Night + Day

Tuesday
April 13
Allez Cat The rumor that France doesn't get rock must have started about 30 years ago, around the time that Johnny Hallyday began making records. Nicknamed the French Elvis, Hallyday gyrated his way through over 100 singles, including his bilingual hit "Let's Twist Again," which transitions from French to English ("Let's tweeest again, like we deed last summah") with anemic handclaps and Hallyday's tres sexy exhortations ("Tappez les mans!"), ending as he grunts, "Ah, c'est bon, mmm, oui!" But what Americans find campy, the French hold dear: They don't seem to care how silly he sounds, or looks, despite the distinctly un-chic move from blond pompadour and high-necked sweaters to stringy locks and Hawaiian shirt-cowboy boot ensembles. Hallyday still makes the gossip pages of Paris Match, and when he played the Aladdin, fans were paying upward of a thousand dollars for a "Destination Vegas" travel package. He's starred in French films, too, including Costa-Gavras' 1986 comedy Conseil de famille (Family Business), where he's paired with Fanny Ardant as a safecracker whose success bankrolls a comfortably middle-class existence. Witness a Gallic legend when the film screens, as part of the "Famille!" series, at 7 p.m. at the Alliance Francaise, 1345 Bush (at Polk), S.F. Admission is $5; call 775-7755.