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Maurice Tourneur, born February 2, 1873 – died August 4, 1961, was an important international film director and screenwriter. Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor Year 1873 ( MDCCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Screenwriters or scenarists are Scriptwriters who write the Screenplays from which Films and Television programs are made

Maurice Tourneur
Maurice Tourneur

Born Maurice Thomas in the Belleville district of Paris, France, his father was a jeweler. Belleville is a Neighbourhood of Paris, France, located in the XXe arrondissement and XIXe arrondissement and parts of the Xe Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city As a young man, Maurice Thomas first trained as a graphic designer and a magazine illustrator but was soon drawn to the theater. In 1904, he married the actress, Fernande Petit. They had a son, Jacques (1904-1977) who would follow his father into the film industry. Jacques Tourneur ( November 12, 1904 &ndash December 19, 1977) was a French - American Film director.

Using the stage name Maurice Tourneur, he began his show business career performing in secondary roles on stage and eventually toured England and South America as part of the theater company for the great star Gabrielle Réjane. A stage name, also called a screen name, is a Pseudonym used by Performers and Entertainers such as England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a Gabrielle Réjane was the Stage name of Gabrielle-Charlotte Reju, ( June 5, 1856 – June 14, 1920) a French Drawn to the new art of filmmaking, in 1911 he began working as an assistant director. A quick learner and an innovator, within a short time he was directing films on his own using major French stars of the day such as Polaire. Mlle Polaire was the Stage name used by French singer and actress Emilie Marie Bouchaud ( May 14, 1874 &ndash October

In 1914, with the expansion of the giant French film companies into the United States market, Tourneur moved to New York City to direct silent film features for a new French-owned studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The City of New York Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Before long, Maurice Tourneur was a major and respected force in American film and a founding member of the East Coast chapter of the Motion Picture Directors Association. The East Coast of the United States, also known as the "Eastern Seaboard" or "Atlantic Seaboard" refers to the easternmost coastal states in the central and northern The Motion Picture Directors Association (MPDA was an American non-profit fraternal organization formed by twenty-six Film directors on June 18, 1915 As the feature film evolved, he and his team showed exceptional skill with their use of the latest technological developments in film that gave their productions a visual appeal better than most of their competitors that at the same time met with critical acclaim.

Tourneur admired D.W. Griffith and considered the skill level of American actors at the time ahead of their counterparts in Europe. David Llewelyn Wark "D W" Griffith (January 22 1875 &ndash July 23 1948 was a premier pioneering Academy Award -winning American Film director. Of the actresses he worked with, he called Mary Pickford the finest screen actress in the world and believed that stage actress Elsie Ferguson was a brilliant artist. Mary Pickford ( April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979) was an Academy Award -winning Canadian motion picture Elsie Ferguson ( August 19, 1883 - November 15, 1961) was an American stage and film actress. However, Tourneur opposed the evolving star system that Carl Laemmle had begun with his advertising campaign for actress Florence Lawrence. This article is about Carl Laemmle the founder of Universal Pictures. Florence Lawrence ( January 2, 1890 &ndash December 28, 1938) was a Canadian inventor and Silent film actress who

In 1918 Maurice Tourneur launched his own production company with the film, Sporting Life. In 1921 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Naturalization is the acquisition of Citizenship or Nationality by somebody who was not a citizen or national of that country when he or she was born By 1922 he believed that the future of the film industry lay in Hollywood and the following year he was hired by Samuel Goldwyn to go to the west coast and make a film version of the Hall Caine novel, The Christian. Samuel Goldwyn ( ca. July 1879 &ndash 31 January 1974) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning producer Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE ( May 14, 1853 &ndash August 31, 1931) usually known as Hall Caine, was

Tourneur separated from his wife Fernande in 1923 and a few years later he decided to move back to his native France. There, he continued to make films both at home and in Germany, easily making the change to talkies. A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image as opposed to a Silent film. In 1933 he met his second wife, actress Louise Lagrange (1898-1979), while shooting his film, L'Homme mystérieux. Tourneur went on to direct another two dozen films, several of which were crime thrillers, until a 1949 automobile accident in which he was seriously injured and lost a leg. Health and age prevented him from directing more films, but a voracious reader and a skilled hobby artist, he kept busy painting and translating detective novels from English into French.

On his passing in 1961, Maurice Tourneur was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Père Lachaise Cemetery (Cimetière du Père-Lachaise officially cimetière de l'Est, "East Cemetery" is the largest Cemetery in the city of Paris

Maurice Tourneur was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Blvd. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a Sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood Los Angeles California, USA, that

His 1917 film, The Poor Little Rich Girl and his 1920 film The Last of the Mohicans have since been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1917 film which tells the story of a rich girl whose parents ignore her and whose servants push her around until tragedy brings The Last of the Mohicans is a 1920 film version of James Fenimore Cooper 's novel with the same name. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress The National Film Registry is the registry of Films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Recently, the American Film Institute's Center for Film and Video Preservation and the National Archives of Canada have been cooperating on the restoration of Tourneur's 1915 film, The Cub. Library and Archives Canada (in French: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is a Canadian federal government department responsible for the collection

In 2001, a book Maurice Tourneur: The Life and Films was published by author Harry Waldman.

Notable films:

External links

Volpone, or The Fox (in Italian: "Big Fox" is a Comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606 drawing on elements The Thief of Paris ( Le voleur) is a 1967 French film directed by Louis Malle and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a professional thief (Georges Never the Twain Shall Meet is a 1925 Drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur, starring Anita Stewart and featuring Boris The Last of the Mohicans is a 1920 film version of James Fenimore Cooper 's novel with the same name. The Blue Bird is a 1918 Film directed by Maurice Tourneur in the United States, under the auspices of producer Adolph Zukor The Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1917 film which tells the story of a rich girl whose parents ignore her and whose servants push her around until tragedy brings Alias Jimmy Valentine ( 1928) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film directed by Jack Conway, and starring William Haines, Leila Hyams
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