Léo Joannon Explained

Léo Joannon
Birth Date:1904 8, df=yes
Birth Place:France
Death Place:Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Occupation:Film director
Years Active:1930–1967

Léo Joannon (21 August 1904 – 28 March 1969) was a French writer and film director. Born in Aix-en-Provence,[1] Joannon was originally a law student who became a novelist and journalist before entering the film industry in the 1920s as a cameraman.[2] He was married to the Vietnamese actress Foun-Sen.

Career

Joannon first attracted international attention in early 1939 during the production of S.O.S. Mediterranean, when his attempts to include shots of a German naval ship docked in the port of Tangier created a diplomatic incident between the pre-World War II French and German governments. The film later won the Grand Prix du Cinema Français.[3]

Joannon is best known to international audiences as the director of the comedy film Atoll K (1951), which was the final motion picture starring the legendary comedic double act Laurel and Hardy. Among his other better-known films were Le Defroqué (1954) and Fort du Fou (Outpost in Indochina) (1962).

Joannon died in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Selected filmography

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant/participant.jsp?spid=95320&apid=0 Turner Classic Movies profile
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20110520104959/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/96102/Leo-Joannon New York Times/Allmovie profile
  3. https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F20A1EFD385A177A93C3AA1789D95F4D8385F9 New York Times review, 31 December 1939 (fee required for access)