Clément Duhour

Clément Duhour was born in Saint-Jean d’Anglet, in the Aquitaine region of south-western France on 11 December 1911. He died on 3 January 1983 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He was a French athlete, singer, actor, film director and producer.

Biography

A French Basque, Clément Duhour was the son of a baker. He was also the younger brother of Édouard Duhour. At age 16, he won his first French national championships in both the shot put and discus. Almost simultaneously, he was expelled from the public high school in Bayonne for "indiscipline". Subsequently, his father sent him to Paris to become an apprentice salesman at the Félix Potin grocery store. Three days later, he quit the apprenticeship to become an entertainer at the Lapin Agile club under the stage name Guy Lormont. In 1932, he took part in the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles shot put competition, where he tossed well beyond the 45-foot mark without much training. His brother, Édouard, was also a French shot putter, who competed in the event at the Olympics the previous year. The following year, Clément was again crowned French national shot put champion.

During the German occupation of France, Duhour opens his own cabaret, Le Cavalier, on the Rue de Ponthieu, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. He also starts his movie career as "Boris Ivanovitch" in L'Âge d'or directed by Jean de Limur. According to Hans von Luck, Duhour's cafe-inn was a cover for Resistance activities, thus hiding resisters behind a cloak of superficial compliance with the Germans. In 1942, Duhour met Viviane Romance and they married in 1943. Together they created the production company Izarra Films, "izarra" meaning "star" in Basque.

After the end of the Second World War, Clément Duhour becomes Sacha Guitry's regular producer and collaborator through his production company "CLM" (Courts et Longs Métrages), whose name is meant as a quasi-acronym of his first name, Clément ("Clem"). This association would prove fruitful in the 1950s with the production of a series of cinematographic masterpieces, like the cult classics Three Make a Pair, Lovers And Thieves or If Paris Were Told To Us.

Clément Duhour also paid tribute to Sacha Guitry's memory after his death in 1957 by directing and producing Life Together (La Vie à deux) in 1958.

He died "of natural causes" on January 3, 1983, in Neuilly. He was 71 years old.

Filmography

As actor Year Title Director Notes 1941 The Golden Age Jean de Limur 1942 The Trump Card Jacques Becker 1945 La Route du bagne Léon Mathot 1946 La Colère des dieux Karel Lamač 1946 La Maison sous la mer Henri Calef 1948 Crossroads of Passion Ettore Giannini 1951 Passion Georges Lampin 1951 Paris Still Sings Pierre Montazel actor and producer 1952 Promenades à Paris Stany Cordier 1953 Saluti e baci - (La Route du bonheur) Maurice Labro and Giorgio Simonelli actor and producer 1953 L'Embarquement pour le ciel Jean Aurel 1953 Le Chemin de l'étoile Jean Mousselle 1953 La Montagne du bout du monde Lionel Terray 1953 Histoires de bicyclettes Émile Roussel 1954 Si Versailles m'était conté... Sacha Guitry actor and producer 1955 Napoléon Sacha Guitry actor and producer 1955 Si Paris nous était conté Sacha Guitry actor and producer

As director Year Title Notes 1958 Life Together director, writer, and producer 1959 You Have Nothing to Declare? director and producer

Only as producer Year Title Director Notes 1956 Le Pays d'où je viens Marcel Carné