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 Bled

1931 ◘ 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)