Biography

Jean Delannoy began his film career in the 1920s as an actor. By the 1930s he had switched careers and become an editor, then a short-subjects director. By the mid-'30s he was a full-fledged director, and soon garnered a reputation as a sensitive, understated craftsman with a thorough command of the medium. By the 1950s, however, he was doing overheated melodramas and overblown epics, including a particularly undistinguished version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956)), and he was soon reduced to churning out such drivel as Action Man (1967) (US title: "Action Man") and The Double Bed (1965) (US title: "The Double Bed").

- IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com

Jean Delannoy was not the most consistent of directors. Certainly some of his movies are duds ,but many of them do not deserve the audience's contempt. The fact that some of his movies such as "Les Amitiés Particulières " are given high ratings by the users of this very site is proof positive that his career needs reassessment . Born in 1908,he was an editor, an actor ,an assistant ,and he became a full-fledged director in 1935, in the golden hours of the French cinema.

The early years :A remake of André Hugon's 1922 silent movie,"Diamant Noir" was a complicated melodrama ,with as many implausibilities as in "magnificent obsession"."Macao L'Enfer Du Jeu" (1940-1942) and " L'Assassin A Peur La Nuit " were Delannoy's first forays into Film Noir :the former had a complicated screenplay but in the last sequence ,Hayakawa reached a peak of tragic grandeur;the latter depicted the fears of a man after his crime :the unbearable ticking of the clock(s),the close-ups on his sweaty face are not unworthy of a film Noir.Delannoy had also begun eclecticism :"Pontcarral Colonel D'Empire " (1942),an unfairly overlooked movie about The Demi -Soldes ,Napoleon's soldiers demeaned in the Restauration,was seen by the audience as a disguised resistance movie and was applauded in the theaters.Then came his most celebrated movie, a collaboration with Cocteau ,"L'Eternel Retour" (1943) ,a modern "Tristan And Iseut" :the stars ,Jean Marais(and his sweaters) and Madeleine Sologne(and her long blond hair) created a sensation ;like it or not ,it was in the same league as "Les Visiteurs Du Soir" ,even though some thought it was "Arian",in direct contrast with the lovers' hearts still beating in the stone in Carné's movie.Too bad Marais was not at hand for his "Le Bossu " which was inferior to later versions."La Part De L'Ombre " was a failed melodrama .

The middle years(1946-1954) : Delannoy entered his most fruitful period ;except for "Aux Yeux Du Souvenir " , a mediocre soap opera ,and "La Route Napoleon" ,all the movies of this era deserved your undivided attention ."La Symphonie Pastorale " ,often considered Delannoy's peak ,enhanced his greatest quality : the story-telling with admirable pictures by Armand Thirard , brilliant lines and first-class actors :Pierre Blanchar,the unforgettable Michele Morgan and the shooting star Andrée Clément (praised by her female co-star)"Les Jeux Sont Faits " was a very good adaptation of Sartre and was more appreciated abroad."Le Secret De Mayerling " ,in spite of historical mistakes (Franz Ferdinand head of the police!),is a gloomy rendition of the well known tragedy (depicted as an assassination ,not a suicide ) and seemed wrapped in a shroud."Dieu A Besoin Des Hommes" showed the director's spiritual concerns :on a God-forsaken Britton island a sacristan replaced the vicar."Le Garçon Sauvage " (1951) recently restored to favor by the French-German cultural channel owed a lot to admirable actress Madeleine Robinson ,as a mother/prostitute.His sketch of "Destinées " was the best of the lot ,depicting Joan Of Arc's moments of doubt and fear in an impressive dreary setting ,triumph of the cinema-in-the-studio."Obsession" was an unfairly overlooked adaptation of William Irish's desperate short story "silent as a grave."

The late years (1955-1972) : things began to deteriorate beyond that point although some of these movies were highly commendable ;his "Marie-Antoinette" ,although not worse than Sophie Coppola's ,gave a prominent part to Axel Fersen and suffered for it accordingly."Notre Dame De Paris" paled next to Dieterle's "hunchback of Notre Dame." His two Maigret ("Et L'Affaire Saint-Fiacre ' and " Tend Un Piège" )showed again the director's flair for film Noir:the latter is masterful with an exceptionally good Jean Dessailly,as a killer full of twitches. "La Princesse De Clèves " another collaboration with Jean Cocteau was lambasted by the Parisian critics. Hindsight revealed a luminous cinematography ,and a wonderful last scene imagined by Cocteau.Afterward,it was downhill ;on can save ,at a pinch ,"Le Rendez-Vous" a good thriller from a novel by Patrick Quentin and mainly "Les Amitiés Particulières" which was praised abroad (current rating:7,7 on Imdb) ,and which depicted an ambiguous relationship between two teenagers :who could forget young Didier Haudepin,holding his lamb in his arms?The rest ,such flicks as "Les Sultans" "Le Soleil Des Voyous" "la Peau De Torpedo" etc ,was dreadful stuff.

Epilogue : (1987-1995):Delannoy returned to his religious concerns and made two edifying works: "Bernadette" (1987) although it did not equal King's "song of Bernadette" had spontaneity and simplicity going for it.On the other hand "Marie De Nazareth " (1995) failed totally to convince,because a movie about the Blessed Virgin should not focus on ...Jesus.

A genius, Delannoy was not, but he was a talented craftsman for sure. He died a centenarian.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: dbdumonteil