Alain Pol

Directing

Alain Pol

Born — Died

1916-09-17 — 2013-06-05

Place of birth

Besançon, Doubs, France

Known for

Directing

Credits

11 titles

Alain Pol, born on September 17, 1916, in Besançon, in the Doubs department, is a leading figure in 20th-century French documentary cinema. A director, cinematographer, and cinematographer, he notably worked for the Lumière company, heir to a cinematic tradition of innovation and rigor. The son of the poet Antoine Pol, he grew up in an environment conducive to artistic creation and developed a passion for imagery and visual storytelling at an early age. His career truly began in the 1940s, a period during which he established himself as a master of short documentaries. In 1944, he directed "Autour D’Un Film De Montagne," a behind-the-scenes documentary on the set of Louis Daquin's film "Pre…

Known for

Around the World with Orson Welles poster
7.1

A six-part British television travel series written, directed, and presented by Orson Welles for ITV in 1955. Filmed entirely in Europe, the series follows Welles through Vienna, the Basque Country, Madrid, Paris’s Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and London’s Chelsea Pensioners, blending travelogue, cultural portraiture, and personal essay. Moving between documentary observation and reflective commentary, the episodes combine interviews, local history, and Welles’s distinctive narration into a series that functions as both travel film and cinematic essay.

Around the World with Orson Welles

1955

Autour d'un film de montagne poster
10.0

Making of the cinematographic shooting of "Premier de cordée" directed by Louis Daquin in the Mont-Blanc massif. In 1943. Alain Pol films the risky adventure of filming in the high mountains with a team of seventy people. The images of the making-of reveal the technical constraints encountered by the actors and technicians: falling rocks, crossing glaciers and long approach walks at altitude to the filming locations. Six actors and technicians will also be injured and the main role - that of Pierre - will be reassigned to André Le Gall following a bad fall by Roger Pigaut.

Autour d'un film de montagne

1944

The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles poster
6.5

In 1956, Orson Welles directed "The Tragedy of Lurs," an episode of the television series "Around the World" that was inspired by the murder of a British family near the Dominici farm. The film was unfinished, but the French director Christophe Cognet recovered his materials and reconstructed the documentary.

The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles

2003

Le Socle poster
10.0

The bases, under the occupation, lost their statues. These now anonymous steles rightly intrigue many visitors. Have you ever wondered who is up there? Ask Paul Colline, the most amusing guide in Paris, he will be able to answer you while sparing the goat, the cabbage and your political opinions.

Le Socle

1948

La Ceinture Dorée poster
10.0

La Ceinture Dorée is an institutional documentary film on the Brittany region in France. The different scenes describe the daily life of the Bretons, starting with a geography lesson on Brittany in a classroom. Then a Breton landscape where a painter paints a house, women in headdresses in a procession, bell towers and forgiveness, prayers at Calvaries. Then follow the plans of the boats at the dock and the work of the oyster farmers. Lobster ponds, algae collectors and fertilizer collection. Daily life of the Leonards, preparation of pancakes in front of the fireplace and pancake meal. etc

La Ceinture Dorée

1947

The Call Of The Peaks poster
10.0

L'Appel Des Cimes, directed by Alain Pol, is a documentary commissioned by the CAF and the various French ministries on the practice of post-war mountaineering. In 1946, climbers trained at the Fontainebleau Climbing School. Guy Poulet and Jacques Poincenot try to climb the Aiguilles de Chamonix but fail during the climbing phase. After a night in a refuge with Denise Rouzeau and the guide Pierre Allain, the mountaineers make a new attempt. Successful demonstration for those who continued the approach walk then the passage of the seracs of the glacier. On the rock, the roped party crosses a chimney and a crack to reach the summit and abseil down. Led by high mountain scouts, Guy and Jacques rediscover the glaciers and needles of the Mont-Blanc massif during the next lesson.

The Call Of The Peaks

1946

Film credits

Series credits

Behind the camera

Autour d'un film de montagne poster
10.0

Making of the cinematographic shooting of "Premier de cordée" directed by Louis Daquin in the Mont-Blanc massif. In 1943. Alain Pol films the risky adventure of filming in the high mountains with a team of seventy people. The images of the making-of reveal the technical constraints encountered by the actors and technicians: falling rocks, crossing glaciers and long approach walks at altitude to the filming locations. Six actors and technicians will also be injured and the main role - that of Pierre - will be reassigned to André Le Gall following a bad fall by Roger Pigaut.

Autour d'un film de montagne

1944

Le Socle poster
10.0

The bases, under the occupation, lost their statues. These now anonymous steles rightly intrigue many visitors. Have you ever wondered who is up there? Ask Paul Colline, the most amusing guide in Paris, he will be able to answer you while sparing the goat, the cabbage and your political opinions.

Le Socle

1948

La Ceinture Dorée poster
10.0

La Ceinture Dorée is an institutional documentary film on the Brittany region in France. The different scenes describe the daily life of the Bretons, starting with a geography lesson on Brittany in a classroom. Then a Breton landscape where a painter paints a house, women in headdresses in a procession, bell towers and forgiveness, prayers at Calvaries. Then follow the plans of the boats at the dock and the work of the oyster farmers. Lobster ponds, algae collectors and fertilizer collection. Daily life of the Leonards, preparation of pancakes in front of the fireplace and pancake meal. etc

La Ceinture Dorée

1947

The Call Of The Peaks poster
10.0

L'Appel Des Cimes, directed by Alain Pol, is a documentary commissioned by the CAF and the various French ministries on the practice of post-war mountaineering. In 1946, climbers trained at the Fontainebleau Climbing School. Guy Poulet and Jacques Poincenot try to climb the Aiguilles de Chamonix but fail during the climbing phase. After a night in a refuge with Denise Rouzeau and the guide Pierre Allain, the mountaineers make a new attempt. Successful demonstration for those who continued the approach walk then the passage of the seracs of the glacier. On the rock, the roped party crosses a chimney and a crack to reach the summit and abseil down. Led by high mountain scouts, Guy and Jacques rediscover the glaciers and needles of the Mont-Blanc massif during the next lesson.

The Call Of The Peaks

1946

À l'Assaut de la Tour Eiffel poster
10.0

Four experienced mountaineers climb the three floors of the Eiffel Tower through the pillars of the building. A police officer, overwhelmed by the events, does not succeed in arresting the intrepid who reach the summit with agility under the stunned eyes of tourists. They then abseil and happily throw themselves into the Seine to celebrate the feat.

À l'Assaut de la Tour Eiffel

1947

À l'Assaut de la Tour Eiffel poster
10.0

Four experienced mountaineers climb the three floors of the Eiffel Tower through the pillars of the building. A police officer, overwhelmed by the events, does not succeed in arresting the intrepid who reach the summit with agility under the stunned eyes of tourists. They then abseil and happily throw themselves into the Seine to celebrate the feat.

À l'Assaut de la Tour Eiffel

1947

The Extraordinary Adventures of a Quart of Milk poster
10.0

Documentary short subject preserved by the Academy Film Archive, from the Marshall Plan Collection, in 2003.

The Extraordinary Adventures of a Quart of Milk

1951

Les Tapisseries Des Gobelins poster
10.0

In 1602, King Henri IV decided to develop French manufacturing to limit imports of products such as carpets and tapestries, of which the royal court was a major consumer. In 1662, Colbert (Minister of Louis XIV) bought the buildings and decided to create there the "Royal Manufacture of Crown furniture and tapestries", where upholsterers settled, but also painters, goldsmiths, engravers, cabinetmakers... Reserved to the furnishing of Royal Houses and diplomatic presents. To make this documentary, Alain Pol uses a new process developed by the French Lucien and Armand Roux. They had developed a color cinema technique with the "Rouxcolor" process, a patent filed in 1932. A simple process, which preceded the arrival of the American technicolor, less precise, but requiring special equipment for cinemas, which cut his career short.

Les Tapisseries Des Gobelins

1951