Director's Comments

Sad at having to sell my little flat at 80 rue Lepic in Montmartre, I decided to make a film about the many artists, writers, actors and film makers whom I had got to know and who then still lived in the street.

Maurice Baquet during his ski-run down rue Lepic with Christopher Miles

Josia St Clair and Pierre Jacob

The annual rue Lepic 'Slow Race' gave me an idea to use the event to try and capture a way of life, which I could see was quickly disappearing. Some years earlier I had found a 78rpm disc of 'Rue Lepic' sung by Yves Montand with lyrics by Pierre Jacob. Marcel, my local bar owner, recommended I went to see him at 53 rue Lepic. Our first meeting went well and soon both he and his wife Josia, became friends and the outline for the film was born.

It was already mid-summer in 1967, so we only had a month to prepare the film and finance it before the race started. As it was a documentary, for which the story was still in outline form, a couple of brothers, who cut my commercials, decided with a friendly sound engineer, (who was also a keen cinematographer) to team up and help me make the film 'on the hoof'.

Two of us had clockwork Bolex-16mm cameras, so we could only have a guide sound- track, but we were able to use a brand new fast Ektachrome EF colour stock in case it was a dull day. It wasn't - the sun shone and we managed to capture for posterity a part of Paris which has now gone forever.

Outside la Pomponnette Josia St Clair and Suzon Denglos-Fau can be seen in the middle of the Pulbot Band...

...and the Commanderie du Clos Montmartre for the inauguration of a plaque for Pierre Jacob who died in 1979

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