Habib Benglia
Habib Benglia, born August 25, 1895 in Oran (Algeria) and died December 2, 1960 at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris 4th, is a French actor and dancer. He was the first black French artist to experience such success in the 1920s. Married, he was the father of two children. Born to caravan parents, originally from Mali (then called French Sudan), he lived his entire childhood in Timbuktu, before arriving, with his parents, in mainland France to deliver camels to the acclimatization garden where the exhibition was held. colonial "Les Nègres", in 1912. He decided to stay in France and began his career in 1913, both in theater and in cinema, after having met the actress and dancer Régine Flory, who introduced him to Cora Laparcerie, director of the Théâtre de la Renaissance. Mobilized for the First World War, he then joined Firmin Gémier's theater company which ended up at the Théâtre National de l'Odéon with Gaston Baty in 1922. Benglia was thus the first black to play roles from the classical repertoire, and he found himself also performing the title role of The Emperor Jones at the Odéon in 19234, at the age of 27. However, he explored other aspects of his art: dance, revues, vaudeville... Theater in all its forms remained his passion for more than 36 years. It was primarily through theater that he played a major role in Parisian cultural life between the wars. Benglia was also interested in cinema, but French cinema hardly offered him good roles. He is most often found in small roles in second-rate films, but also in a few colonial propaganda films, sometimes in ridiculously exotic roles. A few exceptions: Benglia stars in “Daïnah La Métisse”, he has interesting passages in “Sola ou Les Mystères de Paris”, then he makes a brief appearance in “Les Enfants du Paradis”, a film in which he only worked two days (December 5 and 6, 1943). In total, he appeared in around sixty films. It was the range of his deep voice which was most remarkable and which determined the roles entrusted to him. He died on December 2, 1960 at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris.
Children of Paradise
as L'employé des bains turcsIn a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans,...
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Grand Illusion
as Le sénégalaisA group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class...
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Tamango
as The Black ChiefA Dutch slave captain, on a voyage to Cuba, faces a revolt fomented by a newly captured African...
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Some Like It... Cold
as uncreditedThe old Valmorin died 200 years ago. The notary tells the family about the inheritance: the one...
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Mysteries of Paris
as Le docteur noirTowards the end of the 19th century, the Duke of Gerolstein traveled to Paris. Sixteen years...
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Candide or The Optimism in the 20th Century
as Le noir molesté (uncredited)Charming and innocent, Candide is vigorously chased away by the Baron, for his close encounters...
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Hatred
as uncreditedCaptain Justin Mollenard works for a company that sells armaments to the Far East. After an...
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The Figurehead
as The blackAt sea, sailors have got to make do with what they have. François is in love with.... the...
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Dainah the Mixed
as Le mariShades of Othello loom in this engrossing exploration of class, race, and murder set on an ocean...
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Le Bateau à soupe
as Le nègreHervé is a tough sea captain in command of the "Duchesse Anne", a rum-trading ship. But the sea...
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Tempête sur l'Asie
as uncreditedAn adventurer tries to seize oil deposits in Mongolia .
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The Secrets of the Red Sea
as uncreditedSaid Ali, an old and sick noble Arab, living on an island in the Red Sea, has no other...
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A Missionary
as uncreditedDreaming of heroic deeds, a young missionary soon becomes disillusioned.
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Native Drums
as uncreditedA team of doctors sets out through a steamy African jungle to check an outbreak of sleeping...
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Les Gaietés du palace
as False mahradja's valetWhoever brings the Countess back her stolen necklace will receive a bonus of ten thousand...
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Le Roman d'un spahi
as NyaorThe spahi Jean Peyral is very in love with the flirtatious Cora. When he realizes that she...
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Nitchevo
as uncreditedA commander suspects his wife of infidelity, when she turns to a subordinate officer to help her...
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La Renégate
as YoussefIn a small town in Spanish Morocco, old Ricardo, who runs a café, lives with his daughter,...
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La Danseuse de Marrakech
as TaraorA little Métis girl, Kalina is saved from a massacre by Taraor, a black man from Sudan. Having...
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African Diary
as uncreditedDuring a French construction project in the Sudan, a military doctor fights against leprosy and...
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Les Rois de la flotte
as uncreditedCruchadouze and Castaniet are two inseparable friends. One day they decide to leave Arcachon to...
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You Will Be a Duchess
as uncredited"Tu seras duchesse!" ("You'll Be a Duchess!") With these words, self-made industrialist Poisson...
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Yasmina
as uncreditedYasmina, a rich Tunisian Princess, daughter of a French lady and a Muslim gentleman, is...
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Alone
as L'HindouA prominent chanteuse on a world tour meets a young fellow European in Singapore, a soldier of...
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Mon curé chez les riches
as (uncredited)In the village of Sableuse, the local manor has been bought out by a nouveau riche, Emile...
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Storm of Marrakech
as uncreditedIn 1318, in Morocco, a bandit kidnapped the marabout's daughter as a hostage, demanding that the...
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