René Clair

René Clair

Known for: Directing
Biography: 1898-11-11
Deathday: 1981-03-15 (82 years old)

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Biography

René Clair was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. He went on to make some of the most innovative early sound films in France, before going abroad to work in the UK and USA for more than a decade. Returning to France after World War II, he continued to make films that were characterised by their elegance and wit, often presenting a nostalgic view of French life in earlier years. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960. Clair's best known films include The Italian Straw Hat (1928), Under the Roofs of Paris (1930), Le Million (1931), À nous la liberté (1931), I Married a Witch (1942), and And Then There Were None (1945).


In 1924, while Clair was working on Ciné-sketch for the theatre with France Picabia, he first met a young actress, Bronja Perlmutter, who subsequently appeared in his film Le Voyage imaginaire (1926) premiered at the newly opened Studio des Ursulines. They married in 1926, and their son, Jean-François, was born in 1927.


René Clair died at home on 15 March 1981, and he was buried privately at Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.


Clair's reputation as a film-maker underwent a considerable reevaluation during the course of his own lifetime: in the 1930s he was widely seen as one of France's greatest directors, alongside Renoir and Carné, but thereafter his work's artifice and detachment from the realities of life fell increasingly from favour. The avant-gardism of his first films, and especially Entr'acte, had given him a temporary notoriety, and a grounding in surrealism continued to underlie much of his comedy work. It was however the imaginative manner in which he overcame his initial scepticism about the arrival of sound which established his originality, and his first four sound films brought him international fame.


Clair's years of working in the UK and USA made him still more widely known but did not show any marked development in his style or thematic concerns. It was in the post-war films that he made on his return to France that some critics have observed a new maturity and emotional depth, accompanied by a prevailing sense of melancholy but still framed by the elegance and wit that characterised his earlier work.


However, in the 1950s the critics who heralded the arrival of the French New Wave, especially those associated with Cahiers du Cinéma, found Clair's work old-fashioned and academic. The paradox of Clair's reputation has been further heightened by those commentators who have seen François Truffaut as the French cinema's true successor to Clair, notwithstanding the occasions of their mutual disdain.

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Filmography

all 50

Movies 46

Director 30

self 9

Writer 5

TV Shows 4

Narrator 1

Self
Rendez-vous With Maurice Chevalier

Rendez-vous With Maurice Chevalier (2021)

Movie
Lui-même
René Clair, tout entre nous n'était qu'un jeu

René Clair, tout entre nous n'était qu'un jeu (2021)

Movie
Self (archive footage)
Les Trésors de Marcel Pagnol

Les Trésors de Marcel Pagnol (2019)

Movie
Self
Cinéastes de notre temps: Erich von Stroheim

Cinéastes de notre temps: Erich von Stroheim (2012)

Movie
Self (archive footage)
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma

Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma (1978)

TV
Writer
Ferraille et chiffons

Ferraille et chiffons (1972)

Movie
Self
Midi trente

Midi trente (1972)

TV
Self
Le Grand Échiquier

Le Grand Échiquier (1972)

TV
Self
René Clair

René Clair (1969)

Movie
Actor
À la recherche de Jean Grémillon

À la recherche de Jean Grémillon (1969)

Movie
Self
Civilisation: L'homme et les images

Civilisation: L'homme et les images (1967)

Movie
Writer
Gariban

Gariban (1966)

Movie
Director
The Lace Wars

The Lace Wars (1965)

Movie
Narrator
Laugh with Max Linder

Laugh with Max Linder (1963)

Movie
Director
The Four Truths

The Four Truths (1962)

Movie
Director
All the Gold in the World

All the Gold in the World (1961)

Movie
Director
Love and the Frenchwoman

Love and the Frenchwoman (1960)

Movie
Writer
The Golden Age of Comedy

The Golden Age of Comedy (1957)

Movie
Director
The Gates of Paris

The Gates of Paris (1957)

Movie
Self
Cinépanorama

Cinépanorama (1956)

TV
Director
The Grand Manoeuvre

The Grand Manoeuvre (1955)

Movie
6
Director
Beauties of the Night

Beauties of the Night (1952)

Movie
Director
The Beauty of the Devil

The Beauty of the Devil (1950)

Movie
Director
Silence Is Golden

Silence Is Golden (1947)

Movie
Director
And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None (1945)

Movie
Director
It Happened Tomorrow

It Happened Tomorrow (1944)

Movie
Director
Forever and a Day

Forever and a Day (1943)

Movie
Director
I Married a Witch

I Married a Witch (1942)

Movie
Director
The Flame of New Orleans

The Flame of New Orleans (1941)

Movie
Director
Break the News

Break the News (1938)

Movie
Assistant Director
Fire Over England

Fire Over England (1937)

Movie
Director
The Ghost Goes West

The Ghost Goes West (1935)

Movie
Director
The Last Billionaire

The Last Billionaire (1934)

Movie
Director
July 14

July 14 (1933)

Movie
Director
À Nous la Liberté

À Nous la Liberté (1931)

Movie
6
Writer
A Severa

A Severa (1931)

Movie
Director
Le Million

Le Million (1931)

Movie
6
Writer
Miss Europe

Miss Europe (1930)

Movie
Director
Under the Roofs of Paris

Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)

Movie
6.6
Director
Two Timid Souls

Two Timid Souls (1928)

Movie
Director
The Italian Straw Hat

The Italian Straw Hat (1928)

Movie
Director
La Tour

La Tour (1928)

Movie
Director
The Prey of the Wind

The Prey of the Wind (1927)

Movie
Director
The Imaginary Voyage

The Imaginary Voyage (1926)

Movie
Director
The Phantom of the Moulin-Rouge

The Phantom of the Moulin-Rouge (1925)

Movie
Director
The Crazy Ray

The Crazy Ray (1925)

Movie
Director
Entr'acte

Entr'acte (1924)

Movie
Second Unit
The Midnight Chimes

The Midnight Chimes (1924)

Movie
Jean Vernier
Parisette

Parisette (1921)

Movie
Prince
Lily of Life

Lily of Life (1920)

Movie

Ratings

Average 6.07
Based on 63.9 Thousand movie and tv ratings over time
1920
1931
1945
1937
2021
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Information

Known For
Directing

Gender
Male

Birthday
1898-11-11

Deathday
1981-03-15 (82 years old)

Birth Place
Paris, France

Relationships
Bronia Clair (1928-06-02 - 1981-03-15)

Citizenships
France

Residences
Paris, France

Also Known As
Rene Clair, René Chomette, René Després, Danceny, Рене Клер

Awards
Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, ordre de la Grande Gidouille, Louis Delluc Prize, Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres


This article uses material from Wikipedia.
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