Mocky, Jean-Pierre

(Jean-Paul Adam Mokiejew-ski / July 6, 1929, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France - )

   The son of a Polish officer of Chechen origin father and a Polish mother, he entered films at age thirteen as an extra in Marcel Carné's Les Visiteurs du Soir / USA: The Devil's Envoys (1942). After playing small parts in Vive la Liberté! / On a tué un Homme (Jeff Musso, 1946), L'Homme au Chapeau rond / USA: The Eternal Husband (Pierre Billon, 1946), L'Affaire du Collier de la Reine / USA: Queen's Necklace (Marcel l'Herbier, Jean Dréville), Rêves d'Amour / USA: Dreams of Love (Christian Stengel), and La Cabane aux Souvenirs (Jean Stelli), he briefly studied law at the University of Strasbourg. Having trained at the Paris Conservatory with Henri Rollan and Louis Jouvet as teachers, he opted for an acting career. He played in about seventy movies, including Le Paradis des Pilotes perdus / USA: The Hell of Lost Pilots (Jean Delannoy, 1949), Orphée / USA: Orpheus (Jean Cocteau), I vinti / Les Vaincus / UK: The Vanquished / USA: Youth and Perversion (segment "Sans Amour", Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy / France, 1953), Graziella (Giorgio Bianchi, Italy), Senso / USA: Livia / US TV: The Wanton Contessa (also assistant director, Luchino Visconti, Italy / France), Gli sbandati (Francesco Maselli, Italy), Le Comte de Monte-Cristo / Il tesoro di Montecristo / USA: The Count of Monte Cristo (two episodes: "La Trahison", "La Vengeance", Robert Vernay, France / Italy, 1955, shot in 1953-1954), and La Tête contre les Murs / UK: The Keepers / USA: Head Against the Wall (Georges Franju, 1959). Since 1959, he has been one of the most prolific French directors and directed movies impregnated with his taste for satire, caricature, and the fantastic. He authored two autobiographies (2001 M le Mocky, Editions Denoël; 2006 Cette Fois je flingue, Editions Florent Massot) and two novels (2005 Mister Flash: Gentleman Gangster, Editions Flammarion; 2007 Les Vacances du Pouvoir, Editions Michalon).

 Filmography

        ◘ Les Dragueurs / UK: Young Have No Morals / USA: The Chasers (also screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist)

        ◘ Un Couple (also screenwriter, co-adapter, co-producer, actor)

        ◘ Snobs! (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-producer, actor)

        ◘ Les Vierges / Le vergini (also screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; France / Italy)

        ◘ Un Drôle de Paroissien / UK: Heaven Sent / USA: Thank Heaven for Small Favors (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, actor)

1964 ◘ La Grande Frousse / La Cité de l'indicible Peur (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, lyricist)

1966 ◘ La Bourse et la Vie / Geld oder Leben / USA: Your Money or Your Life (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-producer; France / West Germany)

        ◘ Les Compagnons de la Marguerite / UK: Order of the Daisy (also screenwriter, co-producer, actor)

        ◘ La Grande Lessive (!) (also co-screenwriter, co-producer)

        ◘ L'Etalon (also screenwriter, co-producer)

        ◘ Solo (also screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, co-producer, actor)

        ◘ L'Albatros / UK and USA: Love Hate / USA: The Albatross (also screenwriter, co-producer, actor)

        ◘ Chut! / Mocky 'moque No. 1 (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, co-producer, co-editor)

        ◘ L'Ombre d'une Chance (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, producer, actor)

        ◘ Un Linceul n'a pas de Poches (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, producer, actor)

        ◘ L'Ibis rouge (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, voice, producer)

        ◘ Le Roi des Bricoleurs (also screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, producer, co-editor)

        ◘ Le Témoin / Il testimone / UK and USA: The Witness (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy)

1979 ◘ Le Piège à Cons (also co-screenwriter, producer, actor, co-editor)

1982 ◘ Litan, la Cité des Spectres verts (also co-screenwriter, producer, actor, co-editor)

        ◘ Y-a-t-il un Français dans la Salle? (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, voice, co-editor)

1984 ◘ A Mort l'Arbitre! / UK and USA: Kill the Referee (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, actor, co-editor)

        ◘ Le Pactole (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist, producer)

        ◘ La Machine à découdre (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer, actor, co-editor)

        ◘ Le Miraculé (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, producer, actor, co-editor)

        ◘ Agent trouble / UK and USA: The Man Who Loved the Zoos (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, co-producer, actor, co-editor)

        ◘ Nice Is Nice (short; also producer, editor)

1988 ◘ Les Saisons du Plaisir (also screenwriter, dialogist, co-editor)

        ◘ Une Nuit à l'Assemblée Nationale (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, co-producer, editor)

        ◘ Divine Enfant (also screenwriter, co-dialogist, producer, actor, editor)

        ◘ Il gèle en Enfer (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer, actor, editor)

        ◘ Mocky Story (also screenwriter, dialogist, producer, actor, editor)

        ◘ Crime imparfait (short)

        ◘ Dis-moi que tu hais (short; also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, editor)

        ◘ La Méthode Barnol (short; also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, editor)

        ◘ La Vérité qui tue (short; also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, editor)

        ◘ Ville à vendre (also co-screenwriter, co-editor)

        ◘ Le Mari de Léon (also screenwriter, co-adapter, dialogist, producer, actor, editor)

        ◘ Bonsoir! (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, producer, co-editor; shot in 1992)

1995 ◘ Noir comme le Souvenir (also co-screenwriter, producer, co-editor; France / Switzerland-West Germany)

        ◘ Alliance cherche Doigt (also co-screenwriter, producer, co-editor)

        ◘ Robin des Mers (also screenwriter, producer, actor, production designer, co-editor)

        ◘ Vidange (also co-screenwriter, producer, co-editor)

2000 ◘ La Candide Madame Duff (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer, actor, co-editor)

        ◘ Tout est calme (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, producer, actor, co-editor; shot in 1998)

        ◘ Le Glandeur (also screenwriter, dialogist, producer, actor, producer, co-editor)

        ◘ La Bête de Miséricorde (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, producer, actor, co-editor)

        ◘ Les Araignées de la Nuit (also co-screenwriter, producer, actor, co-editor)

        ◘ Le Furet (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, co-editor)

        ◘ Touristes? Oh Yes! (also co-screenwriter, del­egate producer, actor)

        ◘ Grabuge! (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, producer, co-editor)

        ◘ Le Bénévole (also screenwriter, dialogist)

        ◘ Le Deal (also co-screenwriter, producer)

        ◘ Les Ballets écarlates (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, actor)

        ◘ 13 French Street (also screenwriter, adapter, co-editor)

 Television Filmography

1983 ◘ Lettre d'un Cinéaste: Le Mystère Mocky (documentary; short; also screenwriter, actor as himself)

1985 ◘ Drôle de Festival (documentary; short)

1988 ◘ Enduro Party (short)

        ◘ Méliès 88: Gulliver (short; also editor)

        ◘ Mister Mocky présente . . . d'après les Nouvelles d'Alfred Hitchcock (episode "Le Diable en Em­buscade"; also host)

        ◘ Mister Mocky présente . . . d'après les Nouvelles d'Alfred Hitchcock (episodes "Cellule inso­norisée", also host; "Dans le Lac", also host; "Chantage à Domicile", also host; "Le Far­ceur", also host; "L'Energumène", also host; "Témoins de Choix", also host; "Morts sur Commande", also actor; "Service rendu", also host; "La Clinique opale", also host; "Le Jour de l'Exécution", also host; "Un Eléphant dans un Magasin de Porcelaine", also actor)