A01=Christine Leteux
archival research
Author_Christine Leteux
biography
Category=ATFA
Category=ATFB
Category=DNBF
Cecil B. DeMille
Continental Films
D. W. Griffith
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
film
film director
film pioneer
French film
Hollywood
Nazi Occupation
silent film
talkies
translation
Product details
- ISBN 9780299356408
- Weight: 681g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 07 Apr 2026
- Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
In 1914, an unknown French filmmaker arrived in New York; within four years, that man, Maurice Tourneur (1876–1961), would become one of America’s most acclaimed directors. In this masterful biography, Christine Leteux shows how intimately connected Tourneur’s life was to major events of the twentieth century as well as to the profound transformations in movie making. He quickly managed the transition to sound, and his last major work was created for Continental Films, the German-owned firm that controlled the French film industry during the Nazi Occupation. His son, Jacques, followed in his footsteps, also becoming an acclaimed director.
Drawing heavily on previously unpublished archival documents, Leteux reinvigorates film history and demonstrates that we know far less about this era of filmmaking than we often assume. She reveals not only how Tourneur jumped from France to the United States and back again but also how he shifted from one company to another, moving quickly up the ladder to bigger productions and ever larger studios. Tourneur's drive, insight, technical proficiency, skill with actors, ability to create new forms of storytelling, and fame on both sides of the Atlantic make it all the more surprising that he is not better known today—an oversight that has now been corrected thanks to Leteux’s impressively detailed research and nuanced storytelling.
Drawing heavily on previously unpublished archival documents, Leteux reinvigorates film history and demonstrates that we know far less about this era of filmmaking than we often assume. She reveals not only how Tourneur jumped from France to the United States and back again but also how he shifted from one company to another, moving quickly up the ladder to bigger productions and ever larger studios. Tourneur's drive, insight, technical proficiency, skill with actors, ability to create new forms of storytelling, and fame on both sides of the Atlantic make it all the more surprising that he is not better known today—an oversight that has now been corrected thanks to Leteux’s impressively detailed research and nuanced storytelling.
Christine Leteux is the author of Albert Capellani: Pioneer of the Silent Screen and Continental Films: French Cinema Under German Control, both self-translated into English. She is also the translator of several books by British film historian and filmmaker Kevin Brownlow.
