French film director (1904–1977)
Jacques Tourneur
Born (1904-11-12 ) November 12, 1904Died December 19, 1977(1977-12-19) (aged 73) Other names Jack Turner Occupation(s) Director, producer, editor Years active 1929–1965 Parent
Jacques Tourneur (French:
[tuʁnœʁ] ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during the
Golden Age of Hollywood . He was known as an
auteur of stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them for
RKO Pictures , including the
horror films
Cat People ,
I Walked with a Zombie , and
The Leopard Man , and the classic
film noir
Out of the Past . He is also known for directing
Night of the Demon , which was released by
Columbia Pictures .
Life
Born in
Paris, France , Tourneur was the son of Fernande Petit and
film director
Maurice Tourneur .
[2] At age 10, Jacques moved to the
United States with his father.
[2] 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.
[2] Tourneur died in 1977, aged 73, in
Bergerac ,
Dordogne , France.
Career
Tourneur began work as an
editor and
assistant director . He made his debut as a director on the French film
Tout ça ne vaut pas l'amour [
fr ] in 1931.
[2] In 1934, Tourneur went to Hollywood, 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 .
[2]
Tourneur made his feature debut as director in the 1939 film
They All Come Out . 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 .
[2]
Cat People , 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 including
Out of the Past and
Berlin Express .
[2] In the 1950s, Tourneur became a freelance director, filming various genre films including
Wichita ,
Anne of the Indies ,
Way of a Gaucho ,
Nightfall ,
The Flame and the Arrow ,
Stars In My Crown and
Night of the Demon .
[2] His last two films, made for
American International Pictures and starring
Vincent Price , were
The Comedy of Terrors (1963) and
War-Gods of the Deep (1965).
[2]
After his final days working for film, Tourneur began directing television episodes. Tourneur filmed episodes of
The Barbara Stanwyck Show ,
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.
[2]
Filmography
Director
Feature films
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
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 : A Hero Returns
1956 : Kirsti
1956 : The Mirror
1957 :
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars , 1 episode
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
1959 :
The Alaskans , 1 episode
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
1966 :
T.H.E. Cat , 1 episode
1966 : The Ring of Anasis
Assistant director or editor
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
La Mort en direct (1980), film by
Bertrand Tavernier is dedicated to deceased film director Jacques Tourneur
”There are films that watch us grow old ”
Serge Daney . Quoted by Serge Le Péron in (Jacques Tourneur Le Médium), film by Alain Mazars, 2015.
By naming the main character Jessica Holland in his film
Memoria (2021),
[3]
Apichatpong Weerasethakul pays tribute to Jacques Tourneur’s film I Walked with a Zombie.
References
Bibliography
Earnshaw, Tony (2004). Beating the Devil: The Making of Night of the Demon . Tomahawk Press.
ISBN
0-9531926-1-X .
Tourneur, Jacques (2016). "Cine Regards". Cat People (Blu-ray).
The Criterion Collection .
ISBN
978-1-68143-201-4 . CC2674BD.
Jacques Tourneur, The Cinema of Nightfall, Chris Fujiwara, The Johns Hopkins University press 2007.
Further reading
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
International National Artists People Other