Sassy, Jean-Paul

(July 29, 1925, Tunis, Tuni­sia-December 12, 1992, Paris, France)

   He left Tunisia at age ten to settle on the French Rivi­era with his family. Having graduated with a bachelor's degree in letters, he moved to Paris, where he worked as a journalist for a while. He attended René Simon's acting courses but never became a performer. He entered films as an assistant director (1948 La Belle Meunière, Marcel Pagnol; 1949 Les Amants de Vérone / UK and USA: The Lovers of Verona, André Cayatte; 1950 Pas de Week-End pour notre Amour, Pierre Mon-tazel; Justice est faite / UK: Let Justice Be Done / USA: Justice Is Done, André Cayatte; Et moi j'te dis qu'elle t'a fait d'l'Oeil, Maurice Gleize; 1951 Dakota 308, Jacques Daniel-Norman; 1952 Le Passage de Vénus, Maurice Gleize; 1953 L'Envers du Paradis, Edmond T. Gréville; 1955 Le Port du Désir / USA: House on the Waterfront, Edmond T. Gréville; uncredited; Land of the Pharaohs; Howard Hawks, USA; 1956 Around the World in Eighty Days, Michael Anderson, USA; 1957 The Spirit of St. Louis, Billy Wilder, USA). In the mid-1950s, he began directing shorts and made his TV debut with François Chalais and René Lucot. In 1960, he directed a ten-episode documentary on Maurice Chevalier. After be­ing an assistant to Claude Barma, he collaborated on successful TV programs (Les Coulisses de l'Exploit; Cinq Colonnes à la Une). He also was a technical adviser (1956 Pasion en el mar / L'Ile des désespérés, Arturo Ruiz Castillo, Spain / France; 1958 Le Beau Serge / UK: Bitter Reunion / USA: Handsome Serge, Claude Chab­rol; Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud / UK: Lift to the Scaffold / USA: Frantic, Louis Malle; 1959 Brigade des Moeurs, Maurice Boutel; Ramuntcho, Pierre Schoendoerffer).

 Filmography

        ◘ Stockholm et son Archipel (documentary; short)

        ◘ Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène (documentary; short)

        ◘ Résistance (documentary; short)

        ◘ Trésors du Portugal (documentary; short)

        ◘ L'Art sacré au Tibet (documentary; short)

        ◘ Le Feu des Passions (documentary; short)

        ◘ Suzanne à Paris (documentary; short)

        ◘ Torros, bravos et Corridas (documentary; short)

        ◘ Marie-Antoinette (documentary; short)

1957 ◘ Ombromagie (documentary; short)

1960 ◘ Colère froide / USA: Thunder in the Blood (co-director with André Haguet)

        ◘ Maurice de Paris (documentary; short)

1961 ◘ La Peau et les Os (with the collaboration of Jacques Panijel; also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist)

1964 ◘ Le Petit Monstre (unreleased)

1972 ◘ House of Lovers / La Maison des Amants / Les Brutalités amoureuses / La Grande Trique (also co-adapter; Canada / France)

 Television Filmography

        ◘ Mademoiselle Molière

        ◘ La Version grecque

        ◘ Le Legs

        ◘ La Fausse suivante

        ◘ Retour à Bacoli (also screenwriter, dialogist)

        ◘ La Cerisaie

        ◘ Lucide Lucile

        ◘ Provinces (episode "De Folie et d'Amour")

        ◘ Les Bas-Fonds

1970 ◘ Tête d'Horloge 1972 Les Sous-Locs

        ◘ L'Espion aux Yeux verts

        ◘ Une Poignée de Mains

1974 ◘ La Mouche bleue

        ◘ Le Chemin de la Croix

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episode "Maigret chez les Flamands")

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episodes "Au Rendez-vous des Terre-Neuvas", "Maigret et Monsieur Charles")

        ◘ Il y a encore des Noisetiers

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episode "Maigret et le Marchand de Vin")

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episode "Liberty Bar")

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episode "L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre")

        ◘ Douchka

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episode "La Danseuse du Gai-Moulin")

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episodes "Le Voleur de Maigret", "Maigret et l'Homme tout seul")

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episode "Un Noël de Maigret")

        ◘ Les Ferrailleurs des Lilas Ben Timet

        ◘ Duetto ou La Chasse au Dragon

        ◘ Les Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret (episode "L'Auberge aux Noyés")