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René Clair |
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Director / Screenwriter /
Producer |
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1898 - 1981 |
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Born November 11,
Paris, France |
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Key
Production Countries: France, USA |
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Key Genres:
Comedy, Fantasy, Drama, Romance, Fantasy Comedy, Romantic Drama,
Romantic Fantasy |
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Key
Collaborators: Paul
Ollivier (Leading Character Player), Raymond Cordy
(Leading Character Player), Albert Prejean (Leading Player), Louisette Hautecour (Editor), Georges Van Parys (Composer),
Leon Barsacq (Production Designer), Frank Clifford (Producer), Georges Perinal (Cinematographer),
Renee Le Henaff (Editor), Annabella (Leading Player) |
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Highly Recommended:
Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)*,
À nous la liberté (1931)*, Le Million (1931)* |
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Recommended:
Paris qui dort (1923), Entr'acte (1924)*,
The
Italian Straw Hat (1927)*, Quatorze Juillet (1932), And Then There Were None
(1945) |
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Worth a Look: The Phantom of the Moulin
Rouge (1925), The Ghost Goes West (1936), I Married a Witch (1942), It
Happened Tomorrow (1944), Man About Town (1947), Beauties of the Night
(1952), The Grand Maneuver (1955), Gates of Paris (1957) |
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* Listed in TSPDT's
1,000 Greatest Films
section. |
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Links:
[
Amazon
] [
IMDB ] [
TCMDB ] [
All-Movie
Guide ] [
Film Reference ] [
Films
de France Profile ] [
The Art of Sound by René Clair ] [
Wikipedia ] [
Classic Film and Television
Home Page ] [
Senses
of Cinema Article (2001) ] [
UbuWeb: Entr'acte ] |
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Books:
[
The
Films of René Clair: Exposition and Analysis ] |
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"Clair
now looks something less than the major director he was known as
in 1935. His work since that first venturing outside France has
seldom lacked amusement or a sense of fantasy, but it does seem
lightweight. Even his finest films - those made in the first
experiment of sound - are rather precious and too vaguely
opposed to "progress" when set beside L'Âge d'or,
L'Atalante, Boudu, or Toni. Clair's world is
brilliantly conceived and wrought, but it remains
self-contained." -
David Thomson (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, 2002) |
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"Although Clair
made several English-language and Hollywood films, his American
period is generally blamed for his decline. The trouble with
Clair's American career is that he was typed for fantasy and
other fluff, and could never escape his niche... À Nous la Liberté,
Le Million, Sous les Toits de Paris,
The Italian Straw Hat retain a certain classic value, but
Clair, once too good to be called even the French
Lubitsch, now seems more like
the French
Mamoulian." -
Andrew
Sarris (The American Cinema, 1968) |
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"Although
briefly associated with the French avant-garde (his second film,
Entr'acte, remains a masterpiece of pure cinema), from
the very start he considered film as a medium of entertainment.
He developed into one of the most original stylists in world
cinema, a complete filmmaker who always wrote or collaborated on
the films he directed and constantly explored the possibilities
of visual form, movement and sound." -
(The
MacMillan International Film Encyclopedia, 1994)
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"An expert at light comedy, fantasy, and artful avant-garde
productions." -
William R. Meyer (The Film Buff's Catalog, 1978) |
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Please
note that the rating given for this director (see top-right) is based
only on the films we have seen (listed above). Films by this director
that we haven't seen include The Last Millionaire (1934), The Flame of
New Orleans (1941), Forever and a Day (1943), and La Beaute du Diable
(1950). |
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"A highly respected artist in the 1920s and 30s,
René Clair's
career declined in the post-war period and his reputation
has diminished over time. Even his best-known comedies now
look somewhat mannered and over-designed, his social
criticism a little fey and complacent. Nevertheless, even if
he doesn't belong to the first rank, Clair was a whimsical
innovator who brought charm and wit to everything he
touched... Although Clair was not fond of location-shooting,
his meticulously designed sets and stock characters shaped a
cheery and vivacious image of Paris. Away from home, he was
less comfortable. Moving first to England and then to
Hollywood, Clair 's imaginative drive faltered, and he never
recovered the standing he enjoyed in the early 1930s."
-
Tom Charity, The Rough Guide to Film |
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●
Top 250 Directors |
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●
Fringe
Benefits |
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●
501 Movie Directors: A
Comprehensive Guide to the Greatest Filmmakers |
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See Also |
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