Marcel Marceau, who died in 2007 at the age of 84, was best known to the general public as a gifted pantomime. On the other hand, fewer people know that the Frenchman became a strong member of the French Resistance during World War II (also featured in the 2021 film “Résistance” starring Jesse Eisenberg Marceau) and that he also occasionally worked as a actor was active in the period that followed.
He starred in several DEFA short films and in 1976 had a cameo appearance as himself in the star-studded cult comedy “Mel Brooks’ Last Madness: Silent Movie”. Marceau’s most famous and greatest film role, however, is undoubtedly that of the absent-minded starship repairman Professor Ping in “Barbara“:
If you don’t know the frivolous sci-fi fantasy spectacle from 1968 or didn’t know all those years that Ping is played by Marcel Marceau, you can now take a look at the absolute cult classic: “Barbarella” is currently accessible through the Sky streaming service WOW (just as mentioned above by the way “Resistance”*).
Alternatively, the comic book adaptation is of course also available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as VoD from providers such as Amazon. Catching up or rewatching makes sense as a long-planned remake of the space adventure starring “Euphoria” star Sidney Sweeney is finally taking shape. At WOW, however, “Barbarella” can only be streamed until May 31, 2023.
This is Barbara
In the year 40,000, Earth’s president sends astronaut Barbarella (Jane Fonda) to a distant solar system to track down missing scientist Durand-Durand (Milo O’Shea) and prevent him from developing an advanced weapon of mass destruction. However, atmospheric turbulence along the way forces them to crash-land their spaceship. And so their bizarre, dangerous and sometimes very revealing adventures (keyword: sex with an angel) really get going…