Clair, René (redirected from René-Lucien Chomette)

Clair, René (rənā` klâr), 1898–1981, French film director, writer, and producer. Beginning as a film critic, Clair first received international attention in the 1930s with his early sound films, notable for their satirical content and lovely photographic treatment. His Under the Roofs of Paris (1929) helped to suggest that the new medium could be freed from its static "talky" quality and use sound creatively. It was followed by the equally imaginative Le Million (1931) and À Nous la liberté (1932). His other films include The Ghost Goes West, (1935), Beauties of the Night (1952), and Les Fêtes Galantes (1965). In 1962 he was elected to the French Academy, the first film director to be so honored.

Bibliography

See his Reflections on the Cinema (tr. 1953) and Cinema Yesterday and Today, ed. by R. C. Dale (1972).

---

Clair, René

 orig. René-Lucien Chomette

Clair, photograph by Yousuf Karsh

(credit: © Karsh from Rapho/Photo Researchers)

(born Nov. 11, 1898, Paris, France—died March 15, 1981, Neuilly-sur-Seine) French film director. He acted in silent films from 1920 until 1923, when he wrote and directed Paris qui dort. That film, along with Entr'acte (1924) and the satiric farce The Italian Straw Hat (1927), established his reputation as a leader of the avant-garde. He used sound creatively in early talkies such as Sous les toits de Paris (1930) and A nous la liberté! (1931). The Ghost Goes West (1935), made in England, was an international success. During World War II he directed several Hollywood films, including And Then There Were None (1945), then returned to France to make Le Silence est d'or (1947) and Les Belles de nuit (1952).