The Oldest Profession

{{about|the film|the "oldest profession" itself|Prostitution|the phrase|Oldest profession (phrase)}}

{{Infobox film

| name = The Oldest Profession

| image = The Oldest Profession FilmPoster.jpeg

| caption = Film poster

| director = Claude Autant-Lara
Mauro Bolognini
Philippe de Broca
Jean-Luc Godard
Franco Indovina
Michael Pfleghar

| producer = Joseph Bercholz
Horst Wendlandt

| writer = Jean Aurenche
Daniel Boulanger
Ennio Flaiano
Jean-Luc Godard
Klaus Munro
André Tabet
Georges Tabet

| starring =

| cinematography =

| editing = Nino Baragli
Agnès Guillemot

|studio = Rialto Films (Germany)
Films Gibs (France)

| distributor =

| released = {{film date|1967|4|21|df=yes}}

| runtime = 119 minutes

| country = France
Germany

| language = French

}}

The Oldest Profession ({{langx|fr|Le Plus Vieux Métier du monde}}) is a 1967 internationally co-produced comedy film. It features contributions from six different film directors, each one doing a segment on prostitution through the ages.{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/36165/The-Oldest-Profession/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426085211/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/36165/The-Oldest-Profession/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 April 2011 |title=NY Times.com: The Oldest Profession |access-date=29 January 2010| first=Vincent |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=2011 | last=Canby}}

Plot

The Prehistoric Era – The cavewoman Brit is unable to attract a visiting trader until the wall painter Rak has the idea of making up her face.
Roman Nights – In ancient Rome, the Emperor Flavius makes an excuse to leave the Empress Domitilla and go with the poet Menippus to a brothel. There he meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who turns out to be his wife, the Empress.
Mademoiselle Mimi – During the French Revolution, Philibert asks to visit Mimi and from her window watches an old aristocrat being guillotined, saying it was his childless uncle. Promising to pay her as soon as the lawyers have settled the estate, he disappears.
The Gay Nineties – In Paris in the 1890s, Nini goes to bed with a lonely old man and, looking through his wallet once he is asleep, finds he is a partner in a major bank. Refusing to take any money, she says she is in love with him and in the end lets him marry her.
Paris Today – Catherine, who has lost her driving licence, works from a car driven by her friend Nadia. When the car is impounded, they buy an ambulance instead. One night it is stopped by police, who depart when they discover that the client is a doctor.
Anticipation – In the future, a man from a remote space outpost visits Earth and at the spaceport hotel is offered a prostitute for the night. He rejects the girl, Marlène, as she is incapable of conversation. His hosts then find him another girl, Eléonore, who is full of charm and chat, but reluctant to go further. He persuades her that the mouth she uses so well could have further uses.

Cast

Prehistoric Era (directed by Franco Indovina){{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0DE7D61530E034BC4053DFB7678383679EDE |title=Movie Review: The Oldest Profession |access-date=29 January 2010 |work=The New York Times |first=Vincent |last=Canby |date=8 November 1968 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426091033/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0DE7D61530E034BC4053DFB7678383679EDE |archive-date=26 April 2011 }}

Michèle Mercier as Brit
Enrico Maria Salerno as Rak
Gabriele Tinti as the trader (as Gabriel Tinti)

Roman Nights (directed by Mauro Bolognini)

Elsa Martinelli as Domitilla
Gastone Moschin as Flavius
Giancarlo Cobelli as Menippus

Mademoiselle Mimi (directed by Phillipe de Broca)

Jeanne Moreau as Mimi
Jean-Claude Brialy as Philibert
Jean Richard as Mimi's previous client
Jacques Monod as a man in the street

The Gay Nineties (directed by Michael Pfleghar)

Raquel Welch as Nini
Martin Held as Édouard
Tilly Lauenstein as another prostitute
Siegfried Schürenberg as another banker

Paris Today (directed by Claude Autant-Lara)

Nadia Gray as Nadia
France Anglade as Catherine
Jacques Duby as a cop
Francis Blanche as the doctor
Marcel Dalio as the lawyer Vladimir Leskov

Anticipation (directed by Jean-Luc Godard)

Jacques Charrier as John Demetrios
Anna Karina as Eléonore Roméovitch
Marilù Tolo as Marlène

Raquel Welch was the only American in the cast."'Oldest Profession' Cast Set" Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 21 January 1967: 18.

Release

The rights to distribute the film in the US and English-speaking Canada were purchased by Jack Harris."PRESENTING THE FATHER OF 'THE BLOB'" Edwards, Dennis. Los Angeles Times 28 December 1980: o6. Harris later wrote in his memoirs he was attracted by the chance to work on "a brand new film, produced like a major Hollywood picture, featuring Raquel Welch and some of the hottest female stars in the world... It was a big disappointment as a theatrical entry. However through the years, between theatres, television and home video, it has never lost is popularity and has treated me very well."Jack H. Harris, Father of the Blob, 2015

The Los Angeles Times thought the film was "ruined by some of the worst dubbing in recent memory"."'Oldest Profession' at the Music Hall" Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 29 June 1968: b7.