Pierre Braunberger

Pierre Braunberger (29 July 1905, Paris – 16 November 1990, Aubervilliers) was a French producer, executive producer, and actor.

Biography Born into a family of physicians, Braunberger at the age of seven was already determined not have the same life as his father, and not to take up medicine as a career. He saw a screening of Fantômas at the Gaumont Théâtre, the first cinema to open in Paris, and decided to work in the cinema.

After the First World War, at the age of 15, he produced and directed his first film: Frankfurt in Germany. He left for successive adventures in Berlin, London at Brocklis establishments, where he worked.

In 1923, he left for New York, where he worked for a few weeks at Fox Film Corporation, and became a director of production along with Ferdinand H. Adam where he also worked on films with Frank Merrill.

In the course of his films in Los Angeles, he came to know Irving Thalberg who employed him at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as one of his assistants. He stayed there for eighteen months, and established contacts with one of the greatest directors of the time.

Wanting to direct and produce in France, he returned to Paris and got to know Jean Renoir, with whom he worked on Avec qui il va tourner, The Whirlpool of Fate, Nana and Tire-au-flanc.

In 1929, Braunberger created Productions Pierre Braunberger and Néofilms for the production of his first French-speaking film (La route est belle by Robert Florey).

In 1930, Braunberger became head of the Pantheon Cinema and continued there for sixty years. He renovated the lobby, created 450 seats, and installed Western Electric projectors and sound equipment. Although subtitles were yet to be invented, he was the first to show foreign films in their original versions.

One year later, he met with Roger Richebé to produce under the name of Établissements Braunberger-Richebé. A few films were produced, such as le Blanc et le noir by Robert Florey, La chienne by Jean Renoir, and Chocolatière et Fanny by Marc Allégret. In 1933, still only 28, he decided to continue alone, and formed studios de Billancourt, which became Paris-Studio-Cinéma. During World War two he was not able to produce a film because he was Jewish.

At the end of the Second World War, Braunberger transformed a local Gestapo office into the Studio Lhomond, which he used to discover new talents of the "nouvelle vague", including Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Resnais.

In 1966 he was the head of the jury at the 16th Berlin International Film Festival.

Braunberger had a close relationship with philosopher Gilles Deleuze.

In the late 1970s, Braunberger produced two films for Polish filmmaker Walerian Borowczyk.

Braunberger died in 1990.

Filmography

1929 : La Malemort du Canard (La Ballade du canard) 1930 : La Route est belle 1930 : 1930 : El Amor solfeando 1930 : La Femme d'une nuit 1931 : La donna di una notte 1931 : On purge bébé 1931 : The Lovers of Midnight 1931 : La Chienne 1931 : Salto Mortale 1931 : American Love 1932 : Baleydier 1933 : Tire au flanc 1934 : Sans famille 1936 : Partie de campagne 1937 : The Cheat 1940 : Threats 1947 : Van Gogh 1947 : Paris 1900 1948 : Van Gogh 1949 : Le Trésor des Pieds-Nickelés 1950 : Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 1950 : Histoire des pin-up girls 1950 : Guernica 1950 : Gauguin 1950 : Le Tampon du capiston 1951 : Station mondaine 1951 : Palais royal 1951 : Le Dictionnaire des pin-up girls 1951 : L'Art du haut-rhénan 1951 : The Bullfight documentary 1951 : Bernard and the Lion 1952 : En quête de Marie 1952 : Avec André Gide 1952 : The Crime of Bouif 1952 : Jocelyn 1953 : Marc Chagall 1953 : Julietta 1954 : Croissance de Paris 1954 : Ballade parisienne 1955 : Visages de Paris 1955 : Une lettre pour vous 1955 : New York ballade 1955 : Impressions de New York 1956 : Toute la mémoire du monde 1956 : Houston, Texas 1956 : Le Grand sud 1956 : Le Coup du berger 1956 : Les Abeilles 1958 : Moi un noir 1958 : Elèves-maîtres 1958 : Le Chant du styrène by Alain Resnais (short) 1958 : Ces gens de Paris 1958 : Bonjour, Monsieur La Bruyère 1958 : Au bon coin 1958 : L'Américain se détend 1959 : Tous les garçons s'appellent Patrick (All the Boys Are Called Patrick) 1960 : L'Amour existe by Maurice Pialat (short) 1960 : L'Eau à la bouche 1960 : L'Amérique insolite 1960 : Tirez sur le pianiste (Shoot the Piano Player) 1960 : Charlotte et son Jules 1961 : Une histoire d'eau 1962 : Un cœur gros comme ça 1962 : La Dénonciation 1962 : Virginie 1962 : Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux 1963 : Delphica 1964 : La Femme spectacle 1964 : La Fleur de l'âge, ou Les adolescentes 1964 : De l'amour 1965 : Le Bestiaire d'amour 1965 : L'Affaire de poissons 1966 : Lumière 1966 : Martin Soldat by Michel Deville with Robert Hirsch 1967 : L'Affaire de la rue de Chantilly (Le Crime de la rue de Chantilly) (TV) 1968 : Erotissimo by Gérard Pirès with Annie Girardot 1969 : L'Astragale 1969 : Libre de ne pas l'être 1969 : Le Droit d'asile 1969 : Cinéma-cinéma 1970 : Trois Hommes sur un cheval by Marcel Moussy with Robert Dhéry 1970 : Les Voisins n'aiment pas la musique 1970 : La Fin des Pyrénées 1970 : En attendant l'auto... 1970 : Chambres de bonne 1970 : Êtes-vous fiancée à un marin grec ou à un pilote de ligne ? by Jean Aurel with Jean Yanne 1971 : Les Doigts croisés (To Catch a Spy) by Dick Clement with Kirk Douglas 1971 : Le Laboratoire de l'angoisse 1971 : La Cavale 1971 : Fantasia chez les ploucs by Gérard Pirès with Lino Ventura 1971 : Petit à petit 1971 : You Can't Hold Back Spring 1972 : Je, tu, elles... 1972 : Elle court, elle court la banlieue by Gérard Pirès with Marthe Keller 1974 : Défense d'aimer 1974 : Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard 1974 : Comme un pot de fraises by Jean Aurel with Jean-Claude Brialy 1975 : Emilienne 1975 : by Gérard Pirès with Jean-Louis Trintignant 1975 : Attention les yeux ! by Gérard Pirès with Claude Brasseur 1977 : Le Risque de vivre by Gérald Calderon with Michael Lonsdale 1979 : L'Armoire 1979 : Collections privées 1983 : Kusa-meikyu 1986 : Dionysus 1989 : Aller à Dieppe sans voir la mer