Jess Hahn

Acting

Jess Hahn

Born — Died

1921-10-29 — 1998-06-29

Place of birth

Terre Haute, Indiana, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

68 titles

Jess Hahn's career is a bit of an oddity, being one of very few American actors to establish himself in French cinema in the early 1960's. He acted exclusively in French productions for the duration of his career with the exception of the Marlon Brando vehicle "The Night of the Following Day" in 1968, which was filmed in France. He also appeared in several international coproductions and low budget films by French exploitation director Jean Marie Pallardy, for which he is arguably best-known to contemporary audiences.

Known for

Film credits

1980s · 6 titles

Teheran '43 poster
6.4

This story starts in 1980 in Paris as the memories of Andrei Borodin, a Soviet agent, take the action back to 1943 during the Teheran meetings of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. A high-ranking Nazi officer developed a plan to assassinate the three world leaders in order to undermine the Allied forces. He commissioned the German agent Max Richard to carry out his plan, but it failed miserably due to the quick action and thinking of Andrei. While in Teheran, Andrei met a French woman, Marie Louni, living in the city and they had a brief but intense affair. Nearly four decades later, the Nazi officer has been captured - but not for long. Freed by terrorists, the officer is hunting down the German agent who failed to carry out the planned assassinations. Max lives at Françoise, a young French woman, who hides him.

Teheran '43

1981

White Fire poster
4.3

While working in a diamond mine located in the desert, Bo and Ingrid, two siblings who survived a massacre as children, make a surprising discovery.

White Fire

1984

Mama Dracula poster
3.5

A female vampire must bathe in the blood of virgins in order to stay alive. The trouble is that virgins are in short supply nowadays, and she is running into major problems in finding one.

Mama Dracula

1980

Overdose poster
6.3

Karen, a beautiful air hostess, is implied by her fiance in international drug trafficking: drugged herself, she lets persuade to convey ten kilos of heroin from North Africa to Spain. Having narrowly escaped the police, she catches her boyfriend with another woman. Desperate and angry, she takes the drug to the sea and finds refuge with Patrick, a Spanish-American living in a castle. However, traffickers will make every effort to find her...

Overdose

1989

How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave poster
5.8

Clovis Blaireau is a private detective. It is charged by Nadège de Courtaboeuf wife knew wealthy industrialist Prosper de Courtaboeuf, to obtain evidence of the infidelity of her husband. Clovis managed to penetrate the intimacy of Prosper, and became his friend. Following diverse Clovis and Prosper adventures will find themselves in Tunisis pursued by a band of Mafioso and by members of the Front of breaking load of Couscous.

How Did You Get In? We Didn't See You Leave

1984

La Galette du roi poster
4.6

In this conventional, broadly comic farce of greed and royal matrimony, nearly bankrupt businessman Victor Harris is marrying Maria-Helena, a princess who comes with a dowry that is made up of one half of her island kingdom. Her father, the cowardly King Arnold III is counting on the money this marriage will bring him. The country is now almost bankrupt because of the king's gambling debts. As Harris and the king look forward to their illusory profits from the royal merger, other characters add some liveliness to the otherwise predictable story.

La Galette du roi

1986

1970s · 15 titles

The Novices poster
4.8

Sister Agnès runs away from her convent in Brittany and seeks refuge in Paris with prostitute Mona Lisa. With absolutely no qualifications, the young novice has a hard job finding work, so Mona Lisa tries to teach her the ropes of the oldest profession of them all!

The Novices

1970

Mean Frank and Crazy Tony poster
4.6

There's trouble in Frankie Diomede's criminal empire in Genoa. A French gangster has moved into his territory, so he flies home to take care of business. He promptly has himself arrested so that he'll have the perfect alibi when the bodies start piling up. But it turns out his enemies have enough juice to keep him in prison, his associates start dying and the attempts on his life start. Cue Tony Breda, a wannabe wiseguy, who has a plan to spring Frankie from jail.

Mean Frank and Crazy Tony

1973

Rum Runners poster
4.7

During the prohibition era, Cornelius, a bootlegger, is on the run from the American coastguards. He comes across a silent film actress, Linda, on the set of a movie and falls in love with her.

Rum Runners

1971

Bad Man's River poster
4.8

Robber Roy King loses his wife, Alicia, to revolutionary Montero. Despite their rivalry they collaborate in an attempt to rob the Mexican government of one million dollars.

Bad Man's River

1971

Atlantic Wall poster
6.2

1944. Léon Duchemin owns a restaurant with his sister. His clients are Germans, Résistance et black marketeers. Léon unwillingly joins the Résistance when a British pilot is shot down and hides in his attic and, through a series of mishaps, he accidentally steals the plans for Hitler's V1 missiles.

Atlantic Wall

1970

The Grand Duel poster
6.0

A grizzled ex-sheriff helps a man framed for murder to confront the powerful trio of brothers who want him dead.

The Grand Duel

1972

Troubleshooters poster
6.3

The day he is released from jail, Serge is expected by four killers sent by Count Charles Varèse assigned to make him confess where he has hidden the jewels stolen during his last stickup. On the other hand the police inspector who arrested him offers him protection on condition he gives him the same piece of information. Serge refuses and is about to be tortured by Varèse's henchmen when Michel, a friendly hood, comes to his rescue. His friendship will result in... a heap of corpses! —Guy Bellinger

Troubleshooters

1971

The Mysterious Island poster
5.6

1865, The American Civil War: Five POW manage to escape by balloon from Fort Richmond. Caught in a storm and with the balloon damaged they find themselves 'shipwrecked' on a volcanic desert island somewhere in the Pacific. Just before crash landing their leader, the brilliant engineer Cyrus Smith falls to his apparent death in the raging waters, but later turns up completely unharmed and with no memory of how he was saved. His fellow castaways are: the famous journalist Gedeon Spilett, the salty sailor Bonaventure Pencroff, the orphaned boy Harbert Brown and the black servant of Smith, Nab. The dog Top also joined them in the escape.

The Mysterious Island

1973

The Sicilian Connection poster
6.2

A small time hood smuggles drugs from Turkey to Italy in an effort to make it into the big time, but along the way everyone has to have their cut.

The Sicilian Connection

1972

Three Tough Guys poster
5.1

Isaac Hayes plays as Lee in his feature film debut, as Father Charlie and himself solve a bank robbery mystery that stretches across the city. After Lee is removed from the force due to $1,000,000 being stolen from the bank Father Charlie helps him to gain revenge for the loss of one of his friends.

Three Tough Guys

1974

No Pockets in a Shroud poster
5.4

In the newspaper he has just founded, journalist Dolannes exposes all the wheeling and dealing and scandals that go on in his town.

No Pockets in a Shroud

1974

Sexy Sinners poster
4.7

During the early Italian Renaissance and the Black Death epidemic, a group of young men and women, seeking refuge in a secluded villa just outside the city of Florence, shares different stories of adultery and forbidden love.

Sexy Sinners

1972

Focal Point poster
5.2

Reporter renowned photographer, Danièle Gaur is conducting an investigation into the alleged accident of her husband Michel. Her research is gradually leading her to discover the workings of a plot to assassinate US Foreign Secretary John W. Maxwell.

Focal Point

1977

Supergirl poster
4.4

A beautiful woman, Supergirl Francesca Farnese, appears out of nowhere on a Bavarian highway. She wears only an orange jumpsuit and wants to go to Washington. Playboy Charly first takes her to Lake Starnberg, where she meets best-selling author Evers. He immediately leaves his wife and travels with Francesca to Spain, where he negotiates a project with the American film producer Polonsky. No one remains unimpressed by the mysterious beauty. Supergirl remains elusive— she quickly disappears again, leaving behind a warning to the inhabitants of Earth that an attack from outer space is imminent...

Supergirl

1971

The Comeuppance poster
4.5

Philippe, Théo and Bob share the same cell in the prison of La Santé. Philippe, a young student, known as "Sciences-Po", is planning revenge against those who sent him to prison. He offers his two fellow prisoners, seasoned mobsters, to help him recover an important document from a diamond dealer in Le Havre. This paper would rehabilitate his father, his two comrades being able to keep the diamonds contained in the safe... But the coup does not go as planned.

The Comeuppance

1970

1960s · 20 titles

The Trial poster
7.4

Arrested for an unnamed crime, Josef K. is trapped in a surreal bureaucratic maze where justice is unknowable and guilt is assumed.

The Trial

1962

Triple Cross poster
6.1

Safecracker Eddie Chapman is languishing in prison on the island of Jersey when the Nazis arrive. An adept manipulator of situations, Chapman convinces the Germans to use him to spy on the British. And when the would-be traitor arrives home, he convinces the English to use him as a double agent -- in exchange for a full pardon.

Triple Cross

1966

Cartouche poster
6.3

In the 18th century, Louis de Bourguignon is working with the Malichot's gang, but their ways are too 'unethical' for him. He creates his own band, acting under the name of Cartouche, making audacious robberies of the rich people, and even distributing the takings with the poor. Thus, cartouche attracts the people's sympathies, Venus's love, and hate from the Police and Malichot... Cartouche can escape all the traps they set at him - except the entrapments of love. Eventually, he will be saved by a woman, at her own cost.

Cartouche

1962

What's New Pussycat? poster
5.9

A playboy who refuses to give up his hedonistic lifestyle to settle down and marry his true love seeks help from a demented psychoanalyst who is having romantic problems of his own.

What's New Pussycat?

1965

Up to His Ears poster
7.0

A millionaire realizes he really wants to live after he has hired an assassin to kill him.

Up to His Ears

1965

The Great Spy Chase poster
6.9

A cold-war spy parody. After the death of an armaments manufacturer, an international group of spies is drawn into a high-stakes battle of wits to obtain the valuable military patents which have been inherited by the lovely widow.

The Great Spy Chase

1964

The Night of the Following Day poster
5.9

A gang of four professional criminals kidnaps a wealthy teenage girl from an airport in Paris in a meticulous plan to extort money from the girl's wealthy father. Holding her prisoner in an isolated beach house, the gang's scheme runs perfectly until their personal demons surface and lead to a series of betrayals.

The Night of the Following Day

1969

Topkapi poster
6.5

Arthur Simon Simpson is a small-time crook biding his time in Greece. One of his potential victims turns out to be a gentleman thief planning to steal the emerald-encrusted dagger of the Mehmed II from Istanbul's Topkapi Museum.

Topkapi

1964

Secret Agent Super Dragon poster
3.6

A series of murders in Michigan lead an American secret agent to Amsterdam, where he uncovers a plot to imperil the world with a potent new drug.

Secret Agent Super Dragon

1966

Sign of the Lion poster
7.0

An American in Paris lives by sponging off his working friends, and throws a party using borrowed money when his rich American aunt dies, believing firmly in his horoscope.

Sign of the Lion

1962

The Wise Guys poster
7.9

Hector Valentin returns to France from Canada when he inherits a small sawmill. He has difficulties restarting the run-down operation which has inefficient workers and is hampered by the dirty tactics of its bigger...

The Wise Guys

1965

The Saint Lies in Wait poster
6.2

Oscar Chartier plays a dangerous double game by selling secret plans to the German and American secret services, to ensure a comfortable future for his daughter, Sophie. But the plans are fake and Chartier decides to get help from his good friend Simon Templar.

The Saint Lies in Wait

1966

How Not to Rob a Department Store poster
4.5

To repay a debt, Marcel must commit a robbery in a large department store. Unfortunately his booty is intercepted by a gang of thugs.

How Not to Rob a Department Store

1965

The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen poster
5.2

A thief falls in love with a maid and goes on the run after stealing Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa."

The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen

1966

Fuller Report, Base Stockholm poster
6.1

Dick Worth (Ken Clark) is an American racing driver in Stockholm to put on an exhibition that his boss Bennet (Jess Hahn) hopes will result in orders for cars, and instead gets drawn into CIA business when he is mistaken for a spy and takes on the job of recovering the Fuller Report, CIA information about an assassination plot.

Fuller Report, Base Stockholm

1968

Rita the Field Marshal poster
5.2

A waitress helps a scientist flee the Nazis.

Rita the Field Marshal

1967

Les Gorilles poster
5.7

A confused pair of airport luggage carriers get involved in the disappearance of some suitcases.

Les Gorilles

1964

Your Turn to Die poster
9.5

When Gordon Smash tries to get away with the loot from a successful diamond heist, his fellow conspirators shoot him in the back. Smash manages to get a clue to newspaper reporter Robert Foster, who sets of to retrieve the diamonds. Despite becoming a target for the rest of the gang, Foster prefers to rely on fashion model Arabella and news paper photographer 'Flash' instead of the more seasoned Inspector Chandler.

Your Turn to Die

1967

A Blonde Like That poster
8.2

Myra, daughter of the circus king, has been kidnapped in South America. Or so her father believes. In reality, Miss Shumway has escaped into the Indian jungle in the company of a conjurer. Millan, a mischievous and adventurous journalist, tracks down the young woman in the Indian sector of Tamazunchale. They get to know each other and Myra tells the young man what drove her to flee her father. But she's run out of money and expects her adventure to come to an end soon. Then she meets a man named Doc, who suggests she contact an old Indian sorcerer.

A Blonde Like That

1963

Dynamite Jack poster
8.0

Antoine Espérandieu, a French tenderfoot, lands in Windows Canyon, Arizona, a remote place under the thumb of dangerous outlaw Dynamite Jack, only to discover the friend he was to meet there has been murdered. Worse, it is not long before Antoine realizes he is Jack's perfect lookalike. All the same, he decides to settle down in the small town, where he becomes the local tax collector. One day, he finds himself face to face with the bandit...

Dynamite Jack

1961

1950s · 19 titles

The Beast Is Loose poster
6.3

Paul Lamiani, a wizened mobster, is asked to return to duty following the disappearance of secret documents of extreme importance. It is assumed that they are in the hands of a friend of Paul. But the case becomes even more delicate when Lamiani's son is kidnapped.

The Beast Is Loose

1959

The Tricyclist poster
5.7

Antoine Peyralout is baker Mouillefarine's tricycle delivery man. Comical and stuttering, Antoine shows more interest in the local soccer team than in professional integrity. A wedding cake pays the price for it and the young man is dismissed. Not dispirited in the least, Antoine decides to go to Nice, where his favorite team will play the final of the Cup. On his merry (and eventful) way, he has the opportunity to save a pretty camper, Popeline, with whom he falls in love. Once in Nice, he discovers that Dabek, the brilliant goal-keeper is not up to his task following bad news...

The Tricyclist

1957

When a Woman Meddles poster
5.8

French film favorite Edwige Feuillere plays a high-class gangster's moll named Maine. When Maine's first husband and daughter pay a visit, it's an awkward time for our heroine and her current amour, gang boss Godot (Jean Servais). In addition to fielding a lot of embarrassing questions, Godot also has to deal with a pesky turf war with a rival mobster. Not that the ex-husband is a paragon of virtue: he's busy trying to get even with a crooked business associate.

When a Woman Meddles

1957

Poison Ivy poster
6.1

FBI Agent Lemmy Caution is sent after a missing two million in Casablanca while mob boss mistress Carlotta plays both sides of the law.

Poison Ivy

1953

A Woman Like Satan poster
5.5

Handsome and rich Spanish gentleman abandons his wife and riches for his love of a young girl of poor stock who taunts and degrades him.

A Woman Like Satan

1958

Nathalie poster
6.6

Haute Couture model in Paris becomes involved in the activities of two rival jewel thief gangs.

Nathalie

1957

The Happy Road poster
6.1

Two children run away from a Swiss boarding school and set out for Paris, with their frantic parents in hot pursuit.

The Happy Road

1957

Girl on the Third Floor poster
5.8

A Parisian reporter tries to exonerate a fugitive neighbor of charges he murdered his wife.

Girl on the Third Floor

1955

Give 'em Hell poster
5.2

During the 1950s, in Portuguese Mozambique, small-time American hustler, ex-soldier, ex-boxer and adventurer Johnny Jordan is looking for a new gig. His opportunity comes in the form of a local shipping tycoon and importer Moreno who offers Johnny a job after Johnny saves Moreno from an armed mugger on the waterfront.

Give 'em Hell

1955

Time Bomb poster
6.0

Plotters decide to scuttle a ship for the insurance money, but things go wrong.

Time Bomb

1959

Fernand cow-boy poster
4.8

Fernand has just inherited a saloon in Texas from an uncle in America. Despite his inheritance, he is considered an intruder. Soon he's the victim of a cruel plot: accused of murder, arrested and kidnapped by Indians and gangsters. A young, beautiful, pure-hearted Indian, moved by Fernand's kindness, accompanies him back to the village. She's sure to become the owner of the Texas hotel.

Fernand cow-boy

1956

The Desert of Pigalle poster
4.7

A young priest works as a barman in a Pigalle cafe in Paris. He tries to prevent the women there to prostitute themselves....

The Desert of Pigalle

1958

Honey, Scare Me poster
5.0

A crime story writer comes to the French Alps for vacation. However, an envelope given by a strange man, would put him in a conflict between two teams of spies. A young blonde hotel burglar will help him get out of this mess.

Honey, Scare Me

1958

Tonight We Kill poster
4.0

In Antwerp, Belgium, in 1959, a succession of Interpol agents are gunned down without obtaining what they're looking for: a list of all the influential crooks. Only one remains, Larry Laine, who is about to show them what he's made of.

Tonight We Kill

1959

Deux de l'escadrille poster
10.0

During the Second World War, midshipman Dourdan, nicknamed 'Saucisse', distinguished himself by his clumsiness and his blunders. Charged with Lieutenant Goldfinch to convey an aircraft to Marrakech, he shot down an American bomber on the way, mistaken for a German plane.

Deux de l'escadrille

1953

The Pirates of the Bois du Bologne poster
6.2

Cyprien and his friends Hector Colomb and Annette are penniless and desperate. They need someone to take an interest in them. One day, they decide to become volunteer castaways. To build their raft, they sawed down trees in the Bois de Boulogne. With the support of Caroline Grossac and her mother, they were backed by M. Grossac, a comfortable businessman with a keen sense of publicity. Launched in Saint-Tropez, the raft made only a short crossing. Nevertheless, the new privateers are acclaimed, and the wilful shipwreck business is so successful that it makes Hector and Annette rich, while Cyprien marries Mlle Grossac.

The Pirates of the Bois du Bologne

1954

The Flea in the Ear poster
5.3

Raymonde Chandebise suspects her husband Victor-Emmanuel of cheating on her. She received a package from the hotel "Le minet galant". The package contained a pair of suspenders belonging to her husband. Her best friend, Lucienne, advises her to find out for sure and to use a stratagem. They both send him a fake, passionate letter, written by a beautiful stranger, asking him to meet her at the "Minet Galant"! But little do they know that the hotel's simpleton bellboy is a look-alike of poor Victor-Emmanuel!

The Flea in the Ear

1956

Gorilla's Waltz poster
4.3

This is the second feature in a series about an intrepid French spy by the nickname of "The Gorilla," but unlike the earlier films, this time around Roger Hanin replaces Lino Ventura in the title role. A West German scientist has discovered a way to recover missiles shot into space, and the major Western powers are after his secret. Even though the scientist is willing to pass his discovery on to NATO, it is guarded by an elite, undercover West German police force. As foreign agents, including the Russians and Americans, try to get their hands on the secret, "The Gorilla" is forced into the affair by his surly, aging boss -- he has to make sure that the scientist's discovery ends up with NATO.

Gorilla's Waltz

1959

The Vintage poster
6.0

A young Italian fugitive and his older protective brother hide among the grape pickers at a vineyard in Provence, France.

The Vintage

1957

Series credits