© Collection Christophel


Vintage photograph of the weekend: Romy Schneider and Alain Delon in 1968

In the scorching summer of 1968, five years after their separation, Alain Delon and Romy Schneider found themselves on the set of La Piscine. A picture is worth a thousand words and this photograph is the perfect evidence of their passion.

It was a moment that reignited the passion. The summer of 1968 saw Romy Schneider and Alain Delon come back together in the heat of the Saint-Tropez sun. It was ten years after they first met at the foot of an escalator at Paris Orly airport and the beginning of their great love affair. Five years before the photograph was taken, in 1963, the two actors, both of whom are now known as legends, separated unceremoniously. Nevertheless, under the direction of Jacques Deray, Romy Schnieder and Alain Delon found themselves together once more to film La Piscine but it was by no means an accident. One of the most in-demand actors at the time, it was Alain Delon himself who requested that his ex-lover be his on-screen partner. Romy and nobody else. His was a heartfelt decision that could have cost him. With the fury of their break-up behind them, the two actors had a new chemistry on screen, more natural than ever. "Nothing is colder than dead love," wrote Romy Schneider. However, the magic was there on screen and the Delon-Schneider partnership was as wonderful as ever in La Piscine. Alongside Jane Birkin and Maurice Ronet, they breathed life into a game that mixed passion, love, possession and jealousy, all set against the blue backdrop of the pool.

Condé Nast