Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

820 • PINOTEAU, CLAUDE
Born into a modest family, he had a passion for drawing
and animated cinema in his childhood. Having
graduated with a diploma as a plastic arts technician,
he began frequenting the French Cinematheque,
where he notably saw Paul Grimault, Jirí Trnka, and
Myasaki’s cartoons. During his time with the French
army’s Cinematographic Service, he met directors
Jacques Rouxel, José Xavier, and René Laloux. He
started his professional career at the Gaumont as an
artist (1985 Astérix et la Surprise de César / USA: Asterix
Versus Caesar, Gaëtan and Paul Brizzi) and assistant
animator (1986 Astérix chez les Bretons / UK and USA:
Asterix in Britain, Pino van Lamsweerde).
Filmography
1991 Chocs (animated short)
1992 Chant funèbre (animated short; also screenwriter;
France / Canada)
2003 Kaena: The Prophecy (animation; co-director
with Chris Delaporte; France / Canada)
Television Filmography
1998 Redwall (animation; 13x26'; co-director only;
France / Canada)
1999 Animal Crackers / Bêtes à craquer (animation;
13 13'; co-director only; France / Canada)
PINOTEAU, CLAUDE (May 25, 1925, Boulogne-
Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France–)
The son of location manager Lucien Pinoteau
(1887–1963), he made his fi lm debut as an actor at
age fourteen (1939 La Fin du Jour / UK: The End of a
Day / USA: The End of the Day, Julien Duvivier). Then
he was successively an assistant location manager
(1945 Untel Père et Fils / UK: The Heart of a Nation /
USA: Immortal France, Julien Duvivier, shot in 1940),
trainee location manager (1941 Histoire de rire /
USA: Foolish Husbands, Marcel L’Herbier; Premier Bal,
Christian-Jaque; 1943 L’Honorable Catherine / USA:
The Honorable Catherine, Marcel L’Herbier, Jacques de
Baroncelli), props assistant (1943 Le Baron Fantôme
/ UK: The Phantom Baron, Serge de Poligny; Adémaï
Bandit d’Honneur, Gilles Grangier; L’Escalier sans Fin,
Georges Lacombe; 1944 L’Aventure est au Coin de la
Rue, Jacques Daniel-Norman; Graine au Vent, Maurice
Gleize; 1945 La Fiancée des Ténèbres, Serge de Poligny;
Le Cavalier noir, Gilles Grangier; Farandole, André
Zwoboda), set designer (1946 L’Homme au Chapeau
rond / USA: The Eternal Husband, Pierre Billon; Martin
Roumagnac / USA: The Room Upstairs, Georges La-
combe; 1947 Miroir, Raymond Lamy; 1948 Le Voleur
se porte bien, Jean Loubignac, shot in 1946; L’Aigle à
deux Têtes / UK: The Eagle Has Two Heads / USA: The
Eagle with Two Heads, Jean Cocteau; Bagarres / USA:
Wench, Henri Calef), production manager (1947 Panique
/ USA: Panic, Julien Duvivier), assistant director
(1948 Les Parents terribles / UK and USA: The Storm
Within, Jean Cocteau; 1949 Ainsi fi nit la Nuit / UK and
USA: Thus Finishes the Night, Emile Edwin Reinert; Bal
Cupidon, Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon, with the collaboration
of Hervé Bromberger; Le Roi / USA: A Royal
Affair, Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon, with the collaboration
of Hervé Bromberger, 1950 Les Enfants terribles / UK
and USA: The Strange Ones, Jean-Pierre Melville; 1950
Ma Pomme / USA: Just Me, Marc-Gilbert Sauvajon;
L’Homme de Joie, Gilles Grangier; 1951 L’Amant de
Paille, Gilles Grangier; Olivia / USA: The Pit of Loneliness,
Jacqueline Audry; Ils étaient Cinq, Jack Pinoteau;
1952 Jocelyn, Jacques de Casembroot; Plume au Vent /
Pluma al viento, Louis Cuny, France / Spain; 1953 Les
Compagnes de la Nuit / USA: Companions of the Night,
Ralph Habib; 1954 Secrets d’Alcôve / Il letto / USA: The
Bed, segment “Riviera-Express,” Ralph Habib, France
/ Italy; Le Grand Pavois, Jack Pinoteau; Les Ecoles de
l’Air, short, Jack Pinoteau; Montmartre nocturne, documentary,
short, Jean-Claude Bernard; Anatole chéri,
Claude Heymann, shot in 1951; 1955 Les Amants du
Tage / UK: The Lovers of Lisbon / USA: Lover’s Net,
Henri Verneuil; Lola Montès / Lola Montez / UK: The
Fall of Lola Montes / USA: The Sins of Lola Montes, Max
Ophüls, also uncredited actor, France / West Germany;
Les Hommes en blanc / UK: Men in White / USA:
Doctors, Ralph Habib; 1956 La Loi des Rues / USA: Law
of the Streets, Ralph Habib; La Châtelaine Du Liban /
La castellana del Libano / USA: The Lebanese Mission
/ US TV: Desert Detour, Richard Pottier, France /
Italy; Club de Femmes / Club di ragazze, France / Italy,
Ralph Habib; L’Homme et l’Enfant / Creature del male
/ USA: Man and Child, Raoul André, France / Italy;
1957 Jusqu’au dernier / Fino all’ultimo, Pierre Billon,
France / Italy; L’Ami de la Famille, Jack Pinoteau; Escapade,
Ralph Habib; Le Triporteur, Jack Pinoteau; 1958
Le Passager clandestin / The Stowaway, Ralph Habib,
Lee Robinson, France / Australia; 1959 L’Ambitieuse /
UK: The Dispossessed / USA: The Ambitious One / The
Restless and the Damned / US TV: The Climbers, Yves
Allégret, France / Italy / Australia; 1959 Houla-Houla,
Robert Darène; 1960 Robinson et le Triporteur / Hola
Robinson! / USA: Monsieur Robinson Crusoe, Jack Pinoteau,
France / Spain; 1962 Un Singe en Hiver / UK: It’s