COCTEAU Jean (1889 - 1963) 10 L.A.S. "Jean" (one signed with a star), 1940-1946 and s.d., to Jean MARAIS; 14 pages in-4 (flaws, wetness to a few letters, one with tears on an edge), 2 letters bear the stamp of the Censorship Board. Loving correspondence, evoking his plays and films. June 1940. "My darling child. With no news from you, I try to live with your image and the certainty that your star and my star are protecting you. If by some incredible chance this letter reaches you, listen: the slightest scratch, the slightest sprain - have yourself evacuated to Perpignan",... January 25, 1943. Death of his mother: "That's done. The cemetery was the only atrocious thing - we're thrown into a real urinal in Place Clichy. But that counts for little. At last, Maman can move around freely and never leaves my side. She was at the Opéra - where the rehearsal was very beautiful and noble" [for Honegger's Antigone]... Every day he works on the film that will become L'Éternel Retour, "which changes a lot and gets stronger. The title will not be Tristan". He was unable to find a role for King Marc, which bothered him greatly: "you need a Marc whose stature doesn't crush you"; he changed the role of Yvonne [de Bray]: "She immediately found what was needed: the love of this woman for this dwarf. It gives it greatness. [Madeleine] Sologne was superb yesterday. I'm styling her with flat hair that falls [...]. She looks like a cathedral statue, a strange bird, a ghostly drowning woman. He worries about the dates, as the film opens on the 15th and Marais will have fittings... - February 1st. "How sad I am not to have had you at the Antigone rep. I did the show thinking of you and dedicating it to you. [...] Now I'm working on our film and starting to rehearse at the C.F." [Renaud et Armide, at the Comédie Française]. Shooting will start in March in Nice, and he hopes that Marais will return soon "after the fittings for Carmen, to work a little with Madeleine, to try things out, etc. [...] I think I'll be able to do it again. [...] I think the film is becoming very beautiful and very implacable. Your role is marvelous. He is waiting for Christian Bérard, who was ill in Marseille. All he can think about is "the joy of working together". (On the back, letter from Paul?)... - Beautiful letter in which Cocteau gives Marais the freedom to live his life as he wishes (this letter was of great importance to the actor, who quotes it in his autobiography). "My Jeannot. I must explain my point of view. I believe in being a hero, always - even in the smallest things. Your happiness must come before mine, since your happiness makes me happy. I'm very good at killing ridiculous revolts and selfish feelings. I swear to you that this attempt to masturbate me is a victory, and that the joy of seeing your face lit up far outweighs any instinctive sadness. So be free and know that you make me happy by being happy. What would sadden me is to feel you pull away out of delicacy. I repeat that it's useless and that I adore your presence in all its forms. Never be embarrassed by any scruples. Show me your heart by playing Renaud as only you can. This collaboration will console me for the rest, and take us a long way from petty shames"... [1944-1945]. Thursday. He rehearses at the Opéra-Comique, and goes to make "a brass head for the Cinémathèque. You see, I'm holding on and not letting myself go to my room. The difficult thing is to get down to writing, to serious work. Even my poor hand is too nervous to form the letters. [But I'll get there. Thierry Maulnier's magazine is going to publish Léone"... He searched everywhere for "chansons parlées, of which he found only one sheet. The rest may be at his mother's "in your dear little mess". The news of his comrade's death deeply shocked him: "This nightmare is atrocious. But we'll wake up one morning and I'll see your dear face other than through the magical forces of the soul"... - The texts are nowhere to be found". Luckily, Hubert took out a notebook from his library: "I'm sending it to you - the prose texts are missing. I'll try to write you a new one"... (On the back, letter from four friends)... - February 19, 1945. He has asked that "a séance of L'Eternel Retour be organized for those on leave from the 2nd D.B. currently in Paris", and will do his utmost to ensure that Marais attends; a friend will intercede with Leclerc. Bérar d "has done wonders for our play. He's back in top form [...] I've been offered a lot of work, but I refuse anything that isn't poetry, theater or film. I don't want to write any more articles. The tone of the press