Crafting characters: Screenplay archives from a star-studies perspective (Love Is My Profession, Claude Autant-Lara, 1958)

This article aims to demonstrate the value of applying a star-studies approach to the examination of screenplay archives. This methodological framework is illustrated through a case study of the documents from the collection deposited by director Claude Autant-Lara at the Swiss National Film Archive that relate to the genesis of the film Love Is My Profession (1958). This film is notable for its cast, which includes two leading stars: Jean Gabin, an established actor associated with classical cinema for over two decades, and Brigitte Bardot, a rising icon of the French New Wave. The study reveals how the multiple screenplay variants for this adaptation of a Simenon novel, successively drafted by Autant-Lara, Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost, were partly shaped by the involvement of these two stars, whose participation was planned from the project’s inception. Examining specific choices among the many possibilities envisioned highlights the significance of considering screenplays within a socio-historical perspective. This analysis draws on a rich collection of documents including, for example, scattered notes written day by day by the filmmaker, or letters exchanged between him and his producer, who insisted that the romance between the characters played by the two stars take centre stage.