Les Cent Livres des Hommes

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'.

1. E1. Le Petit Prince de Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

   Jun 7, 1970 · 33m

   '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. E2. Le Petit Chose

   Feb 3, 1971

   'Little Good-For-Nothing' or 'Little What's-His-Name' by Alphonse Daudet.

3. E3. Le Noeud de vipères

   Apr 7, 1971 · 50m

   'The Knot of Vipers' by François Mauriac. A reading of Mauriac's novel that combines personal accounts with adapted scenes.

4. E4. La Chartreuse de Parme

   Nov 17, 1971 · 75m

   'The Charterhouse of Parma' by Stendhal.

5. 

   E5. Du côté de chez Swann

   Dec 22, 1971

   'Swann's Way' by Marcel Proust.

6. 

   E6. A la recherche du temps perdu

   Dec 22, 1971 · 60m

   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.

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