Tobacco on screen

There was a time when cigarettes and cigars were a common sight on screen. Variety shows were the main setting in which well-known smokers appeared with a cigarette in hand. After the Évin law of 1991, smoking on television became strictly prohibited. A look back at sequences that are still remembered.

The cigarette on the small screen

It is hard to think of the cigarette on French television without thinking of Serge Gainsbourg. A heavy smoker, the songwriter, a central figure of French-language music, would light a Gitane live during a variety show. He was by no means the only one: Benjamin Biolay, Miley Cyrus and Thierry Ardisson did the same.

Since the Évin law came into force, some still ignore the ban, whether or not the broadcasting channel faces consequences. That was the case for Catherine Deneuve and Yann Barthès, who smoked during the programme when the Petit Journal returned in a new format on Canal+ in August 2011.

Smoking in films

On the big screen, by contrast, smoking is not banned, although it has become less frequent. The list would be a long one, but Peter Falk, as Columbo, is a familiar example of the cigar smoker in cinema. Uma Thurman smokes in Pulp Fiction, and also on the film poster. The World Health Organization takes a very dim view of the practice and warns that it encourages young people to become dependent on tobacco.

Smoking in cartoons

You may be surprised to learn that some well-known cartoons show their main characters smoking, and yet they do: Pinocchio tries a cigar, Absolem, the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland, smokes a hookah, Peter Pan smokes the peace pipe with Tiger Lily’s tribe, Roger, Pongo’s owner in 101 Dalmatians, smokes a pipe, and Cruella de Vil appears with her cigarette, and so on.