Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

638 • L’HERBIER, MARCEL
France / Spain / Switzerland), and producer and director
of commercials, in 2001 he settled in China,
where he ran a cabaret, La Maison.
Filmography
1978 Si vous n’aimez pas ça, n’en dégoûtez pas les
Autres (also co-screenwriter, producer)
L’HERBIER, MARCEL (April 23, 1890, Paris,
France–November 26, 1979, Paris, France)
Born into a family of architects, he intended to dedicate
himself to literature after earning his bachelor’s
degrees in law and letters and attending the courses
of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Sociales (high social
studies school). He began writing articles in 1912 for
L’Illustration and then for Paris-Journal. His fi rst book, Au
Jardin des Jeux secrets, was a collection of poems and
essays (1914). Reformed in 1914, he joined the army
in 1916 and served in the army’s Cinematographic
Service. He already had authored a play, L’Enfantement
de la Mort (1917), and two screenplays (1917 Le Torrent,
Louis Mercanton, René Hervil; 1918 Bouclette /
L’Ange de Minuit, Louis Mercanton, René Hervil). In
the 1920s, he was an avant-garde director who had a
huge infl uence on such fi lmmakers as Alberto Cavalcanti,
René Clair, and Claude Autant-Lara. In 1936, he
co-founded and was the fi rst artistic director of the
French Cinematheque. He created the most famous
French fi lm school—L’Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques
(IDHEC)—in 1943. Autobiography:
1979 La Tête qui tourne (Belfond). Other credits (as art
director): 1923 Le Marchand de Plaisirs (also supervisor,
producer, Jaque Catelain); Fait-Divers (short, also
producer, Claude Autant-Lara); 1924 L’Inondation (also
producer, Louis Delluc); La Galerie des Monstres / La
barraca de los monstruos (also producer, Jaque Catelain,
France / Spain); 1929 Autour de l’Argent (documentary,
short, also producer, actor, Jean Dréville); 1937 Midi
(documentary, short, Jean Dréville); (as supervisor):
1927 Paname n’est pas Paris / Paname (Marcel L’Herbier
supervised the fi rst version of the fi lm; the negative was
destroyed by a fi re, and the movie was entirely reshot);
1930 König einer Nacht (Fritz Wendhausen); 1933 La
Bataille (Nicolas Farkas, Victor Tourjansky); Le Martyre
de l’Obèse (Pierre Chenal); 1943 Le Loup des Malveneur
(Guillaume Radot); 1948 Une Grande Fille toute simple
/ USA: Just a Big Simple Girl (Jacques Manuel); (as producer):
1927 Die Apachen von Paris / Les Apaches de Paris
(Nikolai Malikoff, Germany / France); Zuiderzeewerken /
Zuiderzee (documentary, Joris Ivens).
Filmography
1918 Phantasmes (unfi nished)
1919 Rose France (also screenwriter)
Le Bercail (uncredited)
1920 Le Carnaval des Vérités (also screenwriter)
L’Homme
adapter)
du Large (also screenwriter,
1921 Prométhée . . . Banquier (also original play,
screenwriter, adapter)
Villa Destin (also screenwriter, adapter; the
movie includes cartoons)
El Dorado (also screenwriter)
1922 Don Juan et Faust (also screenwriter, adapter)
1923 Résurrection (also screenwriter, adapter; Marcel
L’Herbier fell ill, and the fi lm remains
unfi nished)
1924 L’Inhumaine / UK: The Inhuman Woman / USA:
The New Enchantment (also screenwriter)
1926 Feu Mathias Pascal / UK: The Late Mathias Pascal
/ USA: The Living Dead Man (also screenwriter,
adapter; shot in 1924–1925)
Le Vertige (also screenwriter)
1928 Le Diable au Cœur / UK: The Devil May Care /
USA: The Devil in the Heart (shot in 1926)
1929 L’Argent (also screenwriter, adapter)
1930 Nuits de Princes (also screenwriter, adapter)
L’Enfant de l’Amour (also screenwriter, adapter,
dialogist)
Le Mystère de la Chambre jaune / USA: The
Mystery of the Yellow Room (also screenwriter,
adapter, dialogist)
1931 La Femme d’une Nuit (also screenwriter,
adapter, dialogist; Marcel L’Herbier refused to
sign the movie, which had been revised and
reedited without his authorization)
Le Parfum de la Dame en noir (also screenwriter,
adapter, dialogist)
1933 L’Epervier (also co-screenwriter)
1934 Le Scandale
L’Aventurier (also screenwriter, adapter, dialogist)
Le Bonheur (also screenwriter, dialogist)
1935 La Route impériale (also screenwriter, adapter,
co-dialogist)
Veille d’Armes / UK: Sacrifi ce of Honor / USA:
Sacrifi ce d’Honneur (also co-screenwriter, coadapter,
co-dialogist)
Le Coin des Enfants / Children’s Corner (short)
1936 Les Hommes nouveaux (also screenwriter,
adapter, dialogist)