Editing Marcel Achard (section)

==Successful postwar plays==
After [[World War II]], despite the criticism, Achard's literary output continued unabated. Among his most successful later plays were 1952's ''Les compagnons de la Marjolaine'' [''The Companions of Marjoram''] and 1955's ''Le mal d'amour'' [''Love Sickness'']. The greatest popularity, however, was achieved by a 1957 comedy about a testy, ill-tempered character nicknamed ''Patate'' [''Spud''] and a 1962 comic mystery ''[[L'Idiote]]'' [''The Idiot''], best known in [[United States|America]] as the basis for the play and film ''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|A Shot in the Dark]]''.

Four of Achard's plays also had [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] runs. ''Domino'', adapted by actress-writer Grace George, opened at the [[Playhouse Theatre]] on 16 August 1932 and closed after seven performances. The title role went to [[Rod La Rocque]], a top star of the [[silent cinema]], whose career was on the wane following the advent of the talkies, and the lead actress was [[Jessie Royce Landis]]. Seventeen years later, a much better run was enjoyed by ''Auprès de ma blonde'', which was reworked by [[S. N. Behrman]] into ''I Know My Love''. It opened at the [[Shubert Theatre (Broadway)|Shubert Theatre]] on 2 November 1949 and ran for 247 performances, closing on 3 June 1950. It was directed by and starred [[Alfred Lunt]] and his leading lady was, as always, his wife, [[Lynn Fontanne]]. Nine years after that premiere, however, ''Patate'', which played to sold-out theaters in Paris, could not translate its elusive charm to American audiences and repeated the seven-performance fiasco of the previous single-name character, ''Domino''. The fellow whose [[nickname]] made up the title was played by [[Tom Ewell]], and the female lead, [[Susan Oliver]], won the [[Theatre World Award]] for her performance, while the [[Irwin Shaw]] adaptation opened at [[Henry Miller's Theatre]] on 28 October 1958 and closed on November 1. Ultimately, it would be ''A Shot in the Dark'', three years later, which would boast the longest run. Adapted by Harry Kurnitz and directed by [[Harold Clurman]], it racked up an impressive 389 performances, opening at the [[Booth Theatre]] on 18 October 1961 and closing on 22 September 1962. The stars were [[Julie Harris (American actress)|Julie Harris]], [[Walter Matthau]] and [[William Shatner]].

Achard's numerous screenplays, frequently centering on relatively recent historical events and personalities, include 1936's ''[[Mayerling (1936 film)|Mayerling]]'', 1938's ''[[Orage (film)|Orage]]'' and 1942's ''[[Félicie Nanteuil]]''. He presided over the [[Cannes Film Festival]] in 1958 and 1959 and had a similar role at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in 1960. It was also in 1959 that he was finally, at the age of 60, elected to the [[Académie française]].