This was to be the first of over 40 feature films, all of which were immensely popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He evokes that long period of dedicated apprenticeship in his very amusing book, 50 Ans de cinema (1990), written in conjunction with the fine film critic Francois Guerif.After working as assistant director with Georges Lacombe, Grangier was made a prisoner of war in 1939, but benefited from an early release and in 1942, with the comedian Noel-Noel, directed his first film, Ademai bandit d'honneur, with an unusual production company composed of ex-prisoners of war, and a scratch crew of technicians calling themselves "Prisonniers Associes". The name is in fact derived from the first letters of Gabin, Audiard and Fernandel, with the last two letters of Grangier added. The company made only one film, L'Age intrat ("The Awkward Age") in 1964. Immediately after leaving school, Grangier, fascinated since early childhood by the films shown in his small local flea-pit, found work in the film studios of Billancourt, as walk-on, prop boy, stuntman, grip; then on to manager, assistant director and eventu- ally director. Film directors who start at the very bottom of the ladder in the movie business and learn their craft by working in the humblest of studio jobs on their way to the top are fairly rare these days But Gilles Grangier was such a one. "He knew his trade inside out, except for the writing of scenarios," as the author of Dictionnaire du cinema, Jean Tulard, pointed out in a television homage.

Grangier was a real Paris street sparrow, like Piaf and Arletty, and his deep knowledge of the various Paris quartiers, their characters and their peculiar atmospheres was captured to perfection in his unpretentious and entertaining movies, in which he worked with the biggest stars, all of whom became personal friends - Jean Gabin, Pierre Brasseur, Fernandel, Bourvil, Arletty and many more, including the scenarist Michel Audiard who, with Gabin and Fernandel, helped to create Grangier's short-lived production company Gafer. He was a positive man who always looked forward, and up until the last, he was still writing down theories, ideas and lines of poetry.Ceri LevyMervyn Montague Levy, artist, writer, teacher: born Swansea 11 February 1914; married three times (two sons, one daughter); died London 14 April 1996.. lt would be a poor artist who fully understood the meaning of his art !"But more than anything, Mervyn Levy was a loyal supporter to numerous people, providing inspiration and hope, arranging exhibitions, finding patrons and helping so many artists achieve their aims by pointing out that their dreams were attainable. All creation is a mystery, no less to the artist who creates.