Jacques Tourneur was born in Paris on 12 November 1904.
He started his career in France as an assistant director and editor. But in the early 1930s, he also directed a few feature films. In 1934, he moved to Hollywood. (He had lived in the United States as a child with his father, Maurice Tourneur, who was a noted filmmaker in his own right.)
In Hollywood, Tourneur continued to work as an assistant director. And he directed a number of short (usually around 10-minute) films. Starting in 1939, he directed mostly feature films. And in 1942, he made what is probably his masterpiece, Cat People. Of course, producer Val Lewton, who would work more with Tourneur. The two also worked together on I Walked with a Zombie and The Leopard Man.
From there, Jacques Tourneur moved on to do bigger-budget films. But in the 1950s, he became a freelance director — eventually directing a lot of TV. He directed one of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone, the heartbreaking “Night Call.”
Not surprisingly, the good men at American International Pictures saw a good opportunity in Tourneur. So they hired him to direct what would be his last two films: The Comedy of Terrors and City Under the Sea.
After that, he retired and went back to France where he died in 1977. Americans could learn a bit from the French. Don’t work until you die!
Let’s celebrate Jacques Tourneur by watching what I still revisit often, The Comedy of Terrors. It’s got a great cast. The screenplay by Richard Matheson is way better than most of what he wrote for AIP. And the overall production is just lots of fun. It features a romance that I can totally get behind. Just don’t read about Joyce Jameson. Instead, imagine her living happily ever after with Peter Lorre!
Jacques Tourneur via TCM under Fair Use.