We are at the end of the 60s, at New Jimmy’s, a place run by Régine, then queen of Parisian nights. At the bar, two men are talking with a glass in hand. They are not two strangers, far from it. On the one hand Jean-Paul Belmondo, the bad boy of French cinema; on the other a certain Jean-Philippe Smet, better known as Johnny Hallyday, another brat of French showbiz. And above all, he is not the first glass, let alone the last. When the pitch suddenly rises, the diction becomes mushy and the words, not necessarily bright. The day comes and the bullshit beginsto use the title of the film by Claude Mulot, released in 1981, starring Philippe Castelli and a certain… Johnny Hallyday.
“Belmondo hit hard! He was excited!
In his memoirs, The color of ghosts (ed. Talent), Jean-Jacques Dubout recalls: “They yelled at each other and went straight out into the street to argue. But why, by the way? Chantal Goya’s husband admits he no longer remembers the scene very well; but maybe he hadn’t even ridden the Perrier Puck that night: “Was it a girl thing?” I never understood the reason for this anger. Neither of them gave it to me. Here are the two stars on the sidewalk. The duel lasted a good quarter of an hour, according to Jean-Jacques Debout: “Belmondo hit hard! He was overexcited…” For his part, the other young idol strikes back. A bit like in his song, Shotsadapted from Tense by Stevie Wonder: «The blows / When they happen to you / Oh yes, it hurts / The blows / That teach you how to live / Oh yes, it hurts. »
“They don’t give a damn…”
©SIPA
Indeed, the fight is unequal. Johnny is a fighter and Jean-Paul, a boxer; which makes the difference. In other words, one likes to fight, the other “knows” how to fight. However, if the rocker received, he also gave. Jean-Jacques Debout, however, recalls the singer’s confidences: “You realize that I let Belmondo beat me up, while I admire him. I run to the cinema for each of his films! He hurts her…”
Luckily the two men were both drinking happy wine! A week later, they met again in the same nightclub, probably closed a few more bottles before discovering themselves…friends for life. On the other hand, they will continue their nocturnal escapades together, they will often fight, but side by side, this time. Thanks to them many places have been able to renew themselves, thanks to the insurance policies of the two troublemakers. It will be noted that with Jean-Paul Belmondo it was also a way of getting to know each other as another. In fact, at the age of just 16 in 1948, hadn’t he smashed the nose of another boxer, Charles Gérard, ten years his senior, who, not resentful, would also become his unfailing friend?
Eglantine LEFEBVRE
