Jacques Tourneur

Jacques Tourneur
on set, date unknown
Born	November 12, 1904 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 film director known for the classic film noir Out of the Past and a series of low-budget horror films he made for RKO Studios, including Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie and The Leopard Man. He is also known for directing Night of the Demon, that was released by Columbia Pictures.

Life

Born in Paris, France, Tourneur 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

Tourneur began work as an 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]

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.^[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] 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.^[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 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.^[1] Tourneur then retired and returned to France.^[1]

Filmography

Director Short films 1931 – Tout ça ne vaut pas l'amour (French) 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

Feature films 1933 – Toto (French) 1933 – Pour être aimé (French) 1934 – Les Filles de la concierge (French)            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 1943 – The Leopard Man 1944 – Days of Glory 1944 – Experiment Perilous 1946 – Canyon Passage 1947 – Out of the Past 1948 – Berlin Express 1949 – Easy Living 1950 – Stars In My Crown 1950 – The Flame and the Arrow 1951 – Circle of Danger 1951 – Anne of the Indies 1952 – Way of a Gaucho 1953 – Appointment in Honduras

1955 – Stranger on Horseback 1955 – Wichita 1956 – Great Day in the Morning 1957 – Nightfall 1957 – Night of the Demon 1958 – The Fearmakers 1959 – Timbuktu 1959 – Frontier Rangers 1959 – Giant of Marathon 1964 – The Comedy of Terrors 1965 – War-Gods of the Deep

Editor

• Accused, Stand Up! (1930)
• Maison de danses (1931)
• Departure (1931)
• In the Name of the Law (1932)
• Fun in the Barracks (1932)
• Rothschild (1933)
• La Fusée (1933)
• Le Voleur (1933)

References

Notes

1. 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.

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

• Jacques Tourneur at the Internet Movie Database
• Jacques Tourneur at AllMovie