She has just completed an agreement to star in the new film adaptation of the adventures of Fanfan la Tulipe. Gerard Philipe and Gina Lollobrigida toplined the 1952 picture, a French swashbuckler set in the 18th century under the reign of Louis XV. The Spanish actress will play the mischievous and charming Adeline, who dupes a handsome young peasant, Fanfan (Perez), into joining the French army by predicting that, if he does, he will end up marrying one of the king's daughters. Luc Besson co-wrote the screenplay with Jean Comas and will also produce. The picture will be directed by Besson collaborator Gerard Krawczyk. Vincent has previously worked with Ms. Cruz in the film, Talk of Angels. Merci to Rafaël for giving me this update.

I purchased the April issue of the French Premiere magazine because of its article on Le Pharmacien de garde. I hadn't had a chance to scan in the photos when lo and behold, they arrived in my email from Annegret Höfer of Germany. Danke! I still need to get the article translated, but for now, here are the photos:

According to Jorge Saralegui, producer of Queen of the Damned, the film's worldwide DVD release is August 27. Mark your calendars.

More news from our French informant, Rafael Cart - he reports that La Felicita non costa niente (Le Bonheur ne coute rien in French) will be released in France on December 11. And he confirms my update (May 8) that the cameras began rolling for Fanfan la tulipe on April 29.

I've just posted an article (with some cool pics of Vincent as fashion model) from a 1992 issue of French magazine Vogue Hommes. One of the photos will surely remind you of Elvis! Many thanks to Janette Sylvian for her translation as well as congratulations on the birth of her third child. Janette is also in the Air Force, which means she's a working mother. I know you join me in appreciating the time she gives to the Archives.

My French informant, Rafael Cart, has confirmed that the release date of Peau d'ange has changed. The film will premiere in France on Wednesday, October 9, 2002.

According to a University of California Alumni letter, Vincent was being considered for a role in Merchant Ivory's new comedy, Le Divorce, now being filmed in Paris. Scott Kroopf, a '73 graduate, and executive producer of this film for Radar Pictures Corp. wrote, "Next summer we plan to produce Le Divorce for Merchant Ivory starring Natalie Portman, Sigourney Weaver, Sam Waterson, Stockard Channing, Vincent Perez and Leslie Caron." Only Waterston, Channing and Caron remain in the cast.

On May 9th, Deborah Hornblow of the Hartford Courant wrote an article entitled "Hollywood's Long Fascination With Tall, Handsome, Swarthy Lovers - More Sizzle In The Seducer". This is an excerpt with the photo:

Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but when Hollywood wants to cast a seducer of women, the archetype remains tall, handsome and swarthy - wiz an accent. (That last bit, Eeet iz virry importan, babee.) The country of origin can be mysterious - one part south of the border, another French or Italian, but the voice must sound foreign, exotic, at home in the romance languages, and just a weensie bit inarticulate. (All zee better to speak wiz zee eyes ant hands.)

These derivatives of Casanova and Don Juan have appeared on screen since the silent era. Think Valentino. Think Douglas Fairbanks and Anthony Quinn in pancake makeup. In today's Hollywood, think Antonio Banderas, Vincent Perez and Olivier Martinez. The French-born Martinez is currently sizzling on screen - and seducing Diane Lane's older, married woman - in Adrian Lyne's Unfaithful. Swiss-born Perez has played the smoldering exotic in such films as Queen Margot, opposite Isabelle Adjani, and Swept From the Sea with Rachel Weisz. Spanish-native Banderas appeared in The Mask of Zorro remake and Madonna's Truth or Dare documentary."

Several sources have indicated that filming began last month for Fanfan la Tulipe, which is being directed by Gerard Krawczyk, and stars Vincent in the leading role. Film critic Pauline Kael once characterized the 1952 French version of this adventure film as a "Louis XV western." Movie reviewer Hal Erickson says, "This is a pretty broad interpretation, though it is true that the film never stops moving - an excellent method of sustaining audience attention and plugging up the plot holes. Fanfan, a handsome, athletic and self-impressed young peasant soldier, is as adept in the boudoir as on the battlefield; it has been prophesied that he will wed the king's daughter, thus he wants to get as much practice as possible." This sounds like rollicking good fun - a perfect role for Vincent!

Here are three more photos from Queen of the Damned.

The British trailer of Queen of the Damned is different from the US version, so if you'd like to view them, just click on the links. The latest date for the DVD and video release is August 2002. A second soundtrack will be released on June 4th. This CD will include the score to the film rather than the artists. Here are the tracklistings:

Christian Manon, who plays the vampire Mael in QOTD, kept a diary during filming and included this entry about Vincent:

"Today Vincent and I have lunch together. We'd already exchanged basic personal information about each other on impulse, covering the whole 'who, when, where, what, why and how'.. Vincent is talking to me about a script he is currently writing. Our conversation lasts the two hour break as it drifts to sainthood, daily life, personal memories, actual feelings, Libourne, Paris, Switzerland, Jamaica, cheeses, Gerard Depardieu, The Sisters of the Order of Saint Vincent de Paul, mustard, French cinema, re-incarnation, wedding, funeral, many things... A brilliant man and an extraordinary actor... Monsieur Vincent. We always speak to each other in French and exchange our versions of a few classic French songs. To see him at work thrills me as his beautiful French style reflects my origin and brings it to the surface..."

Here's another pose of Vincent and Karine taken at the premiere of I Dreamed of Africa in April of 2000.

Check out several new photos of Vincent behind the camera by clicking on the pic below -

There's a new article from the March 2002 issue of Studio magazine regarding the film, Le Pharmacien de garde. It appears that Vincent is playing the diabolic pharmacist who kills in the name of ecology - what an interesting role for our man! Many thanks to Cinzia Masina for her translation of this article.