Anne Chevalier

{{Infobox person | name = Anne Chevalier | image = Czarna Perła 1934.jpg | caption = Reri as Moana and Eugeniusz Bodo as Stefan in a scene of ''Black Pearl'' | birth_date = 1912 | death_date = 1977 | occupation = {{flatlist| * Actress * dancer * singer}} }}

'''Anne Chevalier''' (also known as '''Reri'''; 1912–1977) was a French-Tahitanian actress, singer and dancer.

==Early life== '''Anna Irma Ruahrei Chevalier''', born in 1912, was the seventh child to a Frenchman Laurence Chevalier and his Polynesian wife. She received education from a Catholic girls' school at Papeete.<ref name="Reri">{{cite journal|last1=Tomczyk|first1=Mirela|title=Reri – miss Polinezji wśród gwiazd II RP|trans-title=Reri – miss Polynesia among the stars of the Second Republic|url=http://stare-kino.pl/biografie/75-reri-miss-polinezji-wsrod-gwiazd-ii-rp|work=Stare Kino|year=2016|access-date=10 November 2017|language=pl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115104346/http://stare-kino.pl/biografie/75-reri-miss-polinezji-wsrod-gwiazd-ii-rp|archive-date=15 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> At age 16, Chevalier was spotted by German director F.W. Murnau who was looking for a Polynesian girl to play the lead role in his silent film ''Tabu: A Story of the South Seas'' (1931), whose story revolved around the fate of a couple when the young girl Reri is to be offered as a sacred maiden to Gods.<ref name="BrawleyDixon2015">{{cite book|last1=Brawley|first1=Sean|last2=Dixon|first2=Chris|title=The South Seas: A Reception History from Daniel Defoe to Dorothy Lamour|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_6dCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA195|year=2015|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-9336-5|page=195}}</ref>''Tabu'' has been lauded as "one of the last of the great silent films".<ref name="Eagan2010" /> Chevalier went to the United States for promoting the film and spent nearly a year there, appearing in the 1931 Broadway show of ''Ziegfeld Follies'' and visiting several Hollywood studios.<ref name="Reri" /><ref name="Eagan2010">{{cite book|last=Eagan|first=Daniel|title=America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC&pg=PA185|year=2010|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-2977-3|pages=183, 185}}</ref> From there, she went to Europe for ''Tabu''{{'s}} premiere in Berlin and also performed at dance shows in Paris and Warsaw.<ref name="Reri" />

Chevalier's second film role was opposite Eugeniusz Bodo in the Polish romantic drama ''Black Pearl'' (1934). She played a Tahitian woman who marries a Polish sailor and becomes a dancing sensation in her quest to gain acceptance by her husband's society. Ohio state censor banned the film, citing their policy against interracial marriage.<ref name="Scott2015">{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Ellen C.|title=Cinema Civil Rights: Regulation, Repression, and Race in the Classical Hollywood Era|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27fQBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1794|year=2015|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-7292-5|page=1794}}</ref> Three years later, she made a brief appearance in John Ford's ''The Hurricane'', another film set in the South Seas.<ref>{{cite book |title=The John Ford Encyclopedia |author=Sue Matheson |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2019 |page=149}}</ref>

==Personal life== During her stay in Europe, Chevalier was romantically involved with her ''Black Pearl'' co-star Eugeniusz Bodo. Polish media even referred to her as his wife, but the couple soon separated and Chevalier returned to Tahiti. She died there in 1977.<ref name="Reri" />

==Filmography== * ''Tabu: A Story of the South Seas'' (1931) * ''Black Pearl'' (1934) * ''The Hurricane'' (1937)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0156617}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chevalier, Anne}} Category:French Polynesian actresses Category:French Polynesian dancers Category:Polish film actresses Category:American film actresses Category:People from Bora Bora Category:1912 births Category:1977 deaths Category:20th-century American dancers Category:20th-century American actresses Category:20th-century French women Category:French dancers