Marcel Ichac

Directing

Marcel Ichac

Born — Died

1906-11-22 — 1994-04-09

Place of birth

Rueil-Malmaison, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Known for

Directing

Credits

28 titles

Marcel Ichac, born October 22, 1906 in Rueil-Malmaison (Seine-et-Oise) and died April 9, 1994 in Ézanville (Val-d'Oise), was a French filmmaker, photographer, explorer, and mountaineer. He was the brother of Pierre Ichac (1901-1978). "A great master of documentary filmmaking," according to historian Jean Tulard, Marcel Ichac is particularly considered "the greatest filmmaker specializing in mountain films in France and undoubtedly in the world" of his generation by Georges Sadoul. Initially a skier and mountaineer, a great witness to French mountaineering, Marcel Ichac went on to become, through the diversity of the spaces he explored, the filmmaker of French exploration in the 1930s and 19…

Known for

Sensation Alpen poster
10.0

From Trento to Chamonix, via Zermatt; from the Morgiou cove to the Eiger's north face; from Planica to the Lavaredo peaks, the Alps are depicted, illustrated, and magnified in all their unique and sublime beauty, through the sports practiced there and the most typical customs and traditions of their inhabitants. A helicopter rescue and a parachute jump from the Red Wall by Wolfgang Weizenbocks are experiences not to be missed.

Sensation Alpen

1966

The Silent World poster
6.6

Join renowned explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau as he investigates aquatic habitats worldwide, showcasing whales, sharks, and diverse marine life. The film highlights the brutal realities of nature while capturing the wonder of underwater exploration, as the team ventures into previously unseen ocean depths.

The Silent World

1956

Karakoram poster
9.5

Account of the first French expedition to the Himalayas, which attempted to climb the hidden peak (Gasherbrum I) in 1936, from the preparations for the trip to the end of the ascent. After a long approach walk through quasi-desert regions, then on a huge glacier, the caravan of 700 porters arrives at the foot of Hidden Peak. The expedition was led by Henry de Ségogne, with Jean Charignon, Pierre Allain, Raymond Leininger, Jean Carle, Jean Deudon, Louis Neltner, Jacques Azémar, doctor Jeand Arlaud and director Marcel Ichac. Weather conditions, logistical problems and a strike among Sherpas forced the team to retire at 6900m on the south face. The film received the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1938.

Karakoram

1937

Stars at Noon poster
7.0

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

Stars at Noon

1959

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge poster
7.6

During the American Civil War, a Southerner is about to be hanged from a bridge for sabotage when something unexpected happens.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

1961

The Conqueror Of The Useless poster
9.5

Biography of ski instructor, mountain guide, mountaineer and filmmaker-lecturer Lionel Terray. Film-portrait of an emblematic figure of French mountaineering in the 1950s and 1960s, reconstructing the life, the great races and the expeditions of the "conqueror" of the most difficult walls and summits of Europe, the Himalayas, the Andes and North America. Marcel Ichac produced in 1966, the day after the Gerbier accident, this illustrated tribute by bringing together personal archive documents, unpublished animated sequences or extracts from expedition images as well as comments taken from the autobiographical texts of Lionel Terray " The Conquerors of the Useless" and "Battle for Jannu". This film, presented at the Cannes Film Festival, has won numerous awards at specialized film festivals, including the Trente Festival and the Banff Festival.

The Conqueror Of The Useless

1966

Film credits

1960s · 2 titles

Behind the camera

The Silent World poster
6.6

Join renowned explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau as he investigates aquatic habitats worldwide, showcasing whales, sharks, and diverse marine life. The film highlights the brutal realities of nature while capturing the wonder of underwater exploration, as the team ventures into previously unseen ocean depths.

The Silent World

1956

Karakoram poster
9.5

Account of the first French expedition to the Himalayas, which attempted to climb the hidden peak (Gasherbrum I) in 1936, from the preparations for the trip to the end of the ascent. After a long approach walk through quasi-desert regions, then on a huge glacier, the caravan of 700 porters arrives at the foot of Hidden Peak. The expedition was led by Henry de Ségogne, with Jean Charignon, Pierre Allain, Raymond Leininger, Jean Carle, Jean Deudon, Louis Neltner, Jacques Azémar, doctor Jeand Arlaud and director Marcel Ichac. Weather conditions, logistical problems and a strike among Sherpas forced the team to retire at 6900m on the south face. The film received the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1938.

Karakoram

1937

Stars at Noon poster
7.0

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

Stars at Noon

1959

Stars at Noon poster
7.0

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

Stars at Noon

1959

Stars at Noon poster
7.0

Les Etoiles de Midi is an engaging docudrama about some of the more spectacular exploits of French mountain climbers over the last several decades. In one re-enacted story, there is a wartime escape through the mountains, and in another, a daring rescue of a pair of climbers who had been missing. The actors themselves are adept at the sport of climbing, and they give the scenes an immediacy and real daring that brings the stories alive. A combination of their acrobatics and skill and the outstanding episodes in the history of French climbing creates a winning 78 minutes.

Stars at Noon

1959

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge poster
7.6

During the American Civil War, a Southerner is about to be hanged from a bridge for sabotage when something unexpected happens.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

1961

The Conqueror Of The Useless poster
9.5

Biography of ski instructor, mountain guide, mountaineer and filmmaker-lecturer Lionel Terray. Film-portrait of an emblematic figure of French mountaineering in the 1950s and 1960s, reconstructing the life, the great races and the expeditions of the "conqueror" of the most difficult walls and summits of Europe, the Himalayas, the Andes and North America. Marcel Ichac produced in 1966, the day after the Gerbier accident, this illustrated tribute by bringing together personal archive documents, unpublished animated sequences or extracts from expedition images as well as comments taken from the autobiographical texts of Lionel Terray " The Conquerors of the Useless" and "Battle for Jannu". This film, presented at the Cannes Film Festival, has won numerous awards at specialized film festivals, including the Trente Festival and the Banff Festival.

The Conqueror Of The Useless

1966

The Conqueror Of The Useless poster
9.5

Biography of ski instructor, mountain guide, mountaineer and filmmaker-lecturer Lionel Terray. Film-portrait of an emblematic figure of French mountaineering in the 1950s and 1960s, reconstructing the life, the great races and the expeditions of the "conqueror" of the most difficult walls and summits of Europe, the Himalayas, the Andes and North America. Marcel Ichac produced in 1966, the day after the Gerbier accident, this illustrated tribute by bringing together personal archive documents, unpublished animated sequences or extracts from expedition images as well as comments taken from the autobiographical texts of Lionel Terray " The Conquerors of the Useless" and "Battle for Jannu". This film, presented at the Cannes Film Festival, has won numerous awards at specialized film festivals, including the Trente Festival and the Banff Festival.

The Conqueror Of The Useless

1966

Victory over Annapurna poster
10.0

In 1950, a French expedition led by Maurice Herzog went to central Nepal to conquer the highest peak (8,091 meters): Annapurna. The film is not only made of what we see, but even more of what we don't see. Its imperfections are the negative imprint of the adventure. Memory is the most faithful of films.

Victory over Annapurna

1953

No artwork available
NR

Documents the long and arduous journey made by Muslims every year, from North Africa to Mecca. Footage inside the city was filmed by a Muslim crew.

The Pilgrims of Mecca

1940

No artwork available
NR

Documents the long and arduous journey made by Muslims every year, from North Africa to Mecca. Footage inside the city was filmed by a Muslim crew.

The Pilgrims of Mecca

1940

Greenland poster
10.0

Groenland: twenty thousand leagues on the ice is a French documentary film directed by Marcel Ichac and Jean-Jacques Languepin, released in 1952 on the expedition of Paul-Émile Victor and his team in Greenland, in 1948-1949. The film received the Special Jury Prize - scientific or educational film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952.

Greenland

1952

Les Danses de Tami poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Les Danses de Tami

1955

No artwork available
NR

The first French short shot in CinemaScope; begins in a car and ends with a plane ride over the Alps.

New Horizons

1954

No artwork available
NR

The first French short shot in CinemaScope; begins in a car and ends with a plane ride over the Alps.

New Horizons

1954

Daredevils of the Alps poster
10.0

Marcel Ichac accompanied the mountaineer Armand Charlet, in 1943, in the repetition of the first crossing of the Aiguilles du Diable that the guide of the Chamonix valley had made in 1925. A roped party joined on snow and ice the Col du Géant, reached at the Mont-Blanc-du-Tacul stop and on the Col du Diable. The men cross the needles by climbing chimneys, cracks and abseiling walls. They access the eastern slope of the Mont-Blanc massif which offers a panorama of the Grandes Jorasses and Mont-Blanc. Armand Charlet was the first to reach the summits of four needles above 4000 meters: the Devil's Horn, Pointe Chaubert, Pointe Médiane and Pointe Carmen; he also tells how he successfully climbed the furthest, the Isolated. Marcel Ichac shot these scenes as close as possible to his subject, he responded with this film with a “truth” cinema, the principle of which we find in his later productions.

Daredevils of the Alps

1943

No artwork available
NR

"4100 Ascension à ski de la face nord des Ecrins" is a documentary about alpinism that takes place in Barre Des Écrins. It was directed by Marcel Ichac in 1936 and produced by Films Cinéka. It features André Jamet, Georgette Galtier, René Beckert, Jacques Charmoz and J.L. Deschamps

4100 Ascension à ski de la face nord des Ecrins

1936

The Aiguille Verte poster
NR

The ascent of the Aiguille Verte in the Mont Blanc Massif by the ridge of the Moine. Two climbers, the mountain, and the rope. No plot, no tragedy, but the lives of the two protagonists during the hours they are struggling. A film produced by the Comité de l'Expédition Française à l'Himalaya and made by Samivel and Marcel Ichac to test the film material destined to a future expedition in the Himalayas (the 1936 French expedition to Hidden Peak in the Karakorum). It is also an opportunity to show the beauty of the mountain at different moments of the day, the ascent of climbers roped, and the techniques and dangers of mountain climbing.

The Aiguille Verte

1934

No artwork available
NR

Marcel Ichac captures the mountain warfare of the French Alps in World War II, the highest battles to take place during the war. The film also features footage of the liberation of Torino, Italy.

Storm over the Alps

1945

The Cousteau Collection N°34-1 | The Legend of Lake Titicaca poster
7.8

No synopsis available yet.

The Cousteau Collection N°34-1 | The Legend of Lake Titicaca

1968

Diving Logs poster
NR

Diving logs of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Documentary Maritime Resources of Mahdia, Tunisia. Selected for Canes International Film 1949 and 1951.

Diving Logs

1948