Tourneur, Jacques

(Jacques Thomas / No­vember 12, 1904, Paris, France - December 19, 1997, Bergerac, Dordogne, France)

   The son of director Maurice Tourneur and actress Fernande Van Doren (1877-1964), he followed his father to the USA in 1913 and became a US citizen in 1919. He grew up in Hollywood, where he landed a job as an office boy at MGM in 1924. After working as a script clerk, assistant director, actor, and location manager on several productions, including the six last American films directed by Maurice Tourneur, he signed a contract with MGM as a stock actor in 1926 and notably appeared in Love (Edmund Goulding, 1927) and The Trail of 98 (Clarence Brown, 1928). In 1928, he returned to France and became his father's editor and assistant until 1934. The young Jean Gabin starred and sang in the first movie he directed (Tout ça ne vaut pas l'Amour). After his fourth French film, he joined Hollywood and MGM in 1935, working first as a second unit director (The Winning Ticket, Charles Reisner; 1935 A Tale of Two Cities). Having settled in Hollywood until the mid-1960s, he directed only American films from 1936 to 1965. He was also an assistant director to George W. Hill (1927 Tell the Ma­rines, USA), Jacques Natanson (1933 La Fusée / USA: Grandeur and Decadence), and W. S. Van Dyke (1938 Marie Antoinette, USA).

 Filmography

1931 ◘ Tout ça ne vaut pas l'Amour / Un Vieux Garçon

        ◘ Pour être aimé Toto

        ◘ Les Filles de la Concierge

        ◘ A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway, uncredited Robert Z. Leonard; Jacques Tourneur directed a few scenes; USA)

        ◘ The Jonker Diamond (short; USA)

        ◘ A Sports Parade Subject: Harnessed Rhythm (short; USA)

        ◘ Master Will Shakespeare (short; USA)

        ◘ Killer-Dog (short; USA)

1937 ◘ The Grand Bounce (short; USA)

        ◘ The Boss Didn't Say Good Morning (short; USA)

        ◘ The Rainbow Pass (short; USA)

        ◘ The King Without a Crown (short; USA)

        ◘ Romance of Radium (short; USA)

        ◘ The Man in the Barn (short; USA)

        ◘ What Do You Think? (short; USA)

1938 ◘ What Do You Think (Number Three) (short; USA)

        ◘ The Ship That Died (short; USA)

        ◘ The Face Behind the Mask (short; USA)

        ◘ What Do You Think? No. 4: Tupapaoo (short; USA)

        ◘ Strange Glory (short; USA)

        ◘ Think It Over / Crime Does Not Pay No. 19: Think It Over (short; USA)

1939 ◘ Yankee Doodle Goes to Town / Passing Parade No. 6: Yankee Doodle Goes to Town (short; USA)

        ◘ They All Come Out (USA)

        ◘ Nick Carter—Master Detective (USA)

        ◘ Phantom Raiders (USA)

        ◘ Doctors Don't Tell (Edward Mann resumed the movie; USA)

        ◘ The Incredible Stranger / Passing Parade No. 32: The Incredible Stranger (short; USA)

        ◘ The Magic Alphabet / Passing Parade No. 34: The Magic Alphabet (short; USA)

        ◘ Cat People (USA)

        ◘ I Walked with a Zombie (USA)

        ◘ The Leopard Man (USA)

        ◘ Reward Unlimited (short; USA)

        ◘ Days of Glory (USA)

        ◘ Experiment Perilous (USA)

        ◘ Canyon Passage (USA)

        ◘ Out of the Past / UK: Build My Gallows High (USA)

        ◘ Berlin Express (USA)

        ◘ Easy Living (USA)

        ◘ Stars in My Crown (USA)

        ◘ The Flame and the Arrow (USA)

        ◘ Circle of Danger (UK)

        ◘ Anne of the Indies (USA)

        ◘ Way of the Gaucho (with the collaboration of Henry Levin; USA)

        ◘ Appointment in Honduras / Jungle Fury (USA)

        ◘ Stranger on Horseback (USA)

        ◘ Wichita (USA)

        ◘ Great Day in the Morning (USA)

        ◘ Nightfall (USA)

        ◘ Night of the Demon (UK)

        ◘ The Fearmakers (USA)

        ◘ Timbuktu (USA)

        ◘ Frontier Rangers (USA)

        ◘ La battaglia di Marathon / La Bataille de Mara­thon / USA: Giant of Marathon (Italy / France)

1963 ◘ The Comedy of Terrors / Graveside Story (USA)

1965 ◘ The City Under the Sea / USA: City in the Sea / War-Gods of the Deep (UK)

 Television Filmography

1955 ◘ General Electric Theater (episodes "The Martyr", "Into the Night"; USA)

        ◘ Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre (episode "Kristi"; USA)

        ◘ The Walter Winchell File (episodes "The Cup­cake", "The Steep Hill"; USA)

        ◘ Cool and Lam (USA)

        ◘ The Walter Winchell File (episode "The Stop­Over"; USA)

        ◘ Northwest Passage (episodes "The Gunsmith", "Surprise Attack", "The Bound Women", "Break Out", "The Hostage", "The Assassin", "The Traitor", "The Vulture"; USA)

1960 ◘ Aftermath / The Code of Jonathan West (USA)

        ◘ Bonanza (episode "Denver McKee"; USA)

        ◘ General Electric Theater (episode "Aftermath"; USA)

1961 ◘ The Barbara Stanwyck Show (episode "Adventure on Happiness Street"; USA)

        ◘ General Electric Theater (episode "Star Witness: The Lili Parrish Story"; USA)

1962 ◘ Follow the Sun (episode "Sergeant Kolchak Fades Away"; USA)

        ◘ Adventures in Paradise (episode "A Bride for the Captain"; USA)

1964 ◘ The Twilight Zone / Twilight Zone (episode "Night Call"; USA)

1966 ◘ T.H.E. Cat (episode "The Ring of Anasis"; USA)