- Renoir, Jean
- (September 15, 1894, Paris, France - February 12, 1979, Beverly Hills, California, USA)The second son of impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (his elder brother was actor Pierre Renoir [1885-1952]), he grew up in Paris and in the south of France. He studied philosophy and mathematics before doing military service in the cavalry (1913-1915). He fought during World War I with the Alpine infantry and was injured badly by a bullet in a thighbone. He avoided contracting gangrene but slightly limped the rest of his days. He finished the war as a pilot. Having returned to civilian life, he was briefly a ceramic artist (1920-1923) before dedicating himself to his passion: cinema. He directed his first movie in 1924. Other credits: (as screenwriter): 1924 Catherine ou Une Vie sans Joie / USA: Backbiters (also co-adapter, intertitles, producer, actor, Albert Dieu-donné); 1930 Le Petit Chaperon rouge / USA: Little Red Riding Hood (as co-screenwriter, also producer, actor); 1940 L'Or du Cristobal (as dialogist, also supervisor, Jacques Becker, Jean Stelli); 1941 La Tosca / UK and USA: The Story of Tosca (as co-screenwriter, also un-credited co-director with Carl Koch, Italy); (as author of commentary): 1937 The Spanish Earth / The Spanish Earth, documentary, also narrator, Joris Ivens, USA); (as actor in movies): 1915 Ceux de chez nous (documentary, as himself, Sacha Guitry); 1927 La P'tite Lili (Alberto Cavalcanti); 1929 Vous verrez la Semaine prochaine (medium-length, Alberto Cavalcanti); 1930 Die Jagd nach dem Gluck (Rochus Gliese, Carl Koch, Lotte Reiniger, Germany); 1948 L'amore / USA: Ways of Love (segment "Il miracolo", Roberto Rosselini, Italy); 1956 L'Album de Famille de Jean Renoir (documentary, short, as himself, Roland Gritti); 1960 La Direction d'Acteurs par Jean Renoir (documentary, short, as himself, Gisèle Brauberger); Le Voyage de Monsieur Quiou (short, also author of commentary, Claude Labarre); 1970 Henri Langlois (documentary, short, Roberto Guerra, Jean Tédesco); 1971 The Christian Licorice Story (as himself, James Frawley, USA); 2004 Le Fantôme d'Henri Langlois (documentary, as himself in archive footage, Jacques Richard); 2005 Renoir(s) en suivant les Fils de l'Eau (documentary, as himself in archive footage, Jean-Pierre Devillers, Anne-Marie Faux); (as actor on TV): 1966 Cinéastes de notre Temps (documentary, as himself, episode "Portrait de Michel Simon par Jean Renoir ou Portrait de Jean Renoir par Michel Simon", Jacques Rivette); 1967 Cinéastes de notre temps (documentary, as himself, three parts: "La Recherche du Relatif", "La Direction d'Acteur", "Le Règle et l'Exception", Jacques Rivette); 1968 Louis Lumière (documentary, as himself, Eric Rohmer); 1974 Histoire du Cinéma français par ceux qui l'ont fait (documentary, as himself, Armand Panigel); 1993 Jean Renoir (two-part documentary: "From la Belle Epoque to World War II", "Hollywood and Beyond", David Thompson, USA); 1994 Un Tournage à la Campagne (documentary, archive footage, as himself, Jean Renoir); 1999 Renoir à Hollywood (documentary, archive footage, as himself, Christophe Champelaux); (as author of original play): 1973 Carola (Norman Lloyd, USA). He authored a book on his father (Pierre-Auguste Renoir, mon Père, published in the USA by Collins in December 1962 under the title Renoir, My Father), an autobiography (1974 Ma Vie et mes Films, Editions Flammarion, published in the UK and USA as My Life and My Films), and a collection of texts (1974 Ecrts, 1926-1971, Editions Belfond).Filmography◘ La Fille de l'Eau / UK and USA: Whirlpool of Fate (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, producer, set designer)◘ Nana (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, inter-titles, producer, editor)◘ Sur un Air de Charleston / Charleston / UK and USA: Charleston Parade (short; also actor)◘ Marquitta (also co-adapter, editor)◘ La Petite Marchande d'Allumettes / UK and USA: The Little Match Girl (co-director with Jean Tedesco)◘ Tire au Flanc (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter)1929 ◘ Le Tournoi dans la Cité◘ Le Bled1931 ◘ On purge Bébé (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)◘ La Chienne / UK and USA: The Bitch (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, dialogist, co-editor)1932 ◘ La Nuit du Carrefour (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, dialogist)◘ Boudu sauvé des Eaux / USA: Boudu Saved from Drowning (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist)◘ Chotard et Compagnie (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)◘ Madame Bovary (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)◘ Toni (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)◘ Le Crime de Monsieur Lange / USA: The Crime of Monsieur Lange (also co-author of original idea, dialogist, uncredited executive producer)◘ La Vie est à nous / UK and USA: The People of France (also co-screenwriter, actor; co-director with Jacques Becker, Jacques-Bernard Brunius, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jean-Paul Dreyfus / Jean-Paul Le Chanois, Pierre Unik, Paul Vaillant-Couturier, André Zwobada)◘ Les Bas-Fonds / UK: Underworld / USA: The Lower Depths (also co-dialogist)◘ La Grande Illusion / USA: The Grand Illusion (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)◘ La Marseillaise / UK: The Marseillaise (also co-screenwriter, dialogist, producer)◘ Une Partie de Campagne / UK and USA: A Day in the Country (also screenwriter, adapter, di-alogist, actor)◘ La Bête humaine / UK: Judas Was a Woman / USA: The Human Beast (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist, actor)1939 ◘ La Règle du Jeu / USA: The Rules of the Game (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, actor)1941 ◘ Swamp Water / UK: The Man Who Came Back (USA)1943 ◘ The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (uncredited co-director with Bruce Manning; USA)◘ This Land Is Mine (also uncredited screenwriter, producer; USA)◘ Salute to France (short; also co-screenwriter; co-director with Garson Kanin; USA)◘ The Southerner (also co-screenwriter; USA)◘ The Diary of a Chambermaid (also co-screenwriter; USA)◘ The Woman on the Beach (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist; USA)1951 ◘ The River / Le Fleuve (also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, co-producer; France / India / USA)1953 ◘ Le Carrosse d'Or / La carrozza d'oro / UK and USA: The Golden Coach (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, co-dialogist; France / Italy)◘ French Cancan / USA: Only the French Can (also adapter, dialogist; France / Italy)◘ Eléna et les Hommes / Eliana e gli uomini / UK: Elena and Her Men / UK and USA: Paris Does Strange Things (also screenwriter, co-adapter, dialogist; France / Italy)1959 ◘ Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe / UK: Lunch on the Grass / USA: Picnic on the Grass (also screenwriter, dialogist, producer)◘ Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier / UK: The Testament of Docteur Cordelier / UK and USA: Experiment in Evil / USA: The Doctor's Horrible Experiment (also screenwriter, dialogist, co-producer, actor as himself; shot in 1959)◘ Le Caporal épinglé / UK: The Vanishing Corporal / USA: The Elusive Corporal (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, dialogist; co-director with Guy Lefranc)1970 ◘ Le Petit Théâtre de Jean Renoir / Il teatrino di Jean Renoir / USA: The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir (originally shot for TV; also screenwriter, dialogist, narrator, host; four segments: "Le Dernier Réveillon", "La Cireuse électrique", "Quand l'Amour meurt", "Le Roi d'Yvetot"; France / Italy / West Germany)
Encyclopedia of French film directors . Philippe Rège. 2011.