Jean Seberg

Notre Dame Fire Stirs Memories of Jean Seberg, Saint Joan, Love of France

"Jean Seberg at Notre Dame circa 1967. It has been several years since I've been in Paris, but I have never forgotten the kindness of the French people to me, the beauty of the country, and the amazing historical preservation that was on-going in Paris during my visits while researching Seberg's life. It was easy to see why she was, as she said, "Paris-struck". Like many things there, Notre Dame was amazing and I'm so fortunate to have visited and experienced it during my visits. The fire is a huge loss in so many unspeakable ways..."

~Garry McGee, producer/director/writer Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon

State of Joan of Arc in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris France.

Jean Seberg as Joan of Arc in SAINT JOAN (1957).

"So much history. So much sorrow. We stand with the rest of the world in silence and shock over the tragic fire that is raging inside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. The Cathedral was built from 1163 to 1250 and the statue and monument of Saint Jeanne d'Arc is located inside the Cathedral. Jean Seberg starred as Joan of Arc in Otto Preminger's SAINT JOAN (1957)."

~Kelly Rundle (proder/director/writer: Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon) & Tammy Rundle (producer/writer)

APNews Photo of Notre Dame Catheral in flames. Copyright AP News.

Fire ravages soaring Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris left aghast

PARIS (AP) — A fire swept across the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral while the soaring Paris landmark was under renovations Monday, collapsing its spire and threatening one of the world’s greatest architectural treasures as locals and tourists watched aghast from the streets.

The French president pledged to rebuild a cathedral that he called “a part of us” and appealed for help to do so. The 12th-century church is home to relics, stained glass and other incalculable works of art and is a leading tourist attraction, immortalized by Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

The Paris prosecutor’s office said it was treating the fire as an accident, ruling out arson and possible terror-related motives, at least for now. French media quoted the Paris fire brigade as saying the fire was “potentially linked” to a 6 million euro ($6.8 million) renovation project on the spire and its 500 tons of wood and 250 tons of lead.

Despite the dramatic image of the flaming cathedral, no one was killed. One firefighter was injured, among some 400 who battled the flames for hours before finally extinguishing them. Firefighters continued working through the night to cool the building and secure the monument, as residual sparks sprinkled down from the gaping hole where the spire used to be.

Read the rest of the AP Story HERE.

 

Jean Seberg's hometown of Marshalltown struck by massive tornado

Photo from the Jean Seberg Collection, the IVCCD Orpheum Theater Center, Marshalltown, Iowa (All rights reserved.)

This historic image was taken in 1956 in downtown Marshalltown, Iowa during the big parade that welcomed a young Jean Seberg home to celebrate being selected from 18,000 hopefuls and cast in Otto Preminger's SAINT JOAN.

Yesterday, July 19, 2018, a massive tornado devastated the town, residences, buildings, cars, the charming Main Street businesses, and the historic Orpheum Theater Center--where Seberg's SAINT JOAN screened in 1957. It is currently home to the Jean Seberg Festival of the Arts, and the Orpheum's Seberg Collection.

Twenty seven tornadoes ripped through Iowa Thursday leaving destruction in several towns, including Bondurant and Pella. A number of people were injured, but thankfully no deaths have been reported.

Photo Marshalltown Times-Republican, downtown tornado devastation.

We share here a story from the Marshalltown Times Republican:

Four emergency alerts pinged through on cell phones. Sirens rang through downtown twice. At first, it seemed like nothing. Then it hit.

Devastating.

In a word, that is how small businesses and their owners, residents and anyone who witnessed the tornado that struck Marshalltown Thursday afternoon describe it.

As it happened

Local resident David Powers said he witnessed the destructive tornado on Church Street as it turned from black to an unnerving deep purple. At that point, he sought immediate shelter.

Places like the Marshalltown Public Library, the Animal Rescue League, the YMCA-YWCA and other local organizations began harboring passersbys and the patrons already at the facilities.

Sheila Just, of Kingdom Trucking, had no choice but to take cover in the bed of her semi with her dogs in the truck with her. Bricks, glass and other debris fell around her, even cracking the windows of her truck. But somehow, she made it out alive — she credits the work of a higher power.

Josh Gummert, an employee at Sub City, took the four customers in the restaurant down to basement as they heard the sirens going off. They heard loud cracking while they were in shelter. Now, they believe the noise was the glass shattering on the store front windows.

“We were looking toward the (Marshall County) Courthouse and it was dark, and all the sudden it swooped up … when we looked over between the trees, we could see the funnel — it was moving really quick,” said resident Selena Weitzell.

The steeple on the Marshall County Courthouse was gone. Bricks, glass, branches, flanks of wood and random debris scattered the streets. Residents took in the damage throughout town in the post-storm heat and humidity, moving branches and pieces of houses off their lawn and out of the street.

Parked cars were slightly damaged or totaled with entire trees on top of them. Some were in entirely different spots than they were originally parked. As people descended on the devastation, one woman shouted across the parking lot, “at least I still got a driver’s window.”

 
Video footage of the tornado captured by Mark Varnum (posted on Youtube 7/19/2018).  He noted where he was located when he filmed: "Northwest from 18th st. and HWY 30. Funnel touched down just west of the Soldier's home and went down Main St., Marshalltown, Iowa.

Downtown hit hard

In the aftermath it appeared that Main Street was hit especially hard, as if the tornado had a designated plan to head that route. Typical to other storms that have hit Marshalltown in recent years, the tornado seemed to pick up strength as it traveled west to east, but prominent evidence of the event can be seen largely throughout the northeast and northwest quadrants of Marshalltown.

Read the FULL STORY HERE!

Photo by Nancy Adams (curator of the Jean Seberg Colllection) - Orpheum Theater Center tornado damage.

CNN reported that ten people suffered injuries after a tornado struck the town of 27,000 people (located about an hour northeast of Des Moines). None of the patients are in critical condition, hospital spokeswoman Laura Rainey said.

Read the CNN coverage and view tornado video HERE.

The award-winning documentary Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, and all things Jean Seberg.

50th Anniversary "Breathless" DVD includes featurette by "Jean Seberg" doc producers

Breathless, the groundbreaking film that was an instant classic when first released in 1960 ushered in the French New Wave style of filmmaking and made stars of Jean-Paul Belmondo and director Jean-Luc Godard. Jean Seberg, who was living in France with her then-husband Francois Moreuil (also featured in Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon) was convinced by him to be in Breathless.

The financial backers also wanted a name to be in the film to help generate ticket sales and Seberg filled the ticket. It's also the first film in which audiences saw a natural Seberg--Godard allowed her much freedom in the interpretation of the character she played. And her instincts come through for the first time on film.

"We did a lot of improvising," Jean later recalled. "And I believe Belmondo and I often thought we were creating more than we really were. [But] Godard was very much in control of it all." 

"Jean really enjoyed making Breathless, and much of it was ad-libbed. It showed what Jean could do when left to her own devices," said Carol Hollingsworth, Jean's high school theater drama coach and friend. 

The 50th Anniversary of Breathless on DVD includes a featurette "Jean Seberg: Movie Star" produced by Emmy-nominated filmmakers Garry McGee, Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle.

"The company was aware that Jean Seberg was in production and asked if we could create a featurette about Jean for inclusion on the DVD," said producer Kelly Rundle. "It was great fun to do and we are pleased to have it included on this special DVD marking the 50th anniversary of Breathless' release.

The 50th Anniversary Breathless DVD can be purchased via Amazon.com.

The award-winning documentary Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.

Houston Chronicle revisits Romain Gary's Final Novel and His Final Word

Jean Seberg and husband Romain Gary.

By Conrad Bibens, Houston Chronicle
February 2, 2018

A famous writer publishes one of his best novels, a life-affirming work about love and courage, then a short time later commits suicide.

Is it macabre to read it, and enjoy it?

No. "The Kites" is still a tribute to the joy and necessity of living, regardless of what its writing took out of Romain Gary. It's a 37-year-old book that's just now appearing in the United States, translated from the French by Miranda Richmond Mouillot.

If Dos Equis had been a French beer, Gary would have been a natural to play "the Most Interesting Man in the World." Born Jewish in Lithuania, he converted to Catholicism when he emigrated to France as a teenager in the 1930s. He twice won his adopted country's highest honor for literature (once under a nom de plume since the Prix Goncourt is supposed to be awarded only once to an author).

Gary was good friends with fellow writer Albert Camus and was highly respected by philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and President Charles de Gaulle. Fluent in six languages, Gary served as a diplomat in several countries and was France's consul general in Los Angeles in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Along the way, he wrote much of the screenplay for the World War II movie epic "The Longest Day." His second wife was American actress Jean Seberg. When she had an affair with Clint Eastwood, Gary reportedly challenged him to a duel. Eastwood declined the challenge, a sensible reaction since Gary likely would have taken him. A real-life hero, Gary was a bombardier for a Free French squadron in the Royal Air Force during the second world war, winning many medals for bravery.

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The award-winning documentary Jean Seberg: Actress, Activist, Icon tells the true story of Hollywood and heartbreak, beginning when an unknown 17-year-old Iowa girl who beat out 18,000 actresses to play Saint Joan in Otto Preminger's 1957 film. The documentary goes behind the scenes of her rocky life in the international film spotlight, her civil rights activism that drew FBI attention, and her mysterious death in Paris in 1979 - deemed a "probable suicide." Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning filmmakers Garry McGee (McMarr Ltd.), and Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films).

Visit JeanSebergMovie for updates on the documentary, glimpses behind-the-scenes, all things Jean Seberg, and upcoming news on the film's release.