Jacques Tourneur
Encyclopedia
Jacques Tourneur was a French
-American film director
.
Maurice Tourneur
. At age 10, Jacques moved to the United States
with his father. He started a career in cinema while still attending high school
as an extra and later as a script clerk in various silent films. Both Maurice and Jacques returned to France
after his father worked on the film The Mysterious Island
in 1925. Tourneur died in 1977 in Bergerac
, Dordogne
, France.
. He made his debut as a director on French short film Tout ca ne vaut pas l'amour in 1931.
Jacques Tourneur went back to Hollywood in 1934 where he had a contract with MGM Studios. While working as the second unit director on the film A Tale of Two Cities
he met film producer Val Lewton
. Tourneur made his feature debut as director in the 1939 film They All Come Out in 1939. 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
. Cat People was considered to be a B movie and didn’t have a very big budget, yet the style of lighting and cinematography gave it an edge that has been imitated countless times.Tourneur was promoted to the A-list at RKO, directing films including Out of the Past
and Berlin Express
. 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
. His last films both starred Vincent Price
, with The Comedy of Terrors
(1963) and War-Gods of the Deep
(1965) for American International Pictures
.
After his final days working for film, Tourneur began directing television episodes. 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. Tourneur then retired and returned to France.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-American film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
Life
Born in Paris, France, he was the son of film directorFilm director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Maurice Tourneur
Maurice Tourneur
Maurice Tourneur was an important international film director and screenwriter.-Life:Born Maurice Thomas in the Belleville district of Paris, France, his father was a jeweler. As a young man, Maurice Thomas first trained as a graphic designer and a magazine illustrator but was soon drawn to the...
. At age 10, Jacques moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with his father. He started a career in cinema while still attending high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
as an extra and later as a script clerk in various silent films. Both Maurice and Jacques returned to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
after his father worked on the film The Mysterious Island
The Mysterious Island (1929 film)
The Mysterious Island is an MGM film directed by Lucien Hubbard, a film adaptation of Jules Verne's novel L'Île mystérieuse , published in 1874...
in 1925. Tourneur died in 1977 in Bergerac
Bergerac, Dordogne
Bergerac is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Dordogne department in southwestern France.-Population:-Economy:The region is primarily known for wine and tobacco...
, Dordogne
Dordogne
Dordogne is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river Dordogne that runs through it...
, France.
Career
Jacques began work as an editor and assistant directorAssistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
. He made his debut as a director on French short film Tout ca ne vaut pas l'amour in 1931.
Jacques Tourneur went back to Hollywood in 1934 where he had a contract with MGM Studios. While working as the second unit director on the film A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities (1935 film)
A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935 film based upon Charles Dickens' 1859 historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities. The film stars Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton, Donald Woods and Elizabeth Allan. The supporting players include Basil Rathbone, Blanche Yurka, and Edna Mae Oliver. It was directed by Jack...
he met film producer Val Lewton
Val Lewton
Val Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s.-Early life:...
. Tourneur made his feature debut as director in the 1939 film They All Come Out in 1939. 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
I Walked with a Zombie
I Walked with a Zombie is a 1943 horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur. It was the second horror film from producer Val Lewton for RKO Pictures; the first was the very successful Cat People, also directed by Tourneur...
. Cat People was considered to be a B movie and didn’t have a very big budget, yet the style of lighting and cinematography gave it an edge that has been imitated countless times.Tourneur was promoted to the A-list at RKO, directing films including Out of the Past
Out of the Past
Out of the Past is a 1947 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring , with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M...
and Berlin Express
Berlin Express
Berlin Express is a black-and-white drama film directed by Jacques Tourneur. Thrown together by chance, a group of people search a city for a kidnapped peace activist. Set in Allied-occupied Germany, it was shot on location in post-World War II Frankfurt-am-Main and Berlin...
. In the 1950s, Tourneur became a freelance director, filming various genre films including The Flame and the Arrow
The Flame and the Arrow
The Flame and the Arrow is a 1950 American adventure film made by Warner Bros. and starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo and Nick Cravat. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Harold Hecht and Frank Ross from a screenplay by Waldo Salt. The music score was by Max Steiner and the...
, Stars In My Crown and Night of the Demon
Night of the Demon
Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. An adaptation of the M. R...
. His last films both starred Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
, with The Comedy of Terrors
The Comedy of Terrors
The Comedy of Terrors is an American International Pictures comedy horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Joe E. Brown . The film also features Orangey the cat, billed as "Rhubarb the Cat"...
(1963) and War-Gods of the Deep
War-Gods of the Deep
War-Gods of the Deep is a 1965 science fiction film. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and starred Vincent Price, Tab Hunter and David Tomlinson. The plot concerns the discovery of a lost city beneath the sea off the coast of Cornwall...
(1965) for American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
.
After his final days working for film, Tourneur began directing television episodes. Tourneur filmed episodes of Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
and The Alaskans
The Alaskans
The Alaskans is a 1959 television series set in the port of Skagway, Alaska during the 1890s. The show features Roger Moore as "Silky Harris" and Jeff York as "Reno McKee", a pair of adventurers intent on swindling travelers bound for the Yukon Territories during the height of the Klondike Gold...
. Tourneur's final director credit was for an episode of T.H.E. Cat in 1966. Tourneur then retired and returned to France.
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 Nick Carter, Master Detective Nick Carter, Master Detective was a Mutual radio crime drama based on tales of the famed detective from Street & Smith's dime novels and pulp magazines. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter, a reference to the character's pulp origins, but the title was soon changed to Nick... |
|
| 1940 | Phantom Raiders | |
| 1941 | Doctors Don't Tell | |
| 1942 | Cat People | |
| 1943 | I Walked with a Zombie I Walked with a Zombie I Walked with a Zombie is a 1943 horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur. It was the second horror film from producer Val Lewton for RKO Pictures; the first was the very successful Cat People, also directed by Tourneur... |
|
| The Leopard Man The Leopard Man The Leopard Man is a horror movie directed by Jacques Tourneur based on the book Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich. It is one of the first American films to attempt an even remotely realistic portrayal of a serial killer .-Plot summary:The story, set in New Mexico, begins as Jerry Manning hires a... |
||
| 1944 | Days of Glory | |
| Experiment Perilous Experiment Perilous Experiment Perilous is a 1944 melodrama set at the turn of the 20th century. The film is based on a novel by Margaret Carpenter and directed by Jacques Tourneur. Albert S. D'Agostino, Jack Okey, Darrell Silvera, and Claude E. Carpenter were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art... |
||
| 1946 | Canyon Passage Canyon Passage Canyon Passage is a 1946 Western film directed by Jacques Tourneur and set in frontier Oregon. Featuring love triangles and a Native American uprising, it was adapted from the Saturday Evening Post novel Canyon Passage by Ernest Haycox... |
|
| 1947 | Out of the Past Out of the Past Out of the Past is a 1947 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring , with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M... |
|
| 1948 | Berlin Express Berlin Express Berlin Express is a black-and-white drama film directed by Jacques Tourneur. Thrown together by chance, a group of people search a city for a kidnapped peace activist. Set in Allied-occupied Germany, it was shot on location in post-World War II Frankfurt-am-Main and Berlin... |
|
| 1949 | Easy Living Easy Living (1949 film) Easy Living is a 1949 American drama film directed by renowned horror and film noir director Jacques Tourneur, starring Victor Mature, Lizabeth Scott and Lucille Ball... |
|
| 1950 | Stars In My Crown | |
| The Flame and the Arrow The Flame and the Arrow The Flame and the Arrow is a 1950 American adventure film made by Warner Bros. and starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo and Nick Cravat. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Harold Hecht and Frank Ross from a screenplay by Waldo Salt. The music score was by Max Steiner and the... |
||
| 1951 | Circle of Danger Circle of Danger Circle of Danger is a 1951 British thriller film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Ray Milland, Patricia Roc and Naunton Wayne. An American travels to England to discover the truth behind his brother's death during the Second World War... |
|
| Anne of the Indies Anne of the Indies Anne of the Indies is a 1951 adventure film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by George Jessel.The film stars Jean Peters and Louis Jourdan, with Debra Paget, Herbert Marshall, Thomas Gomez and James Robertson Justice.-Story Development:The story was... |
||
| 1952 | Way of a Gaucho Way of a Gaucho Way of a Gaucho ia a 1952 20th Century Fox western set in Argentina. It stars Gene Tierney and Rory Calhoun.... |
|
| 1953 | Appointment in Honduras Appointment in Honduras Appointment in Honduras is a comedy adventure film, starring Glenn Ford and directed by Jacques Tourneur- Plot :This story originates from a Central American country. Ms. Sylvia Sheppard and a handsome gentleman Jim Corbett is in the jungle and facing dangerous lizards, tigers and other animals... |
|
| 1955 | Stranger on Horseback | |
| Wichita | ||
| 1956 | Great Day in the Morning Great Day in the Morning Great Day In The Morning is a 1956 film. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Stack and Virginia Mayo, set in 1860s Denver.-Plot and overview:... |
|
| 1957 | Nightfall Nightfall (1957 film) Nightfall is a film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur. It features Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, and Anne Bancroft. The low-budget film is remembered today for camera work by cinematographer Burnett Guffey... |
|
| Night of the Demon Night of the Demon Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. An adaptation of the M. R... |
||
| 1958 | The Fearmakers | |
| 1959 | Timbuktu Timbuktu (film) Timbuktu is a 1959 black-and-white adventure film set in the city of the same name but filmed in the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Kanab, Utah... |
|
| Frontier Rangers | ||
| Giant of Marathon | ||
| 1964 | The Comedy of Terrors The Comedy of Terrors The Comedy of Terrors is an American International Pictures comedy horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Joe E. Brown . The film also features Orangey the cat, billed as "Rhubarb the Cat"... |
|
| 1965 | War-Gods of the Deep War-Gods of the Deep War-Gods of the Deep is a 1965 science fiction film. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and starred Vincent Price, Tab Hunter and David Tomlinson. The plot concerns the discovery of a lost city beneath the sea off the coast of Cornwall... |
|
| 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 Romance of Radium Romance of Radium is a 1937 short film directed by Jacques Tourneur, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1937 for Best Short Subject .- Cast :* André Cheron - Henri Becquerel... |
||
| 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 The Face Behind the Mask The Face Behind the Mask is a crime-drama film released by Columbia Pictures in 1941. It starred Peter Lorre and Evelyn Keyes and was directed by Robert Florey and Wallace MacDonald.-Plot:... |
||
| 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 | |
External links
- 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.
- Special about Jacques Tourneur, with pieces by Pedro Costa, Chris Fujiwara, Toni D'Angela, Louis Skorecki, Jean-Claude Biette, Jacques Lourcelles, Bruno Andrade, Raymond BellourRaymond BellourRaymond Bellour is a French writer, critic and theorist of cinema.Bellour is Director of Research Emeritus at the CNRS. Since 1986 he has taught at Paris III. In 1990 with Christine Van Assche and Catherine David he co-curated the Passages de l'image exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou...
, Tag Gallagher, Miguel Marias, Jean-Marie Samocki, and others http://www.lafuriaumana.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=52:la-furia-umana-nd5-summer-2010&Itemid=61&layout=default