Testament of Orpheus [Le testament d'Orphée]

Paris: Gok in Sipahio lu, Circa 1960. Vintage borderless oversize photograph from the set of the 1960 film, showing Jean Cocteau with Pablo Picasso and his wife Jacqueline, Luis Miguel Dominguin, Serge Lifar, and Lucia Bose—all of whom appeared in cameos in the film. French mimeo snipe and stamp of Sipa Press founder Gök in Sipahio lu on the verso.

The final film in Cocteau's "Orphic" trilogy, following "The Blood of a Poet" (1930) and "Orphee" (1950). The only film in the trilogy featuring Cocteau himself, as an aging poet who knows he is dying (as indeed he was), his greatest desire being to experience rebirth so that he can qualify for celestial immortality.

A few seconds of color are spliced in at one point, a surreal effect used prior to this film in "Portrait of Jennie" (1948) and later in Samuel Fuller's "Shock Corridor" (1963).

Having run out of funds in mid-production, Cocteau was given money to complete filming by François Truffaut, who used the prize money he had won at Cannes, for "Les Quatre Cents Coups" (1959).

11.75 x 8 inches. Light edgewear, else Near Fine.

[Book #170422]