Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

2008 La Main blanche (4 52')
Duval et Moretti (episodes “Haute Couture,”
“Seule au Monde,” “Carton rouge,” “Compte
à Rebours,” “Drôle de Justice”)
BERRY, JOHN (Jak Szold / September 6, 1917, New
York, New York, USA–November 29, 1999, Paris,
France)
The son of a Polish restaurant owner and a Romanian
actress, he made his stage debut at age four and directed
his fi rst play at age twenty. Spotted by Orson
Welles, he joined the Mercury Theater, for which he
notably acted and directed an adaptation of Richard
Wright’s novel Native Son. When Welles went to
Hollywood in 1940 to fi lm Citizen Kane, he was left
in charge of the theater company. Four years later, he
directed his fi rst feature fi lm. In the early 1950s, his
Hollywood career was cut short by the House Un-
American Activities Committee. Blacklisted, he left
for France, where he began directing Eddie Constantine’s
vehicles. He returned to the USA and directed
several American movies.
Filmography
1945 Tuesday in November (short; USA)
1946 Miss Susie Slagle’s (USA; shot in 1944)
From This Day Forward (USA)
1947 Cross My Heart (USA; shot in 1944–1945)
1948 Casbah (USA)
1949 Caught (John Berry directed some scenes;
Max Ophüls; USA)
Tension (also co-screenwriter; USA)
1950 The Hollywood Ten (documentary; also screenwriter;
USA)
1951 He Ran All the Way (USA)
Atoll K / Atollo K / UK: Robinson Crusoeland
/ USA: Utopia (John Berry directed some
scenes; Léo Joannon; France / Italy)
1953 C’est arrive à Paris / USA: It Happened in Paris
(co-director with Henri Lavorel)
1955 Ca va barder . . . / Silenzio . . . s spara! / USA:
There Goes Barder / US TV: Give’em Hell (also
co-screenwriter, co-adapter; France / Italy)
Je suis un sentimental / Io sono un sentimentale
/ US TV: Headlines of Destruction (also coscreenwriter,
co-adapter; France / Italy)
1956 Don Juan / Il grande seduttore / El gran amor de
Don Juan / USA: Pantaloons (also co-adapter;
France / Italy / Spain)
BERRY, RICHARD • 91
1958 Tamango / La rivolta dell’esperanza (France /
Italy)
1959 Oh! Que Mambo! / Il giovane leone (France /
Italy)
1966 Maya (USA)
1968 A tout casser / Quella carogna di Frank Mitraglia
/ UK: The Great Chase / USA: Breaking
It Up (also co-screenwriter, co-adapter, codialogist;
France / Italy)
1974 Claudine (USA)
1977 Thieves (co-director with Alfred Viola; USA;
shot in 1975)
1978 The Bad New Bears Go to Japan (USA)
1985 Le Voyage à Paimpol (also co-screenwriter, coadapter)
1988 Il y a Maldonne (also screenwriter, co-adapter,
co-dialogist; France / Belgium)
1993 A Captive in the Land (also co-screenwriter, coadapter;
USSR / USA; shot in 1989–1990)
2001 Boesman et Lena (also co-screenwriter; South
Africa / France; shot in 1999)
Television Filmography
1964 East Side / West Side (episode “One Drink at
a Time”; USA)
1965 Seaway (episode “Mutiny”; USA)
1966 Seaway (episodes “Port of Call—Paradise,”
“Ghost Ship”; also co-screenwriter, co-dialogist;
USA)
1978 Sparrow (as Stuart Hoffmann; USA)
1980 Angel on My Shoulder (USA)
1982 Sister, Sister (USA)
Honeyboy (also co-screenwriter; USA)
1990 Les Cadavres de Patricia Highsmith / Cadavres
exquis (episode “Légitime Défense”)
BERRY, RICHARD (July 31, 1950, Paris, France–)
Trained at the Conservatoire, he was the pupil of
Jean-Laurent Cochet and Antoine Vitez from 1969 to
1972. After receiving a fi rst comedy prize, he spent
eight years at the Comédie-Française (1972–1980)
before switching to cinema (almost ninety movies
from 1972 Absences répétées, Guy Gilles, to 2008
L’Emmerdeur, Francis Veber).
Filmography
1994 3000 Scénarios contre un Virus (short; segment
“Préservatif, une Preuve d’Amour”)
2001 L’Art (délicat) de la Séduction (also co-screenwriter,
co-dialogist, actor)