Jacques Tourneur
 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source.(October 2017) |
Jacques Tourneur | |
|---|---|
 Tourneur on set ofCanyon Passage,1946[1] | |
| Born | Jacques Thomas November 12, 1904 Paris,France |
| Died | December 19, 1977(aged 73) Bergerac,France |
| Other names | Jack Turner |
| Occupation(s) | Director, producer, editor |
| Years active | 1929–1965 |
| Father | Maurice Tourneur |
Jacques Tourneur(French:[tuʁnœʁ];November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during theGolden Age of Hollywood.He was known as anauteurof stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them forRKO Pictures,including thehorror filmsCat People,I Walked with a Zombie,andThe Leopard Man,and the classicfilm noirOut of the Past.He is also known for directingNight of the Demon,which was released byColumbia Pictures.
Life
[edit]Born inParis, France,Tourneur was the son of Fernande Petit andfilm directorMaurice Tourneur.[2]At age 10, Jacques moved to theUnited Stateswith his father.[2]He started a career in cinema while still attendinghigh schoolas an extra and later as a script clerk in varioussilent films.Both Maurice and Jacques returned toFranceafter his father worked on the filmThe Mysterious Islandin 1925.[2]Tourneur died in 1977, aged 73, inBergerac,Dordogne,France.
Career
[edit]Tourneur began work as aneditorandassistant director.He made his debut as a director on the French filmTout ça ne vaut pas l'amourin 1931.[2]In 1934, Tourneur went to Hollywood, where he had a contract withMGM Studios.While working as thesecond unit directoron the filmA Tale of Two Citieshe met film producerVal Lewton.[2]
Tourneur made his feature debut as director in the 1939 filmThey All Come Out.After Tourneur was dropped by MGM in 1941, he was picked up by Lewton to film several acclaimed low-budgethorror filmsforRKO StudiosincludingCat PeopleandI Walked with a Zombie.[2]
Cat People,his first commercial success,[3]although considered a B movie and made on a limited budget, was distinguished by a style of lighting and cinematography that has been imitated countless times. Tourneur was promoted to the A-list at RKO, directing films includingOut of the PastandBerlin Express.[2]In the 1950s, Tourneur became a freelance director, filming various genre films includingWichita,Anne of the Indies,Way of a Gaucho,Nightfall,The Flame and the Arrow,Stars In My CrownandNight of the Demon.[2]His last two films, made forAmerican International Picturesand starringVincent Price,wereThe Comedy of Terrors(1963) andWar-Gods of the Deep(1965).[2]
After his final days working for film, Tourneur began directing television episodes. Tourneur filmed episodes ofThe Barbara Stanwyck Show,Bonanza,The Twilight Zone,andThe Alaskans.Tourneur's final director credit was for an episode ofT.H.E. Catin 1966. Tourneur then retired and returned to France.[2]
Filmography
[edit]Director
[edit]Feature films
- All That's Not Worth Love(1931,French)
- Toto(1933, French)
- To Be Loved(1933, French)
- The Concierge's Daughters(1934, French)
- They All Come Out(1939)
- Nick Carter, Master Detective(1939)
- Phantom Raiders(1940)
- Doctors Don't Tell(1941)
- Cat People(1942)
- I Walked with a Zombie(1943)
- The Leopard Man(1943)
- Days of Glory(1944)
- Experiment Perilous(1944)
- Canyon Passage(1946)
- Out of the Past(1947)
- Berlin Express(1948)
- Easy Living(1949)
- Stars In My Crown(1950)
- The Flame and the Arrow(1950)
- Circle of Danger(1951)
- Anne of the Indies(1951)
- Way of a Gaucho(1952)
- Appointment in Honduras(1953)
- Stranger on Horseback(1955)
- Wichita(1955)
- Great Day in the Morning(1956)
- Nightfall(1956)
- Night of the Demon(1957)
- The Fearmakers(1958)
- Timbuktu(1959)
- Frontier Rangers(1959)
- Giant of Marathon(1959)
- The Comedy of Terrors(1964)
- War-Gods of the Deep(1965)
Short films
- 1936 –The Jonker Diamond
- 1936 –Harnessed Rhythm
- 1936 –Master Will Shakespeare
- 1936 –Killer Dog
- 1937 –The Grand Bounce
- 1937 –The Boss Didn't Say Good Morning
- 1937 –The King Without a Crown
- 1937 –The Rainbow Pass
- 1937 –Romance of Radium
- 1937 –The Man in the Barn
- 1937 –What Do You Think?
- 1938 –What Do You Think? (Number Three)
- 1938 –The Ship That Died
- 1938 –The Face Behind the Mask
- 1938 –What Do You Think?: Tupapaoo
- 1938 –Strange Glory
- 1938 –Think It Over
- 1939 –Yankee Doodle Goes to Town
- 1942 –The Incredible Stranger
- 1942 –The Magic Alphabet
- 1944 –Reward Unlimited
TV
[edit]- 1955-1961:General Electric Theater,4 episodes
- 1955:The Martyr
- 1955:Into the Night
- 1960:Aftermath
- 1961:Star Witness: The Lili Parrish Story
- 1956:The Jane Wyman Show,3 episodes
- 1956:The Liberator
- 1956:Kristi
- 1956:The Mirror
- 1957:Schlitz Playhouse of Stars,1 episode
- 1957:Outlaw's Boots
- 1957:The Walter Winchell File,3 episodes
- 1957:The Steep Hill
- 1958:House on Biscayne Bay
- 1958:The Stopover
- 1958:Cool and Lam,CBS Productions
- 1958:Northwest Passage,8 episodes
- 1958:The Gunsmith
- 1958:The Burning Village
- 1958:The Bond Women
- 1959:The Break Out
- 1959:The Vulture
- 1959:The Traitor
- 1959:The Assassin
- 1959:The Hostage
- 1959:Bonanza,1 episode
- 1960:Denver McKee
- 1959:The Alaskans,1 episode
- 1960:The Devil Makers
- 1960:The Barbara Stanwyck Show,11 episodes
- 1960:The Mink Coat
- 1960:Ironbark's Bridge
- 1960:The Miraculous Journey of Tadpole Chan
- 1961:Frightened Doll
- 1961:The Choice
- 1961:Sign of the Zodiac
- 1961:Adventure on Happiness Street
- 1961:The Golden Acres
- 1961:Confession
- 1961:Dragon by the Tail
- 1961:Dear Charlie
- 1962:Adventures in Paradise,1 episode
- 1962:A Bride for the Captain
- 1962:Follow the Sun,1 episode
- Sergeant Kolchak Fades Away
- 1963:The Twilight Zone,1 episode
- 1963:Night Call
- 1966:T.H.E. Cat,1 episode
- 1966:The Ring of Anasis
Assistant director or editor
[edit]- 1929:Le Navire des hommes perdus(Das schiff der verlorenen menschen), directed by Maurice Tourneur
- 1930:Accusée, Levez vous,directed by Maurice Tourneur
- 1931:Maison de danses,directed by Maurice Tourneur
- 1931:Partir,directed by Maurice Tourneur
- 1932:Au nom de la Loi,directed by Maurice Tourneur
- 1932:Les Gaités de l'escadron,directed by Maurice Tourneur (Editor)
- 1933:Les Deux Orphelines,directed by Maurice Tourneur (Editor)
- 1993:Lidoire,directed by Maurice Tourneur.
- 1933:Obsession,directed by Maurice Tourneur (uncredited)
- 1933:La Fusée,directed by Jacques Natanson (Editor)
- 1933:Le Voleur,directed by Maurice Tourneur
- 1934:Rothchild,directed by Maurice Tourneur (Editor)
- 1935:A Tale of Two Cities,directed by Jack Conway, war sequences, (séquence de la prise de la Bastille).
Posterity
[edit]La Mort en direct,a 1980 film byBertrand Tavernier,is dedicated to the deceased film director Jacques Tourneur.
"There are films that watch us grow old." Statement bySerge Daneyquoted by Serge Le Péron inJacques Tourneur Le Médium,a film by Alain Mazars, 2015.
By naming the main character Jessica Holland in his filmMemoria(2021),Apichatpong Weerasethakulpays tribute to Jacques Tourneur's filmI Walked with a Zombie.[4]
References
[edit]- ^Tourneur 2016,00:14:10.
- ^abcdefghijEarnshaw 2004, p. 102.
- ^Schneider, Steven Jay, ed. (2007).501 Movie Directors.London: Cassell Illustrated. pp. 140–141.ISBN9781844035731.OCLC1347156402.
- ^Uzal, Marcos (2021-07-16)."Memoria de Apichatpong Weerasethakul Des trous dan la tête".Cahiers du cinéma.Retrieved2021-07-16.
Bibliography
- Earnshaw, Tony (2004).Beating the Devil: The Making of Night of the Demon.Tomahawk Press.ISBN0-9531926-1-X.
- Tourneur, Jacques (2016). "Cine Regards".Cat People(Blu-ray).The Criterion Collection.ISBN978-1-68143-201-4.CC2674BD.
- Jacques Tourneur, The Cinema of Nightfall,Chris Fujiwara, The Johns Hopkins University press 2007.
Further reading
[edit]- Young, Gwenda (2001) 'Shadows: Jacques Tourneur's Cinema of Ambiguity'.Film Ireland,83 (*):47–51.
- Young, Gwenda (1999) 'Jacques Tourneur's World War II Films: From Unity to Chaos'.Popular Culture Review,10 (2):55–65.
- Young, Gwenda (1998) 'The Cinema of Difference: Jacques Tourneur, Race and I Walked with a Zombie (1943)'. ''Irish Journal of American Studies,7:101–121.
External links
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