Léon Poirier

Directing

Léon Poirier

Born — Died

1884-08-25 — 1968-06-27

Place of birth

Paris, France

Known for

Directing

Credits

33 titles

Léon Poirier (25 August 1884 – 27 June 1968) was a French film director, screenwriter and film producer best known for his silent films from 1913 onwards. He directed some 25 films between 1913 and 1949. His most famous film today is Verdun: Visions of History, a drama-documentary depicting the World War I Battle of Verdun. His later films adopted a form of poetic realism influenced by pictorialist photography.

Known for

Jeannou poster
9.0

Jeannou lives in a castle in Périgord with his father, the last man of aristocratic lineage landowners, very attached to traditions. She meets Peter, a young engineer, she joined in Paris, decided to marry her. A few months later, pregnant, she returned to the area where the wedding will be celebrated.

Jeannou

1943

No artwork available
9.0

Directed by Léon Poirier.

Le penseur

1920

The Call poster
8.0

The story of Charles de Foucauld, born September 15, 1858 in Strasbourg (France) and died December 1, 1916 in Tamanrasset in Algeria during the French colonial period, was a cavalry officer of the French army who became an explorer and geographer, then Catholic religious, priest, linguist and hermit in the Hoggar desert in Algeria.

The Call

1936

No artwork available
7.0

Geneviève is an orphan child and living with her little sister Josette. Because of her economic situation, she cancels marriage with an honest and respectful man. Josette, after a short and tremendous love affair, dies leaving a little baby boy. Due to this incident, Geneviève is convicted and imprisoned. Wandering from town to town, village to village, she finally manages to get to her ancient fiance's house.

Geneviève

1923

La Brière poster
10.0

In the lands of Brière a bitter dispute broke out over the draining of marshes for brick making. An old man, Aoustin, leads the resistance and refuses to give the hand of his daughter Théotiste to a young peasant, Jeannin, who supports it.

La Brière

1924

Jocelyn poster
8.0

Adaptation of a romantic Lamartine poem. A youth leaves a monastery where he has stayed, after the anti-religious terror of the Revolution. He befriends a youth who turns out to be a girl. But his former bishop calls Jocelyn back to duty.

Jocelyn

1922

Behind the camera

Jeannou poster
9.0

Jeannou lives in a castle in Périgord with his father, the last man of aristocratic lineage landowners, very attached to traditions. She meets Peter, a young engineer, she joined in Paris, decided to marry her. A few months later, pregnant, she returned to the area where the wedding will be celebrated.

Jeannou

1943

No artwork available
9.0

Directed by Léon Poirier.

Le penseur

1920

The Call poster
8.0

The story of Charles de Foucauld, born September 15, 1858 in Strasbourg (France) and died December 1, 1916 in Tamanrasset in Algeria during the French colonial period, was a cavalry officer of the French army who became an explorer and geographer, then Catholic religious, priest, linguist and hermit in the Hoggar desert in Algeria.

The Call

1936

The Call poster
8.0

The story of Charles de Foucauld, born September 15, 1858 in Strasbourg (France) and died December 1, 1916 in Tamanrasset in Algeria during the French colonial period, was a cavalry officer of the French army who became an explorer and geographer, then Catholic religious, priest, linguist and hermit in the Hoggar desert in Algeria.

The Call

1936

The Call poster
8.0

The story of Charles de Foucauld, born September 15, 1858 in Strasbourg (France) and died December 1, 1916 in Tamanrasset in Algeria during the French colonial period, was a cavalry officer of the French army who became an explorer and geographer, then Catholic religious, priest, linguist and hermit in the Hoggar desert in Algeria.

The Call

1936

No artwork available
7.0

Geneviève is an orphan child and living with her little sister Josette. Because of her economic situation, she cancels marriage with an honest and respectful man. Josette, after a short and tremendous love affair, dies leaving a little baby boy. Due to this incident, Geneviève is convicted and imprisoned. Wandering from town to town, village to village, she finally manages to get to her ancient fiance's house.

Geneviève

1923

La Brière poster
10.0

In the lands of Brière a bitter dispute broke out over the draining of marshes for brick making. An old man, Aoustin, leads the resistance and refuses to give the hand of his daughter Théotiste to a young peasant, Jeannin, who supports it.

La Brière

1924

Jocelyn poster
8.0

Adaptation of a romantic Lamartine poem. A youth leaves a monastery where he has stayed, after the anti-religious terror of the Revolution. He befriends a youth who turns out to be a girl. But his former bishop calls Jocelyn back to duty.

Jocelyn

1922

Jocelyn poster
8.0

Adaptation of a romantic Lamartine poem. A youth leaves a monastery where he has stayed, after the anti-religious terror of the Revolution. He befriends a youth who turns out to be a girl. But his former bishop calls Jocelyn back to duty.

Jocelyn

1922

Verdun: Visions of History poster
7.8

A dramatized re-enactment and documentary of the Battle of Verdun as seen by both French and German soldiers, shot on site of the actual battle.

Verdun: Visions of History

1928

Verdun: Visions of History poster
7.8

A dramatized re-enactment and documentary of the Battle of Verdun as seen by both French and German soldiers, shot on site of the actual battle.

Verdun: Visions of History

1928

Narayana poster
5.8

Loosely based on Balzac's novel "La peau de chagrin", the story revolves around a man who steals a small, magical figurine named Narayana.

Narayana

1920

No artwork available
NR

On Christmas Eve, a poor woman, once seduced by a Romani man who abandoned her with their child, vainly begs for help for her dying little girl. In despair, she begs Death to take her in her daughter's place. The Angel of Death appears and reveals to her what her daughter's life would be. Resigned, the mother allows fate to take its course.

L'Ombre Déchirée

1921

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Amours exotiques

1927

Autopolis poster
NR

The stages of car manufacturing in the immense Citroën factories on the Quai de Javel in Paris, from the foundry to the assembly lines, right through to the finishing touches. We observe the workers' precise tasks, the pace of production, and the employees' daily lives.

Autopolis

1934

Verdun, memories of history poster
7.0

A visitor from the western front tells young children, in a sober commentary, about the battle of Verdun.

Verdun, memories of history

1931

The Yellow Cruise poster
6.3

The Yellow Cruise is a French documentary film initially directed by André Sauvage and taken over by Léon Poirier following the intervention of André Citroën. The film was presented in Paris in 1934. André Sauvage was hired by the Pathé-Natan company to follow the yellow cruise through Asia. In 1931 and 1932, forty-two men, including Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, scholars and doctors traveled thirty thousand kilometers on the Silk Road through the Middle and Far East, in caterpillar propellants. Together, despite the bad weather, the difficulties of the terrain, the mechanical failures and the political conflicts, they reached Beijing on February 12, 1932. André Citroën who asked to see the film, dissatisfied with the result, bought it from Bernard Natan and entrusted the editing by Léon Poirier, who had filmed La Croisière Noire in Africa in 1926. This film will mark the break in the film career of André Sauvage.

The Yellow Cruise

1934

Rama, the Cannibal Girl poster
8.0

A stoker, dissatisfied with his job, escapes from his ship to an island where he lives with a native girl. Eventually he is picked up by a passing steamer.

Rama, the Cannibal Girl

1930

Rama, the Cannibal Girl poster
8.0

A stoker, dissatisfied with his job, escapes from his ship to an island where he lives with a native girl. Eventually he is picked up by a passing steamer.

Rama, the Cannibal Girl

1930

The Black Cruise poster
10.0

This non-fiction feature produced by the Citroen automobile company features a car which makes a trip across the African continent.

The Black Cruise

1926

Brazza, or The Epic of the Congo poster
10.0

The voyages of Pierre Savorgnan de Brassa through Africa. This great explorer, the founder of Brazzaville (Congo), was born in Italy but chose France as his motherland.

Brazza, or The Epic of the Congo

1940

Brazza, or The Epic of the Congo poster
10.0

The voyages of Pierre Savorgnan de Brassa through Africa. This great explorer, the founder of Brazzaville (Congo), was born in Italy but chose France as his motherland.

Brazza, or The Epic of the Congo

1940

Brazza, or The Epic of the Congo poster
10.0

The voyages of Pierre Savorgnan de Brassa through Africa. This great explorer, the founder of Brazzaville (Congo), was born in Italy but chose France as his motherland.

Brazza, or The Epic of the Congo

1940

The Jade Casket poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Jade Casket

1921

The Jade Casket poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Jade Casket

1921

No artwork available
NR

Produced as part of the "Yellow Cruise", the film documents the daily life of the sedentary Moïs people in Buôn Ma Thuôt, in the Darlac region. The Moïs live by fishing and hunting, and on feast days, the men dance to a special drink.

Dans la brousse annamite

1931

Sisters-in-Arms poster
5.2

During the war from '14-'18, two women travel by foot in the North of France and Belgium to aid an organization to provide information to the English

Sisters-in-Arms

1937

Sisters-in-Arms poster
5.2

During the war from '14-'18, two women travel by foot in the North of France and Belgium to aid an organization to provide information to the English

Sisters-in-Arms

1937

Sisters-in-Arms poster
5.2

During the war from '14-'18, two women travel by foot in the North of France and Belgium to aid an organization to provide information to the English

Sisters-in-Arms

1937

No artwork available
10.0

Toward the close of World War I, European railroads in Djibouti are under siege by bands of indigenous warriors, while one of the white employees falls for a mysterious woman tied to the rebels.

La voie sans disque

1933

No artwork available
10.0

Toward the close of World War I, European railroads in Djibouti are under siege by bands of indigenous warriors, while one of the white employees falls for a mysterious woman tied to the rebels.

La voie sans disque

1933

No artwork available
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

L'affaire du courrier de Lyon

1923

The Unknown Road poster
8.0

The Moroccan adventure of Charles de Foucauld, explorer in Morocco, in 1883-1884. The ex-officer's contact with the wisdom of the Koran, the mores of the natives, the solitude on the edge of the oases made him rediscover his faith and already we guessed in him the future Father de Foucauld.

The Unknown Road

1949