French catch

[Phil Lions]

Came across an article from January 1950 where several French celebrities talk about why they like catch while also commenting about whether or not the catch matches were predetermined. I thought that's quite neat so I'll share here what they said.

Albert Préjean (actor): "You can say what you want about catch, but... it's a sport. Besides, about tricks, I don't think there are as many as people say. For example, I had a friend who performed a hand-to-hand act. He was also a wrestler in his spare time. While performing his act, he never got hurt. While wrestling, he broke his nose. Breaking your nose is not a show, after all. I think the public goes to see the lightweight matches because of the spectacular appeal of these encounters, and the heavyweight matches for sadism. They always hope that one of the two wrestlers will get their head torn off..."

Milly Mathis (actress): "What I am trying to understand is how, after having wrestled for an hour on the mat, the two wrestlers manage to find all their limbs. They must be flexible, it leaves me speechless to see such big gentlemen twisting and undoing themselves like that... As for knowing whether it is fake or not, that is their business..."

Marcel Achard (author): "It's very good theater, although in my opinion they are not all rigged. I acquired a taste for catch during my stay in the United States. I saw a certain Jim Londos wrestle there, who must have been the world champion. What a guy! His great hobby was to throw his opponent over the ropes. And not in the front row. Up to the fifth or sixth. I never sat there..."

Alfred Adam (actor): "I'm not looking for the same pleasure in catch as in boxing. Boxing is a dark, dramatic thing. Sometimes dirty. Catch is the opposite. What actors these wrestlers are. What an art to portray suffering, anger, fear... For me, the audience of catch today is the one who, fifty years ago, was passionate about melodrama. I don't mean by that that catch is just bluff. I believe that in the end it's the best who wins. In any case, we would be wrong to underestimate the athletic value of the matches."

Francis Lopez (composer): "It reminds me of my job. Because between us it's great music, and well orchestrated..."

That same article mentions that they had recently done a survey asking people whether they thought the catch matches were real and according to their poll 75% of the spectators were convinced of the sincerity, if not of all the matches, at least of the most important ones.