Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

870 • RIVERS, FERNAND
Filmography
1961 La Passe de trois (short)
Les Genoux d’Ariane (short)
1975 One Night Stand / Alibis (also screenwriter,
dialogist; unreleased)
1981 Cinq et la Peau (also co-screenwriter, codialogist;
France / Philippines)
RIVERS, FERNAND (François Large / September
6, 1879, Saint-Léger, Rhône, France–August 17, 1960,
Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France)
A stage and music hall performer since 1897, he
started his motion picture career in 1902 as an extra
and landed his fi rst leading role in a Pathé production
(Cache-toi dans la Malle!, short, Anonymous). He became
a comic star as Plouf (eleven fi lms shot in 1917
and 1918). After directing many movies from 1912
to 1921, he wrote revues and managed a theater. In
1933, he created his own fi lm production and release
company, Les Films Fernand Rivers, and resumed his
directing career. He notably produced Mister Flow /
UK: Compliments of Mr. Flow / USA: Mr. Flow (Robert
Siodmak, 1936), La Tour de Nesle / La torre del piacere
/ La torre di Nesle (Abel Gance, France / Italy, 1955),
Le Sang à la Tête (Gilles Grangier), and Les Dragueurs
/ UK: Young Have No Morals / USA: The Chasers (Jean-
Pierre Mocky).
Filmography
1912 Le Bracelet-Montre (short; also actor)
1915 Tout ce qui brille n’est pas Or (short)
L’Héritage de Cécile (short; also screenwriter)
Il faut que Jeunesse se passe (short)
1916 Les Apparences sont trompeuses (short)
L’Excès en tout est un Défaut (short)
Gonzague (short; also screenwriter, actor)
L’Habit ne fait pas le Moine (short; also screenwriter)
Quand il y en a pour Deux (short; also screenwriter,
actor)
Si Vieillesse savait! (short; also screenwriter,
actor)
Trop gratter cuit (short; also screenwriter, actor)
1917 Et l’on revient toujours (short; also adapter, actor)
Plouf fait son Voyage de Noces à Deauville (short;
also screenwriter, actor)
Le Prince Plouf (short; also actor)
Plouf rate son Mariage (short; also actor)
Ce que Femme veut (short)
Esprit es-tu là? (short; also adapter, actor)
1918 Plouf a eu Peur (short; also actor)
1919 Ca tourne
Le Duel de Plouf (short; also actor)
1921 Quand les Feuilles tomberont (co-director with
Marcel Simon; also adapter)
1934 Le Maître des Forges (supervised by Abel
Gance; also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, producer)
La Dame aux Camélias (supervised by Abel
Gance; also producer)
1935 Le Chemineau / USA: The Open Road (also
producer)
Pasteur (co-director with Sacha Guitry; also
producer)
Bonne Chance (co-director with Sacha Guitry;
also producer)
1936 Bichon (also producer)
Les Deux Gosses (also producer, lyricist)
1937 Boissière (also producer)
Le Fauteuil 47 (also producer)
Le Concierge revient de suite (short)
1938 Quatre Heures du Matin (also producer)
La Présidente (also producer)
La Goualeuse (also producer)
1939 Berlingot et Cie (also producer)
L’Embuscade (also producer)
1940 Le Roi des Galéjeurs (also producer)
L’An 40 (movie destroyed in 1941 by order of
Vichy censorship after one showing in
Marseille)
1944 La Rabouilleuse (also producer)
1946 Cyrano de Bergerac (also screenwriter, adapter,
producer)
1948 Le Maître de Forges (also screenwriter, adapter,
dialogist, producer)
1949 Ces Dames aux Chapeaux verts (also screenwriter,
adapter, producer)
1950 Tire au Flanc (also screenwriter, adapter, producer)
1951 Les Mains sales / USA: Dirty Hands (also coscreenwriter,
co-adapter, producer)
RIVETTE, JACQUES (Jacques Lorris / March 1,
1928, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France–)
He settled in Paris in 1949 and spent a lot of time
watching fi lms at the Cinémathèque Française. In
1950, he co-founded with Jean-Luc Godard, Eric
Rohmer, and François Truffaut a review, La Gazette