SAINT-GRANIER. 1928. 63x461/2 inches. H. Chachoin, Paris. Condition A: minor discoloration in margins. Poised, well-quaffed and elegant, Saint-Granier is beaming at his audience. The yellow spotlight behind him works as a halo and lends additional gleam his persona. Jean de Granier de Cassagnac was born in the South of France to an aristocratic family in 1890, and later chose Saint-Granier as his stage name. A short, slim man known for his toothy smile, he earned himself the nickname "le roi des annes follies" [The King of the Roaring Twenties]. A singer and performer, he was also one of his era's most prolific writers of musical revues. In 1927 he wrote 1927, the revue for the Theatre Marigny, J'Aime for the Theatre Bouffes-Parisiens (both co-scripted with his good friend Albert Willemetz), Paris at the Casino de Paris, where he would also perform, and he adapted Oscar Hammerstein's operetta Rose-Marie into French for the Theatre Mogador. In addition to his work for the theater he also performed on radio and in films until his death in 1976. His appearance as a caricature in Colin's Le Tumulte Noir indicates that the two were friendly, and they did work together on several music hall projects. Saint-Granier performed at the Casino de Paris for years, and this poster could have been used for any one of his performances.
