IEC
#1: © Photo by Thys Ockersen [1973]
#3: [Behind camera] with François Truffaut
Born: 31 July 1915, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France.
Died: 7 March 1987, Paris, France.
Education: École technique de photographie et de cinéma [ETPC] [later École nationale de photographie et cinématographie (ENPC) (École Vaugirard); now L'École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière] [graduated in 1935].
Career: Bought a camera when he was 10 and made a number of amateur films, some with his brother Claude. Entered the film industry as a sound recording engineer and sound editor, working for the company Poste Parisien. Was cameraman in the French Air Force [Service Cinématographique de l'Armée de l'Air] during WW2. In 1945, he became photographic reporter for six months for the magazine 'Le Petit Parisien'. Began making documentaries and directing and photographing industrial and commercial films, then in 1947 made his first feature.
Ph commercials.
Appeared in a seg of the newsreel magazine 'Actualités Gaumont' [June 1970], a report on the shooting of 'Le cercle rouge'.
In an interview made shortly after 'Le cercle rouge' Jean-Pierre Melville had some harsh things to say about his long-time collaborator, accusing him of, among other things, a deterioration in professional standards. There must be more to this story than appears, however, since Henri Decaë's work pre- and post-'Le cercle rouge' is nothing if not professional. The worst he can be charged with is that lately his directors have been getting less interesting: from the second most popular cameraman of the Nouvelle Vague to being Lewis Gilbert's regular is a deterioration indeed. But his versatility is amply demonstrated by the midsummer riot of colors in 'A double tour' contrasted with the gray, wintery Paris of 'Les 400 coups'; or the formal romanticism of 'Les amants' in opposition to the surreal warscapes of 'Castle Keep'. Always a color specialist, even before color became inescapable, he has also proved particularly adept at night sequences of varying moods. [Markku Salmi in 'Film Dope', No. 9, April 1976.]
FILMS [see also SHORT FILMS & DOCUMENTARIES AS DIRECTOR] | |
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194? |
Pif, paf, pouf [?] unreleased |
1942 |
Premier prix du conservatoire [René Guy-Grand] b&w; doc/29m; cph: Georges Raulet |
1944 |
Chanson de rue [Léo Sevestre] b&w; mus doc/?m |
1945 |
Marseille, premier port de France [Jean Mineur] b&w; doc/?m |
1945 |
L'accordéon et ses vedettes [Léo Sevestre] b&w; mus doc/?m |
1946 |
Nostalgie champêtre [Léo Sevestre] b&w; short/?m |
1946 |
Hommes et bêtes [Jean Mineur] b&w; ?/?m |
1946 |
Sport de la voile [Léo Sevestre & L. Motard] b&w; ?/?m |
1946 |
Le charcutier de Machonville [Vicky Ivernel] c.op; ph: Marcel Fradétal |
1947 |
Les drames du Bois de Boulogne [Jacques Loew] b&w; short/19m |
1947 |
Le silence de la mer/The Silence of the Sea [Jean-Pierre Melville] b&w; + co-ed/co-sound dubbing/mixing; shooting started with ph Luc Mirot, who was sacked and replaced by André Villard, who was replaced by H. Decaë (J-P. Melville: 'Henri Decaë, a young man as sympathetic as he was shy, gifted with great intelligence, and exactly sharing my tastes for all things cinema. The first day we worked together was very pleasant, the second, delightful. From the third day onwards the die was cast.'); filmed between August & December (27 shooting days); released 1949 |
1948 |
Un homme à la mer [Jacques Loew] ?; ?/?m |
1948 |
Sous les palmes de Marrakech [Jean Mineur] ?; doc/?m |
1948 |
Marrakech, capitale du Sud [Jean Mineur] ?; doc/?m |
1948 |
Le Mellah de Marrakech [Jean Mineur] ?; doc/?m |
1948 |
Bons baisers de Dinard [Jacques Loew] ?; doc/18m |
1949 |
Vacances blanches [Marc de Gastyne] ?; ?/?m |
1949 |
Les enfants terribles/The Strange Ones [Jean-Pierre Melville] b&w; filmed 1949-50 |
1950 |
Cher vieux Paris!/Paris des artistes [Marc de Gastyne] 16mm/b&w; doc/32m |
1950 |
Le premier pas [Armand Chartier] b&w; doc/21m; prod for Ministère de l'agriculture |
1950 |
Paré pour accoster! [Jacques Loew] b&w; short/17m |
1950 |
Bertrand, coeur-de-lion/Bernard and the Lion [Robert Dhéry] b&w |
1950 |
Caroline du Sud [Marc de Gastyne] b&w; short/24m |
1951 |
Caroline au pays natal [Marc de Gastyne] b&w; short/18m |
1951 |
La course de taureaux/Bullfight [Pierre Braunberger] b&w; doc/76m; cph: Jimmy Berliet |
1951 |
Au coeur de la Casbah/Maria Pilar [Pierre Cardinal] b&w |
1951 |
La lutte contre le gaspillage [Léo Sevestre] ?; doc/?m |
1951 |
Escale à Paris [Michel Lukine] ?; ?/?m; cph: ? |
1951 |
Si ça vous chante [Jacques Loew] b&w; ?/?m; unreleased |
1952 |
L'or des Pharaons/Le masque de Tout Ankh Amon/L'or du Nil [Marc de Gastyne] ?; doc/?m; unreleased; see 1967 |
1952 |
Avec les gens du voyage [Marc de Gastyne] ?; ?/32m; cph: ? |
1952 |
Le grand cirque s'en va [Marc de Gastyne] ?; doc/26m; cph: ? |
1952 |
Crève-coeur [Jacques Dupont] c; doc/90m; cph: Jean Rabier; was replaced as ph by Jean Rabier, his c.op, after he was wounded in an explosion and had to return to Paris |
1953 |
Cow-boys français [Jean Vaudremont] ?; doc/?m |
1953 |
Village de la France Australe [Jean Vaudremont] c; doc/?m |
1953 |
La beauté de l'effort [Marc de Gastyne] 16mm/b&w; doc/15m |
1953 |
L'homme et les bêtes [Marc de Gastyne] ?; ?/?m; cph: Alain Levent & André Cantenys |
1953 |
Stock-car (À tout casser!) [Jacques Dupont] ?; doc/345mtr; cph: Jean Rabier |
1953 |
L'Egypte éternelle [Marc de Gastyne] ?; doc/?m |
1953 |
Un monde troublant [Marc de Gastyne] ?; ?/?m |
1954 |
Coureurs de brousse [Jacques Dupont] ?; ?/?m |
1954 |
Navigation marchande [atlantique]/Marine marchande [Georges Franju] b&w; doc/30m |
1955 |
Mer Caraïbe [Henri de Hubsch] ?; doc/22m |
1955 |
La grande terre [Jean Vaudremont] ?; ?/?m |
1955 |
Bob le Flambeur [Jean-Pierre Melville] b&w; + voice |
1956 |
L'enfant au fennec [Jacques Dupont] 16mm/c; short/20m |
1956 |
Israël... terre retrouvée [Marc de Gastyne] ?; doc/28m; cph: Jean Rabier |
1956 |
Propre à rien/Good for Nothing [Marc de Gastyne] c; short/25m; cph: Jean Rabier |
1956 |
S.O.S. Noronha [Georges Rouquier] c |
1957 |
La voix des anches [Claude-Yvon Leduc] ?; ?/?m |
1957 |
De bouche à oreille [Claude-Yvon Leduc] ?; ?/?m |
1957 |
Neuf à trois ou La journée d'une vedette [Claude-Yvon Leduc] ?; ?/?m |
1957 |
Piano, mon ami [Claude-Yvon Leduc] b&w; doc/?m |
1957 |
Confidences d'un piano [Claude-Yvon Leduc] ?; ?/?m |
1957 |
Robinson [Marc de Gastyne] 16mm/c; short/35m; c.op: Jean Rabier |
1957 |
Les plus beaux jours [Marc de Gastyne] ?; ?/?m |
1957 |
Le désir mène les hommes [Émile (Mick) Roussel] b&w |
1957 |
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud/Elevator to the Gallows/Frantic [Louis Malle] b&w |
1957 |
Le beau Serge/Handsome Serge [Claude Chabrol] b&w; filmed 1957-58 |
1958 |
Bois et cuivres [Claude-Yvon Leduc] ?; ?/?m; cph: ? |
1958 |
Les cuivres à la voix d'or [Claude-Yvon Leduc] ?; ?/?m |
1958 |
Le château du passé [Marc de Gastyne] ?; short/20m; cph: Jean Rabier; or ph Jacques Duhamel |
1958 |
L'A.F.P. nous communique [Jean-Pierre Melville] unfinished; J-P. Melville: 'Before making 'Deux hommes dans Manhattan', I had begun writing a thriller which was set in Cannes during the film festival. We were ready to start when I decided to abandon it. So I abandoned this project and, still with Decaë as my cameraman, began shooting another script 'L'A.F.P. nous communique'. I already had twenty minutes in the can when de Gaulle came to power in May 1958. That was the end of it for me. 'L'A.F.P nous communique' died with the Fourth Republic. [Later that year] I transposed the story of 'L'A.F.P. nous communique' to New York, where I went in November 1958 to shoot the exteriors ('Deux hommes dans Manhattan'). Decaë wasn't free. He had become cameraman-in-chief to the Nouvelle Vague.' [From the book 'Melville' by Rui Nogueira, 1971.] |
1958 |
Les amants/The Lovers [Louis Malle] ds/b&w |
1958 |
Les cousins/The Cousins [Claude Chabrol] b&w |
1958 |
Les quatre cents coups/The 400 Blows [François Truffaut] ds/b&w; filmed 1958-59 |
1959 |
Un témoin dans la ville/Witness in the City [Edouard Molinaro] b&w |
1959 |
La sentence/The Verdict [Jean Valère] b&w |
1959 |
À double tour/Web of Passion/Leda [Claude Chabrol] c |
1959 |
Plein soleil/Purple Noon/Lust for Evil/Blazing Sun [René Clément] c |
1959 |
Les bonnes femmes/The Good Time Girls/Girls... Girls!! [Claude Chabrol] b&w; filmed 1959-60 |
1960 |
Images d'hier et d'aujourd'hui [Claude-Yvon Leduc] ?; ?/?m; cph: ? |
1960 |
Ce monde banal [Jean Wagner] a short film shot in 3 days, but unedited; prod by Jean-Pierre Melville |
1960 |
Che gioia vivere/Quelle joie de vivre [René Clément] ds/b&w |
1961 |
Léon Morin, prêtre/Léon Morin, Priest [Jean-Pierre Melville] b&w |
1961 |
Le village du milieu des brûmes [Armand Chartier] ?; ?/?m |
1961 |
Vie privée/A Very Private Affair [Louis Malle] c |
1961 |
Eva/Eve [Joseph Losey] b&w; uncred ph Venice FF seq (filmed September); ph: Gianni Di Venanzo; filmed November 1961-January 1962 |
1961 |
Les sept péchés capitaux/The Seven Deadly Sins/Seven Capital Sins [1. Sylvain Dhomme & MaxDouy ('La colère'), 2. Edouard Molinaro ('L'envie'), 3. Jean-Luc Godard ('La paresse'), 4. Jacques Demy ('La luxure'), 5. Roger Vadim ('L'orgueil'), 6. Philippe de Broca ('La gourmandise') & 7. Claude Chabrol ('L'avarice')] ds/b&w; 7 seg; ph seg 3, 4 & 5; other ph: Jean Penzer (seg 1 & 6), Louis Miaille (seg 2) & Jean Rabier (seg 7) |
1961 |
Le marionnettiste: Football [Jean-Jacques Languepin] 16mm/c; mime film/19m |
1962 |
[Cybèle ou] Les dimanches de Ville d'Avray/Sundays and Cybele [Serge Bourguignon] fs/b&w |
1962 |
Le jour et l'heure/The Day and the Hour/Today We Live [René Clément] fs/b&w |
1962 |
L'aîné des Ferchaux/An Honorable Young Man/Magnet of Doom [Jean-Pierre Melville] fs/c |
1963 |
La porteuse de pain/The Bread Peddler [Maurice Cloche] c |
1963 |
Dragées au poivre/Sweet and Sour [Jacques Baratier] b&w |
1963 |
Le marionnettiste [Jean-Jacques Languepin] 16mm/c; short/11m |
1963 |
Les félins/The Love Cage/Joy House [René Clément] fs/b&w |
1963 |
La ronde/Circle of Love [Roger Vadim] fs/c; filmed 1963-64 |
1964 |
La tulipe noire/The Black Tulip [Christian-Jaque] Superpanorama 70/c; 2uc: Wladimir Ivanov |
1964 |
Week-end à Zuydcoote/Weekend at Dunkirk [Henri Verneuil] fs/c |
1964 |
Le corniaud/The Sucker [Gérard Oury] fs/c; 2uc: Wladimir Ivanov |
1964 |
Viva Maria! [Louis Malle] p/c; filmed 1964-65 |
1965 |
Hotel Paradiso [Peter Glenville] p/c |
1966 |
Le voleur/The Thief of Paris [Louis Malle] c |
Next to Anatole Litvak [glasses] - "The Night of the Generals"
1966 |
The Night of the Generals [Anatole Litvak] p/c |
1967 |
Toutankhamon et son royaume [Marc de Gastyne] ?; doc/?m; re-edited version of 'L'or des Pharaons' (1952) |
1967 |
The Comedians [Peter Glenville] p/c |
1967 |
Le samouraï/The Godson [Jean-Pierre Melville] c |
1967 |
Diaboliquement vôtre/Diabolically Yours [Julien Duvivier] c |
1968 |
Castle Keep [Sydney Pollack] p (+ 70bu)/c |
1968 |
The Only Game in Town [George Stevens] c; spec pfx: L.B. Abbott & Art Cruickshank; filmed 1968-69 |
Actor Jean Gabin - Henri Verneuil - H. Decaë - "Le clan des Siciliens"
1969 |
Le clan des Siciliens/The Sicilian Clan [Henri Verneuil] p/c |
1969 |
Hello-Goodbye [Jean Negulesco (replaced Ronald Neame)] c |
1970 |
Le cercle rouge [Jean-Pierre Melville] c |
1970 |
The Light at the Edge of the World/La luz del fin del mundo [Kevin Billington] p/c; 2uc: Cecilio Paniagua |
1971 |
Jo/The Gazebo [Jean Girault] c |
1971 |
La folie des grandeurs/Delusions of Grandeur [Gérard Oury] c; 2uc: Wladimir Ivanov |
1971 |
Le droit d'aimer/Elle lui dirait dans l'île [Eric Le Hung] c |
1972 |
Don Juan ou Si Don Juan était une femme.../Don Juan (Or If Don Juan Were a Woman) [Roger Vadim] c; cph: Andréas Winding |
1972 |
Two People [Robert Wise] c; ph New York: Gerald Hirschfeld |
[Right] with dir Lewis Gilbert - "Operation: Daybreak"
© Photo by Thys Ockersen
1973 |
Operation: Daybreak/The Price of Freedom/Seven Men at Daybreak [Lewis Gilbert] c |
1973 |
Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob/The Mad Adventures of 'Rabbi' Jacob [Gérard Oury] c; c.op 2u: Vladimir Ivanov |
1974 |
La moutarde me monte au nez/French Mustard/Lucky Pierre [Claude Zidi] p/c |
1974 |
Isabelle devant le désir/Isabelle and Lust [Jean-Pierre Berckmans] c |
1975 |
La course à l'échalote [Claude Zidi] p/c |
1976 |
Seven Nights in Japan [Lewis Gilbert] c |
1976 |
Bobby Deerfield [Sydney Pollack] p/c; add racing footage: Tony Maylam & John Jopson |
1977 |
Le point de mire/Focal Point [Jean-Claude Tramont] c |
1977 |
Mort d'un pourri/The Twisted Detective [Georges Lautner] c |
1977 |
The Boys from Brazil [Franklin J. Schaffner] c; filmed 1977-78 |
1978 |
Ils sont fous, ces sorciers! [Georges Lautner] c |
1978 |
Flic ou voyou/Cop or Hood [Georges Lautner] c; 2uc: Jean-Yves Coic |
1978 |
An Almost Perfect Affair [Michael Ritchie] c |
1979 |
Le guignolo [Georges Lautner] c; 2uc: Jean-Yves Coic |
1979 |
The Island [Michael Ritchie] p (35mm + 70bu)/c; sea ph: Neil Roach; matte ph: Bill Taylor; spec vfx: Albert J. Whitlock |
1980 |
Le coup du parapluie/The Umbrella Coup [Gérard Oury] c; 2uc: Jean-Yves Coic |
1980 |
Inspecteur la Bavure/Inspector Blunder [Claude Zidi] c |
1980 |
Est-ce bien raisonnable? [Georges Lautner] c |
1980 |
Exposed [James Toback] c; released 1983 |
1981 |
Le professionnel/The Professional [Georges Lautner] c |
1982 |
L'été de nos 15 ans [Marcel Jullian] c; 2uc: Jean-Yves Coic |
1983 |
Attention, une femme peut en cacher une autre!/My Other Husband [Georges Lautner] c; 2uc: Pascal Lebègue |
1983 |
Les parents ne sont pas simples cette année [Marcel Jullian] c |
1984 |
La vengeance du serpent à plumes [Gérard Oury] p/c |
TELEVISION | |
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1979 |
The Hard Way [Michael Dryhurst] tvm |
1986 |
Le tiroir secret [Edouard Molinaro, Nadine Trintignant, Michael Boisrond & Roger Gillioz] 6-part miniseries; other ph: Michel Carré, Claude Robin & Dario Di Palma |
1986 |
Riviera [Alan Smithee (= John Frankenheimer)] tvm; cph: Bernard Lutic |
SHORT FILMS & DOCUMENTARIES AS DIRECTOR | |
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1941 |
Eau vive [co-d: Claude Decaë; + ph] |
1942 |
Glaciers [+ ph] |
1943 |
Au-delà du visible [+ ph] |
1945 |
A tous les vents [+ ph] prod Les Films Jean Mineur |
1949 |
Pensez à ceux qui sont en-dessous! [+ ph] |
1949 |
Surveillez votre tenue [+ ph] |
1949 |
Evitez le désordre [+ ph] |
1949 |
Ne compromettez pas vos loisirs [+ ph] |
1949 |
Apprenez à soulever une charge [+ ph] |
1949 |
Faites soigner vos égratignures [+ ph] |
1949 |
Trois hommes en Corse [co-d: Claude Decaë; dram doc/b&w/17m] ph: ? |
1950 |
Le carnaval sacré [ph: ?] unreleased |
1950 |
À cheval [+ ph] |
1951 |
Faits d'hiver [ph: ?] |
1951 |
Visite au haras [+ ph] |
1951 |
Le garde-chasse [+ ph] |