Jacqueline Reignier is a nurse at the prestigious Hôpital Saint-Chad in Switzerland. She meets Patrick Villaresi, a brilliant and sarcastic vascular surgeon back from America to work at Saint-Chad. Circumstances bring them together, much to the annoyance of the stern head nurse Ursula Martin. Ursula knows Villaresi well as her mother is his father's second wife and her interest for Patrick goes beyond the smooth running of his career. Jacqueline gets to know the rest of the Villaresi family, particularly its patriarch Will. Valentin "Val" Villaresi, Patrick's brother, must leave for Africa to investigate on an illegal transportation of weapons.
«
Ne croyez pas que je sois volontairement désagréable, seulement je ne
vous connais pas beaucoup. Alors je ne sais encore pas si vous êtes
quelqu'un de remarquable ou seulement quelqu'un de bien... je parle
professionnellement. » (Patrick Villaresi)
Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad is a 24 x 15-minute drama made in Switzerland for Television suisse romande and French pubcaster ORTF (Office de radiodiffusion-télévision française) by Telvetia SA (Le dessous du ciel). Officially founded in 1968, Telvetia was a joint venture between SSR (Société suisse de radiodiffusion et de télévision) and French company Telfrance (Thierry la Fronde, Desert Crusader). Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad was shown daily on TSR from September 25, 1975 to October 28, 1975. In France, Antenne 2 (1) aired a 4 x 50-minute version weekly from June 4, 1976 to June 25, 1976. Swiss journalist and screenwriter Rodolphe-Maurice Arlaud (two Maigret with Jean Gabin, Omer Pacha, Jo Gaillard) adapted the Saint-Chad book series, written by Theresa Charles (2). Paul Siegrist, a seasoned Swiss director working for TSR since 1955, helmed all the episodes.
French actor and singer Jean-Claude Pascal (Un grand patron, Pêcheur d'Islande, Angélique et le sultan) stars as Patrick Villaresi. War hero at 17, young designer for Christian Dior, Pascal became the "éternel séducteur" of French cinema. He won Eurovision in 1961 and was the French voice of Dean Martin in the Matt Helm movies. On television, Jean-Claude Pascal first appeared in Vol 272 (1964) and then in Comment ne pas épouser un milliardaire (1966). For Telvetia, he played in Une autre vie (1971) and starred in the popular drama Le temps de vivre, le temps d'aimer (1973), where he also performed the theme song composed by Michel Legrand. Françoise Christophe (Fantômas contre Scotland Yard, Borsalino) co-stars as Ursula Martin. Aude Loring, a French actress living in Geneva and seen in Two for the Road (1967) or OSS 117 tue le taon (1971), plays Jacqueline Reignier.
Val Villaresi is played by Jean Claudio, an actor with an international career and a distinctive voice. Thérèse Liotard (later in Bergerac) is his wife Évelyne, Jacques Dumesnil (Les tontons flingueurs) plays Will Villaresi. Swiss actor Alain Chevallier, known in both Switzerland and France since Alice, où es-tu? (1968), the first Swiss prime time drama/series, is Christophe Pittet. He was in Le temps de vivre, le temps d'aimer. Other familiar faces to Swiss viewers include Marcel Vidal (Docteur Reignier), Séverine Bujard (Rose-Marie), Harriett Ariel as Barbara, William Jacques (Manuden), Lise Lachenal (Nurse) (3), Charles Apothéloz (Vergnaz), etc. TSR journalist Jean-François Nicod appears as "le speaker". Director Paul Siegrist has a cameo as... Doctor Siegrist.
« Si par hasard un jour je vous demandais de m'épouser vous répondriez quoi? »
Filming took place during 10 weeks from October to December 1974 in the village of Genolier, near Nyon (Canton of Vaud) and in its region. Les enfants des autres, an ORTF and Telvetia co-production, was shot there in spring 1973. The cast and crew of Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad spent three weeks at the Clinique de Genolier. Set up in 1972 as a fitness center, the establishment was turned into an ultra modern cardio-vascular surgery clinic in 1974 under the direction of Professor Charles Hahn. Hahn served as a consultant to the production. Paul Siegrist — helmer of several documentaries — filmed three real surgical operations in a single day, assisted only with cameraman Igaal Nidaam, electrician Jean-Luc Girardet and sound engineer Paul Girard.
Pianist, composer, arranger and record producer Jean-Luc Drion composed the original soundtrack of Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad. Jean-Claude Pascal sings On aura pas toujours le temps, the end title song. His friend Bernard Dimey, a poet, songwriter (Syracuse) and scriptwriter penned the lyrics. The song was a hit in Francophonie. Produced by Henri Lacombe. Cinematography by Roger Fellous (Le temps de vivre, le temps d'aimer). The editing was done in Lyon by Gilbert Namiand and Michel Pasquier for S.E.T.I.C. (Société européenne de télévision d'information et de cinéma) (4). Sets designed by Yanko Hodgis, the decorator of L'invitation (Claude Goretta, 1973) and the ambitious miniseries La pèche miraculeuse (1976). Raphaël Rebibo, assistant operator on Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad, was its still photographer too.
Jean-Claude Pascal gives Patrick his casual charisma and a welcome sense of humour, alongside the excellent Françoise Christophe, the charming Aude Loring and a solid group of Telvetia regulars. The novels are skillfully transposed in Switzerland. There's a "motocross duel" and a car chase. Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad is close to the Arztroman à la Heinz G. Konsalik. Paul Siegrist directed Docteur Erika Werner (1978), based on a novel by this author and starring Leslie Caron. Plans for a sequel of Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad were evoked, though nothing materialised. Tired of playing the "séducteurs", Jean-Claude Pascal gave priority to singing. In 1975 he replaced his uncle as the manager of the family textile business. From the 1980s, Pascal wrote several books until before his death in 1992. Coincidentally, Telvetia ceased its activities the same year. Its biggest hit was Heidi (1978).
In France, the 4 x 50-minute version of Le chirurgien de Saint-Chad was released twice on DVD (in 2011 and 2017) by Koba Films. This version is available on Madelen, the streaming service of INA.
(1) Antenne 2 succeeded to the Deuxième chaîne after the dismantling of ORTF in 1974.
(2) English wife and husband writers Irene Maude Swatridge and Charles John Swatridge.
(3) Lise Lachenal was best known in Switzerland as the voice of Blanche in Blanche et Gaspard (1969-1976). From 1973 to 2000, she worked as a collaboratrice à la fiction for TSR and was the first in Francophonie to buy The Bold and the Beautiful.
(4) S.E.T.I.C. was a subsidiary of local newspaper group A.I.G.L.E.S. (Le Progrès and Le Dauphiné Libéré).
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