Jacques Tourneur

Jacques Tourneur (; ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French and 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 supernatural horror films Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and The Leopard Man (1943), and the film noir Out of the Past (1947). He is also known for directing the war film Days of Glory (1944), which marked Gregory Peck's debut film role, and the British horror film Night of the Demon (1957), which was released by Columbia Pictures as Curse of the Demon.

Tourneur is considered a significant influence on the horror film genre.

Early life Tourneur was born in Paris, France, the son of Fernande Petit and film director Maurice Tourneur. At age 10, he moved to the United States with his father, and he became a United States citizen in 1919. 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.

In The American Cinema, Andrew Sarris wrote Tourneur brought "a certain French gentility to the American cinema... Tourneur's first films for Val Lewton - Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie - possessed a subtler dramatic force than those of Wise and Robson. Out of the Past is still Tourneur's masterpiece, a civilized treatment of an annihilating melodrama... All in all, Tourneur's career represents a triumph of taste over force."

Personal life Tourneur became estranged from his father after beginning an affair with his then-lover, the French actress Marguerite Christiane Virideau (1905-1993), notable for having supplied the voice for Snow White in the French dub of the Disney classic. After moving to the United States, they married on 22 April 1934, remaining together until his death.

Death Tourneur died in 1977, aged 73, in Bergerac, Dordogne, France.

Posterity La Mort en direct, a 1980 film by Bertrand Tavernier, is dedicated to the deceased film director Jacques Tourneur.

"There are films that watch us grow old." Statement by Serge Daney quoted by Serge Le Péron in Jacques Tourneur Le Médium, a film by Alain Mazars, 2015.

By naming the main character Jessica Holland in his film Memoria (2021), Apichatpong Weerasethakul pays tribute to Jacques Tourneur's film I Walked with a Zombie.

Filmography Director 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 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 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).