Biography
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.
Filmography
all 31
Movies 31
Director 30
![Versatile Lovers](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/44270-versatile-lovers.webp)
Versatile Lovers (1970)
![Beast at Bay](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/53389-beast-at-bay.webp)
Beast at Bay (1959)
![Dangerous Games](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/139436-les-jeux-dangereux.webp)
Dangerous Games (1958)
![Sinners of Paris](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/53368-sinners-of-paris.webp)
Sinners of Paris (1958)
![The Idol](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/444321-el-idolo.webp)
The Idol (1952)
![Native Son](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/137647-native-son.webp)
Native Son (1951)
![Devil and the Angel](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/98341-devil-and-the-angel.webp)
Devil and the Angel (1946)
![Viaje sin regreso](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/713388-viaje-sin-regreso.webp)
Viaje sin regreso (1946)
![Se abre el abismo](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/218799-se-abre-el-abismo.webp)
Se abre el abismo (1945)
![El muerto falta a la cita](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/159620-el-muerto-falta-a-la-cita.webp)
El muerto falta a la cita (1944)
![A Real Man](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/481957-a-real-man.webp)
A Real Man (1943)
![The Last Turning](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/33281-the-last-turning.webp)
The Last Turning (1939)
![Sirocco](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/75449-sirocco.webp)
Sirocco (1938)
![The Lafarge Case](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/98308-the-lafarge-case.webp)
The Lafarge Case (1938)
![Alibi](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/98338-l-alibi.webp)
Alibi (1937)
![The Man from Nowhere](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/134775-feu-mathias-pascal.webp)
The Man from Nowhere (1937)
![Il fu Mattia Pascal](https://images.moviefit.me/default-images/t/b.webp)
Il fu Mattia Pascal (1937)
![Crime and Punishment](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/153296-crime-and-punishment.webp)
Crime and Punishment (1935)
![Fat Man's Worries](https://images.moviefit.me/default-images/t/b.webp)
Fat Man's Worries (1933)
![Bâtir](https://images.moviefit.me/t/b/996851-batir.webp)
Bâtir (1931)
Gallery
![Pierre Chenal](https://images.moviefit.me/p/b/290333-pierre-chenal.webp)
![Pierre Chenal](https://images.moviefit.me/p/b/1/290333-pierre-chenal.webp)
Information
Known ForDirecting
GenderMale
Birthday1904-12-05
Deathday1990-12-23 (86 years old)
Birth NamePhilippe James Cohen
Birth PlaceBrussels metropolitan area, Belgium
RelationshipsFlorence Marly (1937 - 1955)
CitizenshipsFrance
This article uses material from Wikipedia.
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