Ichac, Marcel

(October 22, 1906, Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France - April 9, 1994, Ezanville, Essonne, France)

   The son of financial journalist Eugène Ichac, he studied at the Arts Déco (decorative arts school) before working as an advertising executive, illustra­tor, and journalist. From the mid-l920s, he was an accomplished alpinist. His passion for high mountains led him to direct his first short documentary (La Poursuite blanche). In 1959, his first feature film, Les Etoiles de Midi, won the French Cinema Great Prize. He produced La Rivière du Hibou / UK: An Incident at Owl Creek / USA: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Robert Enrico, l962), a short that received a Hol­lywood Academy Award before being included as an episode of The Twilight Zone TV series.

 Filmography

1936 ◘ Poursuite blanche (documentary; short)

        ◘ Karakoram (documentary; medium-length; co-director with Henri de Ségogne)

        ◘ Missions de France (documentary; short)

        ◘ Pèlerins de la Mecque (documentary; short)

1942 ◘ A l'Assaut des Aiguilles du Diable (documentary; short)

        ◘ Le Médecin des Neiges (short)

1943 ◘ Sondeurs d'Abîme (documentary; short)

1945 ◘ Tempête sur les Alpes (documentary; short)

        ◘ Skis de France (documentary; short)

        ◘ Padirac Rivière de la Nuit (documentary; short)

        ◘ Technique de l'Aluminium (documentary; short)

1950 ◘ Himalaya (documentary; short)

1952 ◘ Aluminum (documentary; short)

        ◘ Groenland (documentary; co-director with Jean-Jacques Languepin; also cinematographer; shot in l949)

        ◘ Nouveaux Horizons (documentary; short)

        ◘ Victoire sur l'Annapurna / UK: Conquest of Annapurna / USA: Annapurna (documentary; medium-length; also narrator; shot in l950)

        ◘ Via Pole Nord (documentary; short)

        ◘ Tour du Monde express (documentary; short)

1956 ◘ Les Danses de Tami (documentary; short)

1960 ◘ Les Etoiles de Midi (documentary; co-director with Jacques Ertaud; also co-screenwriter; shot in l960)

1967 ◘ Le Conquérant de l'Inutile (documentary; short)

1972 ◘ Trente Ans de la Vie d'un Skieur (documentary; short)