About

Known credits:
51
Birthday:
1904-12-05
Place of birth:
Bruxelles, Belgique
Website:
Click here

Pierre Chenal

Overview

Philippe Cohen, known as Pierre Chenal, is a French director, born December 5, 1904 in Brussels and died December 23, 1990 in La Garenne-Colombes.

Chenal occupies an uncomfortable place in the history of French cinema: relatively unknown, he is cataloged as a filmmaker who left only a light body of work. His detailed filmography, however, tends to show the opposite. Made in the 1930s, his first short films were documentaries where the filmmaker used social realism. The Little Trades of Paris (1932) or A French City of Cinema had a didactic ambition which ranked him among the innovators at the time.

Throughout his work, Pierre Chenal will maintain this taste for atmospheres tinged with truth where the social is shown. Hence his very marked penchant for adaptations of literary works by his contemporaries: he borrowed from Marcel Aymé the title of one of his first feature films, La rue sans nom (1933); summons Pirandello and The Man from Nowhere (1937); depicts The Mutineers of Elsinore by Jack London; and transforms James Cain's novel The Postman Always Rings Twice to give The Last Turn.

Pierre Chenal loves actors and casts the biggest ones. Louis Jouvet, Robert Le Vigan, Michel Simon, Pierre Blanchar, Viviane Romance and Albert Préjean praise his talent. In 1940, the filmmaker's career took a new turn when he retreated, during the war, to Argentina and Chile. He made a few minor films there, then returned to France with comic intentions expressed in Clochemerle (1947). In 1948, Chenal returned to Argentina and adapted Sangre Negra by the American noir novelist Richard Wright. Then, he developed a passion for thrillers and experimented with the genre on several occasions. But Raid on the City (1958), The Beast on the Prowl (1959) and The Assassin Knows the Music (1963) are not considered to be his best films.

Known for

Acting
1929 Paris Cinéma Actor Self 59
Average

Directing
1985 Le Hasard mène le Jeu Directing Director N/A
N/A
1970 Versatile Lovers Directing Director 58
Average
1963 L'assassin connaît la musique Directing Director 59
Average
1960 The Night They Killed Rasputin Directing Director 58
Average
1959 Beast at Bay Directing Director 58
Average
1958 Dangerous Games Directing Director 59
Average
1958 Sinners of Paris Directing Director 58
Average
1956 Missing Persons Section Directing Director 59
Average
1952 The Idol Directing Director 59
Average
1951 Native Son Directing Director 58
Average
1948 Scandals of Clochemerle Directing Director 58
Average
1946 Devil and the Angel Directing Director 59
Average
1946 Viaje sin regreso Directing Director N/A
N/A
1945 Se abre el abismo Directing Director 58
Average
1944 El muerto falta a la cita Directing Director 58
Average
1943 A Real Man Directing Director 58
Average
1939 The Last Turning Directing Director 59
Average
1938 Sirocco Directing Director 59
Average
1938 The Lafarge Case Directing Director 59
Average
1937 Alibi Directing Director 59
Average
1937 The Man from Nowhere Directing Director 59
Average
1936 Les mutinés de l'Elseneur Directing Director N/A
N/A
1935 Crime and Punishment Directing Director 59
Average
1935 Les suites d'un premier lit Directing Director N/A
N/A
1934 Street Without a Name Directing Director N/A
N/A
1933 Fat Man's Worries Directing Director N/A
N/A
1932 Small trades in Paris Directing Director N/A
N/A
1931 Bâtir Directing Director 59
Average
1930 L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui Directing Director 59
Average
1929 Paris Cinéma Directing Director 59
Average

Writing
1985 Le Hasard mène le Jeu Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1963 L'assassin connaît la musique Writing Writer 59
Average
1960 The Night They Killed Rasputin Writing Writer 58
Average
1958 Dangerous Games Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1958 Sinners of Paris Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1956 Missing Persons Section Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1952 The Idol Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1951 Native Son Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1944 El muerto falta a la cita Writing Writer 58
Average
1937 The Man from Nowhere Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1936 Les mutinés de l'Elseneur Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1935 Crime and Punishment Writing Writer 59
Average
1934 Street Without a Name Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1931 Bâtir Writing Writer 59
Average
1930 L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui Writing Writer 59
Average

Production
1931 Bâtir Production Producer 59
Average

Crew
1932 Small trades in Paris Crew Cinematography N/A
N/A
1930 L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui Crew Cinematography 59
Average

Editing
1932 Small trades in Paris Editing Editor N/A
N/A
1929 Paris Cinéma Editing Editor 59
Average