RICHEBÉ, ROGER

(1897-1989)

Director, producer, and screen-writer. Born in Marseille, Roger Richebé was lured into the cinema by a commercial venture of his father's to finance cinema houses. Not content to simply screen films, Richebé began directing and producing. As a director Richebé made nearly twenty films during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. He made his first film,L'Agonie des aigles, in 1933, and went on to directMinuit place Pigalle(1934),L 'Habit vert(1937),Prisons de femmes(1938),La Tradition de minuit(1939),Madame Sans-Gêne(1941),Les J3(1946),Monseigneur(1949),Les Amants de minuit(1953),Élisa(1957), andQue les hommes sont bêtes(1957), among other films.In addition to directing, he wrote the screenplays for a number of his own films and worked on the screenplay forAbel Gance'sAusterlitz(1960).

In 1930, Richebé created a joint production company with Pierre Braunberger, Les Établissements Braunberger-Richebé. The venture lasted a few years before Richebé formed his own production company, Les Films Roger Richebé. He also coproduced withMarcel Pagnol. Among the films Richebé produced either independently or in collaboration wereMarc Allegret'sMam'zelle Nitouche(1931),Le Blanc et le noir(1931),Fanny(1932), codirected with Pagnol, andLa Petite chocolatière(1932),Jean Renoir'sLa Chienne(1931), Maurice Tourneur'sKonigsmark(1935),Marcel L'Herbier'sForfaiture(1937), his ownMadame Sans-Gêne(1941),Monseigneur(1949), andLes Amants de minuit(1953),Georges Lacombe'sMonsieur La Souris(1942),Robert Bresson'sLes Anges du péché(1943),Christian-Jacque'sVoyage sans espoir(1943), andHenri Decoin'sClara de Montargis(1951). He retired from the cinema in 1960.