Claude Autant-Lara

Directing

Claude Autant-Lara

Born 1901-08-05 · Luzarches, Val-d'Oise, France

Claude Autant-Lara (August 5, 1901–February 5, 2000) was a French film director and later Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Born at Luzarches in Val-d'Oise, Autant-Lara was educated in France and at London's Mill Hill School during his mother's exile as a pacifist. Early in his career, he worked as an art director and costume designer, his best-known work in this vein was possibly for Nana (1926), a silent film directed by Jean Renoir. Autant-Lara also acted in the film. As a director, he frequently created provocative movies, saying "if a film does not have venom, it is worthless". In the 1960s, he turned his back on the New Wave movement, and from then on he had no popular successes. On 18 June 1989, he came to public notice again, controversially, when he was elected to the European Parliament as a member of the National Front and the oldest member of the assembly. In his maiden speech, in July 1989, he caused a scandal by expressing his "concerns about the American cultural threat", provoking a walkout by the majority of the deputies. In an interview granted to the monthly magazine Globe in September 1989, he accused ex-President of the European Parliament and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil of playing "ethnic politics" to try and "infiltrate and dominate", saying that "If they try to speak to me about genocide, I say they missed mother Veil!" He also described Nazi gas chambers as a "string of lies". The resulting scandal led to his resignation as European deputy. Moreover, the members of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, of which he was a vice-president for life, voted to prohibit him from taking his seat thenceforth. His memoir, The Rage in the Heart, appeared in 1984. He died at Antibes in Alpes-Maritimes in 2000. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acting credits

Behind the camera

The Oldest Profession poster
5.0

A collection of sketches that tells the story of prostitution through the ages.

The Oldest Profession

1967

Douce poster
7.2

In Paris in 1887, Irène works as a governess to Douce, the grand-daughter of the dowager Countess de Bonafé. Douce believes she is in love with Fabien, the handsome manager of the estate. However she cannot hope to marry him because of their class difference. Douce's widowed father, the Count de Bonafé, has a wooden leg, and is infatuated with Irène. Douce discovers that Fabien is planning to flee to Quebec with Irène, and also finds out that the Count has asked Irène to marry him. So Douce tells Fabien this and convinces him to run away with her, causing consternation in the family.

Douce

1943

The Count of Monte Cristo poster
7.1

Young sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

The Count of Monte Cristo

1961

The Stream poster
6.8

When Paul, an officer, discovers Denise, a young orphan escaped from her orphanage, he takes advantage of his naivete to seduce her before changing her mind and sending her to live with her mother while sailing.

The Stream

1938

Love Letters poster
6.4

A plucky businesswoman agrees to receive love letters to a prefect’s wife from a young official, and soon finds herself embroiled in a scandal that inflames a town’s class tensions.

Love Letters

1942

La Traversée de Paris poster
7.3

Two unlikely companions must smuggle four suitcases filled with contraband pork across Nazi-occupied Paris.

La Traversée de Paris

1956

Enough Rope poster
5.8

Two total strangers suspect each other of murdering their own wives. Based on Patricia Highsmith's 1954 novel The Blunderer.

Enough Rope

1963

Fric-Frac poster
6.1

An employee at a jewelry store falls in love with a woman who secretly plans to rob the store.

Fric-Frac

1939

Potatoes poster
6.3

In a village in the Ardennes, during the German occupation, finding rations is becoming almost impossible. Clovis, an ordinary labourer, decides to cross the occupied zone to bring back enough potatoes to feed his family. His plan is a success but Clovis rapidly becomes obsessed with storing the precious tubers.

Potatoes

1969

Potatoes poster
6.3

In a village in the Ardennes, during the German occupation, finding rations is becoming almost impossible. Clovis, an ordinary labourer, decides to cross the occupied zone to bring back enough potatoes to feed his family. His plan is a success but Clovis rapidly becomes obsessed with storing the precious tubers.

Potatoes

1969

The Red Inn poster
6.8

A group of travelers, including a monk, stay in a lonely inn in the mountains. The host confesses the monk his habit of serving poisoned soup to the guests, to rob their possessions and to bury them in the backyard.

The Red Inn

1951

The Red Inn poster
6.8

A group of travelers, including a monk, stay in a lonely inn in the mountains. The host confesses the monk his habit of serving poisoned soup to the guests, to rob their possessions and to bury them in the backyard.

The Red Inn

1951

Love Is My Profession poster
6.3

Leading lawyer Andre Gobillot takes the case of Yvette, a young criminal. As he works on her defence, an unexpected romance blooms between them, only to be cut short by a tragedy.

Love Is My Profession

1958

Le Rouge et le Noir poster
6.2

It's no holds barred for Julian in pursuit of upward mobility. Although expected to channel career aspirations into the Church of the post-Napoleonic era, his intensely romantic liaisons propel him forward at a pace he cannot control.

Le Rouge et le Noir

1954

Le Rouge et le Noir poster
6.2

It's no holds barred for Julian in pursuit of upward mobility. Although expected to channel career aspirations into the Church of the post-Napoleonic era, his intensely romantic liaisons propel him forward at a pace he cannot control.

Le Rouge et le Noir

1954

The Gambler poster
6.7

In 1866, a young Muscovite named Alexei Ivanovitch arrives in Baden Baden, then the gambling capital of Austria, and is soon engaged by General Zagorianski to look after his children. Alexei discovers that his employer is a compulsive gambler who has been almost ruined by his addiction. The only money the General has is provided by the Marquis de Grieux, an adventurer who intends to marry Zagorianski’s sister, Pauline. In doing so, de Grieux hopes to profit from the vast inheritance that will come the General’s way from his Aunt Antonina, who is presently very ill. Alexei is appalled by this society which lives only for money. He loves Pauline and wants to take her to a healthier place, but when she refuses to marry him, he begins to gamble at the casino…

The Gambler

1958

News Item poster
7.4

An experimental short from 1923 France which offers silent narrative in diverse, optical multi-exposures and severe close-ups offering dense montages which create psychological constructs that unfold a Parisian love affair which turns into a threesome of great emotion and consequences. Also notable for using Antonin Artaud as the male lead.

News Item

1923

News Item poster
7.4

An experimental short from 1923 France which offers silent narrative in diverse, optical multi-exposures and severe close-ups offering dense montages which create psychological constructs that unfold a Parisian love affair which turns into a threesome of great emotion and consequences. Also notable for using Antonin Artaud as the male lead.

News Item

1923

The Seven Deadly Sins poster
6.0

A compilation of segments covers the seven deadly sins of greed, wrath, envy, pride, lust, sloth, and gluttony.

The Seven Deadly Sins

1952

Marguerite of the Night poster
4.8

It tells the story of an older pedant who buys adolescence from Satan.

Marguerite of the Night

1955

Devil in the Flesh poster
6.2

In France during World War I, Marthe waits for her husband, Jacques, while he fights on the front lines. Marthe then begins a tempestuous affair with 17-year-old François, with whom she had a dalliance before marrying Jacques. Jealous François struggles with the fact that Marthe is married, while she tries to prove her devotion to her young, hotheaded lover. Things become even more complex when Marthe becomes pregnant with Jacques' baby.

Devil in the Flesh

1947

Devil in the Flesh poster
6.2

In France during World War I, Marthe waits for her husband, Jacques, while he fights on the front lines. Marthe then begins a tempestuous affair with 17-year-old François, with whom she had a dalliance before marrying Jacques. Jealous François struggles with the fact that Marthe is married, while she tries to prove her devotion to her young, hotheaded lover. Things become even more complex when Marthe becomes pregnant with Jacques' baby.

Devil in the Flesh

1947

Sylvia and the Ghost poster
6.9

A teenager becomes fixated on a painting of the handsome suitor who died in a duel for her grandmother's love. On her sixteenth birthday, her father hires three men who pretend to be the ghost of the suitor to entertain her. Little do they know, the ghost of the suitor himself is roaming the castle halls.

Sylvia and the Ghost

1946

Ciboulette poster
8.0

Duparquet is the controller of Les Halles, and plays matchmaker between the young farm-girl Ciboulette and Antonin, a young spoiled aristocrat.

Ciboulette

1933