Henri Diamant-Berger
Director
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Movies
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TV Shows
Henri Diamant-Berger (9 June 1895 – 7 May 1972) was a French director, producer and screenwriter. In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he directed 48 films between 1913 and 1959, produced 17 between 1925 and 1967 and wrote 21 screenplays between 1916 and 1971.
Born in Paris, to a Jewish family, he studied to be a lawyer but was drawn to the motion picture business. He began his career when he co-directed the 1913 silent film short De film... en aiguilles with André Heuzé. In addition to writing screenplays, during the period from 1916 to 1919, Diamant-Berger also published and edited a film magazine and books about the movies. In 1918, he was hired by Pathé and sent to the United States to help set up the company's film laboratory at Fort Lee, New Jersey. Upon his return to France, Pathé had him set up a laboratory in Vincennes, as well as organize a film studio in Boulogne-Billancourt.
In 1921, Diamant-Berger directed the film serial Les Trois Mousquetaires, one of two film versions of Alexandre Dumas, père's novel The Three Musketeers released in 1921 (the other was Douglas Fairbanks' version) . For a short time in the mid-1920s, he made pictures in the USA, including the drama Fifty-Fifty (1925) starring Lionel Barrymore. He also directed the 1927 silent film Éducation de Prince. By the end of the decade he successfully made the transition to talkies.
Through his Barrymore connection, Diamant-Berger acquired the screen rights for a play produced on Broadway in 1921 written by John Barrymore's ex-wife, Blanche Oelrichs. His French language film version of the same title, Clair de lune (1932), starred Claude Dauphin and Blanche Montel. Among his notable sound films was a remake, Les Trois Mousquetaires (1932), a six-hour epic about the three musketeers for which he wrote the screen adaptation and used much of the same cast from his 1921 silent version. Diamant-Berger's other directorial efforts include two Arsène Lupin detective films in 1937. However, after directing Tourbillon de Paris in 1939, he lost eight full years to World War II. In 1951, he directed the acclaimed drama Monsieur Fabre starring Pierre Fresnay.
During the 1960s, Diamant-Berger devoted himself exclusively to producing, making several successful films, which includes La Belle Américaine (1961), Heaven Sent (1963) and The Counterfeit Constable (1964).
Henri Diamant-Berger died at age 76 in Paris.
Source: Article "Henri Diamant-Berger" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Behind the Camera
La Belle Américaine
Productor
Messieurs les ronds de cuir
Escritor, Director
Les Compagnons de la Marguerite
Associate Producer
Le Petit Café
Escritor
Un drôle de paroissien
Productor
Les Trois Mousquetaires
Director
Gonzague
Director
Le Chasseur de chez Maxim's
Director, Adaptation
Miquette et sa mère
Adaptation, Productor, Director
Tourbillon de Paris
Director
Sola
Director
Monsieur Fabre
Director
Mon curé chez les pauvres
Guionista, Director
Arsène Lupin détective
Director, Guionista
La Madone des sleepings
Guionista, Director
Das Lied der Balalaika
Guionista
L'Affaire de la rue de Lourcine
Director
Par habitude
Escritor, Director
La Maternelle
Director
L'Enfant du miracle
Director
C'est arrivé à 36 chandelles
Escritor, Director
Ravissante
Productor
Éducation de prince
Director, Escritor
La Bonne Aventure
Director
Paris la nuit
Director
Fifty-Fifty
Director
Mon curé chez les riches
Director
Clair de lune
Director, Escritor
Tout s'arrange
Director
Les Trois Mousquetaires
Guionista, Director