LE CHANOIS, JEANPAUL

(1909-1985)

Actor and director. Born Jean-Paul Dreyfus, Jean-Paul Le Chanois began his career in the theater, most notably as a playwright. Le Chanois had close associations to theGroupe Octobre, which itself had close ties toJean Renoirand to Jacques Prévert, who was a member. Le Chanois's film debut was as an actor in films such as Pierre Prévert'sL'Affaire est dans le sac(1932) and Anatole Litvak'sL'Équipage(1935), a film on which he also served as an assistant director. The behind-the-scenes work soon captured his full attention, and he all but ceased acting in films, going on to assist in films such as Maurice Tourneur'sKonigsmark(1935),Jacques Becker'sLa Vie est à nous(1936), Jean Renoir'sLa Marseillaise(1938), andMax Ophuls'sDe Mayerling à Sarajevo(1940), a film in which he also acted.

In 1940, Le Chanois took over the filming ofUne idée à l'eau(1940), which had been started by Marco de Gastyne.Le Chanois, however, would not make another film for several years, as World War II had started and put a temporary stop to his filmmaking career. In 1946, immediately after the war, Le Chanois madeMessieurs Ludovic(1946), the first of a number of films, including dramas, melodramas, and a handful of comedies. Examples areAu coeur de l'orage(1948);L'École buissonnière(1949), starringBernard Blier;La Belle que voilà(1950), starringMichèle Morgan;Sans laisser d'adresse(1951), starring Blier and Danièle Delorme;Agence Matrimoniale(1952), starring Blier and Julien Carette;Papa,maman,la bonne,et moi(1954), starring Robert Lamoureux andGaby Morlay;Les Évadés(1955), starringPierre Fresnay;Village magique(1955);Papa,maman,ma femme et moi. . . (1956), also starring Lamoureux and Morlay;Le Cas du Dr Laurent(1957), starringJean Gabinand Le Chanois's wife, Silvia Montfort;Les Misérables(1958), starring Gabin and Blier;Par-dessus le mur(1961);Mandrin(1962);Monsieur(1964); andLe Jardinier d'Argenteuil(1966). Le Chanois resumed acting and appeared in several of these later films.

In addition to directing, Le Chanois was an industrious screen-writer. He wrote the screenplays for many of his own films, includingUne idée à l'eau(1940),L'École buissonnière,La Belle que voilà,Agence Matrimoniale,Papa,maman,la bonne,et moi,Les Évadés,Le Cas du Dr Laurent, andLes Misérables. He also wrote screenplays for films by other directors, most notably Tourneur'sLa Main du diable(1943) andCécile est morte(1944), Richard Pottier'sPicpus(1943), Esway'sL'Idole(1948), and Jean-Devaivre'sLa Dame d'onze heures(1948) andAlerte au sud(1953).