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Jacques Tourneur

 
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Nov 12, 1904 in Paris, France
  • Died: Dec 19, 1977 in Bergerac, France
  • Occupation: Director, Actor
  • Active: '30s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Western, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Out of the Past, Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie
  • First Major Screen Credit: Tout Ça Ne Vaut Pas L'Amour (1931)

Biography

A resident of the United States from the age of ten, Jacques Tourneur became one of America's leading directors of horror and film noir, after a long apprenticeship. The son of the celebrated director Maurice Tourneur, he went to work at MGM as an office boy and subsequently became a script clerk on his father's movies, and returned to France as his father's editor in 1928. Tourneur made his debut as a director in France in 1931, but found, upon returning to Hollywood four years later, that there was no work for him in this capacity. He worked for David O. Selznick as a second-unit director on A Tale of Two Cities, in partnership with writer Val Lewton, and eventually moved back into the director's chair in short subjects and very low budget B pictures. In 1942, Lewton put together a low-budget horror production unit at RKO and arranged for Tourneur to direct the first two entries, Cat People and I Walked With a Zombie, a pair of deeply atmospheric, spine-tingling, yet subtle horror movies (the second one was based on "Jane Eyre"), both of which became major hits for the studio and established Tourneur's credentials. He was taken away from Lewton and given bigger-budget non-horror projects, and acquitted himself well in those, most notably the classic film noir Out of the Past (1947). But Tourneur also had a flair for swashbucklers, as he showed in The Flame And the Arrow (1950). He also directed one sword-and-sandal adventure film, The Giant of Marathon. Along with the first two Lewton movies, his most famous film is probably Curse of the Demon (1957), a chilling horror film whose reputation has grown during the four decades since its release. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Jacques Tourneur
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Jacques Tourneur

Tourneur sitting in a director's chair
Born November 12, 1904(1904-11-12)
Paris, France
Died December 19, 1977 (aged 73)
Bergerac, France
Occupation Director
Years active 1931 - 1965

Jacques Tourneur (November 12, 1904–December 19, 1977) was a French-American film director.

Contents

Life

Born in Paris, France, he was the son of film director Maurice Tourneur.[1] At age 10, Jacques moved to the United States with his father.[1] He started a career in cinema while still attending high school as an extra and later as a script clerk in various silent films.[1] Both Maurice and Jacques returned to France after his father worked on the film The Mysterious Island in 1925.[1] Tourneur died in 1977 in Bergerac, Dordogne, France.

Career

Jacques began work as a editor and assistant director. He made his debut as a director on French short film Tout ca ne vaut pas l'amour in 1931.[1]

Jacques Tourneur went back to Hollywood in 1934 where he had a contract with MGM Studios.[1] While working as the second unit director on the film A Tale of Two Cities he met film producer Val Lewton.[1] Tourneur made his feature debut as director in the 1939 film They All Come Out in 1939.[1] After Tourneur was dropped by MGM in 1941, he was picked up by Lewton to film several acclaimed low-budget horror films for RKO Studios including Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie.[1] Tourneur was promoted to the A-list at RKO, directing films including Out of the Past and Berlin Express.[1] In the 1950s, Tourneur became a freelance director, filming various genre films including The Flame and the Arrow, Stars In My Crown and Night of the Demon.[1] His last films both starred Vincent Price, with The Comedy of Terrors (1963) and War-Gods of the Deep (1965) for American International Pictures.[1]

After his final days working for film, Tourneur began directing television episodes.[1] Tourneur filmed episodes of Bonanza, The Twilight Zone and The Alaskans. Tourneur's final director credit was for an episode of T.H.E. Cat in 1966.[1] Tourneur then retired and returned to France.[1]

Filmography

Director
Feature films
Year Film Other notes
1931 Tout ça ne vaut pas l'amour
1933 Toto
Pour être aimé
1934 Les Filles de la concierge
1938 They All Come Out
1939 Nick Carter, Master Detective
1940 Phantom Raiders
1941 Doctors Don't Tell
1942 Cat People
1943 I Walked with a Zombie
The Leopard Man
1944 Days of Glory
Experiment Perilous
1946 Canyon Passage
1947 Out of the Past
1948 Berlin Express
1949 Easy Living
1950 Stars In My Crown
The Flame and the Arrow
1951 Circle of Danger
Anne of the Indies
1952 Way of a Gaucho
1953 Appointment in Honduras
1955 Stranger on Horseback
Wichita
1956 Great Day in the Morning
1957 Nightfall
Night of the Demon
1958 The Fearmakers
1959 Timbuktu
Frontier Rangers
Giant of Marathon
1964 The Comedy of Terrors
1965 War-Gods of the Deep
Short films
Year Film Other notes
1936 The Jonker Diamond
Harnessed Rhythm
Master Will Shakespear
Killer Dog
1937 The Grand Bounce
The Boss Didn't Say Good Morning
The King Without a Crown
The Rainbow Pass
Romance of Radium
The Man in the Barn
What Do You Think?
1938 What Do You Think? (Number Three)
The Ship That Died
The Face Behind the Mask
What Do You Think?: Tupapaoo
Strange Glory
Think It Over
1939 Yankee Doodle Goes to Town
1942 The Incredible Stranger
The Magic Alphabet
1944 Reward Unlimited

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Earnshaw 2004, p. 102

Bibliography

  • Earnshaw, Tony (2004). Beating the Devil: The Making of Night of the Demon. Tomahawk Press. ISBN 0-9531926-1-x. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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Le Fantome du Moulin Rouge (1925 Fantasy Film)
They All Come Out (1939 Drama Film)
War Gods of the Deep (1965 Adventure Film)

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Director. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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