Jean Dréville

Biography

Jean Dréville was a prolific French film director whose career spanned from the late 1920s to the late 1960s. Initially trained in advertising design and photography, he began his cinematic journey by publishing articles in film sections of newspapers like L'Intransigeant and Comœdia. Dréville directed his first film, Autour de L'Argent (1928), a documentary on the making of Marcel L'Herbier's L'Argent. His notable works include A Cage of Nightingales (1945), which inspired the 2004 film The Chorus, and The Battle of the Rails (1946), a realistic portrayal of French railway workers' resistance during World War II. Dréville's films are recognized for their narrative clarity and humanistic approach.

Directed

1. Carbon Copy (1947) — Director
2. A Cage of Nightingales (1945) — Director
3. Return to Life (1949) — Director
4. Operation Swallow: The Battle for Heavy Water (1948) — Director
5. The Seven Deadly Sins (1952) — Director
6. Hanged Man's Farm (1945) — Director
7. Normandy - Neman (1960) — Director
8. The Spice of Life (1948) — Director
9. The Leatherstocking Tales (1969) — Director
10. Queen Margot (1954) — Director
11. Lafayette (1962) — Director
12. The Chess Player (1938) — Director
13. Business Is Business (1942) — Director
14. Nights of Farewell (1965) — Director
15. A Dog, A Mouse and a Sputnik (1958) — Director
16. White Nights in Saint Petersburg (1938) — Director
17. The Sleeping Sentinel (1966) — Director
18. Autour de l'argent (1929) — Director
19. Tainted (1946) — Director
20. Les Cadets de l'océan (1945) — Director
21. Annette and the Blonde Woman (1942) — Director
22. Intermediate Landing in Paris (1955) — Director
23. President Haudecoeur (1940) — Director
24. Le Voyageur des siècles (1971) — Director
25. Das Geheimnis vom Bergsee (1952) — Director
26. Endless Horizons (1953) — Director
27. The Suspects (1957) — Director
28. Mama Hummingbird (1937) — Director
29. The Roquevillards (1943) — Director
30. The Girl with the Whip (1952) — Director
31. Les Petites Alliées (1936) — Director
32. His Uncle from Normandy (1939) — Director
33. Troïka sur la piste blanche (1937) — Director
34. Touche-à-tout (1935) — Director
35. A Man and His Woman (1934) — Director
36. Coup de vent (1936) — Director
37. Trois pour cent (1934) — Director
38. Candy Apple (1932) — Director
39. Tornavara (1943) — Director
40. The Lady and the Gipsy (1958) — Director

Also appeared in

1. 1940: Taking over French Cinema (2019) — Self (archive footage)
2. Intermediate Landing in Paris (1955)
3. The Suspects (1957) — Commentator (uncredited)
4. Jean Dréville, l'aimant du cinéma (2017) — Lui-même
5. Cinématon XVI (1982) — N°155