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Director - Feature filmography and DVDBeaver links: War-Gods of the Deep (1965), The Comedy of Terrors (1963), "The Twilight Zone" (1959) TV Series (episode "Night Call"), Frontier Rangers (1959) Timbuktu (1959), Mission of Danger (1959), The Fearmakers (1958), Nightfall (1957), Night of the Demon (1957), Wichita (1955), Stranger on Horseback (1955), Way of a Gaucho (1952), Anne of the Indies (1951), The Flame and the Arrow (1951), Circle of Danger (1961), Stars in My Crown (1950), Easy Living (1949), Berlin Express (1948), Out of the Past (1947), Canyon Passage (1946), Experiment Perilous (1944), Days of Glory (1944), The Leopard Man (1943), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), Cat People (1942), The Magic Alphabet (1942) (as Jack Tourneur), The Incredible Stranger (1942) (as Jack Tourneur), Phantom Raiders (1940), Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939), They All Come Out (1939) |
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Suggested Reading (click cover or title for more info)
Jacques Tourneur : The Cinema of Nightfall |
Not to be simply brushed off as the work of a generic 'cult director', Jacques Tourneur's oeuvre demonstrated an indelible importance in the history of American cinema. Born in 1904, the son of the great silent film director Maurice Tourneur, Jacques began his career in France before emigrating to America in 1934 where he took on an apprenticeship as a second unit director at MGM. It was not until his fruitful collaborations with producer Val Lewton on films like The Cat People (1942) that Tourneur would establish his unique presence. It was here he would fashion his craft and remodel many of the themes and techniques that would go on to characterize his cinema for the next 30 years. In a Tourneur film atmosphere supersedes the narrative. His use of light and shadow with interplay between foreground and background could evoke a foreboding atmosphere often within the proximity of supernatural elements. Whether he was making a film noir, horror or a western, there is a distinctive metaphysical quality to his work. This surfaced not only in his approach to the mise-en-scene but appeared deeply entrenched in the actors and quite visible in their performances. Watch a Tourneur film, and you will be immediately struck by the subtlety of expression and how prescient his understated visuals can cause a viewers imaginative juices to flow. It could elevate a limited production feature and secure it with a timeless quality, prominently signifying his masterful command of the medium. It is the subtlety in Tourneur's films that also gives them their poetry, ranking him as one of cinema's true originals and foremost stylists. - Adam Lemke |
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