Claude Chabrol (*1930)
Le Maitre

French writer-director Claude Chabrol is one of the proud country's most prolific filmmakers, alongside François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle. His nickname, 'the French Hitchcock', is mostly due to his meticulously directed, psychological thriller dramas. In forty years he has worked on more than fifty films, most of which bear his typical trademarks.
Chabrol started out as a film critic for the well-known magazine Les Cahiers de Cinéma and directed his first feature in 1958, LE BEAU SERGE, which is considered to be the first film of the Nouvelle Vague. A year later he did the art direction for Jean-Luc Godard's debut film, A BOUT DE SOUFFLE, another tremendously influential drama.
Among Chabrol's best works are: LES COUSINS, a drama that boasts perhaps the most perfect direction in film history, LES BICHES, QUE LA BETE MEURE, LE BOUCHER, LES MAGICIENS, LES FANTOMES DU CHAPELIER and LE CRI DU HIBOU. His films are generally well-written, fascinating and intelligent dramas that are turned into cinematic treats by a brilliant direction.

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Filmography:

Le Coup du Berger (1956; coscr, coprod; a 25m. short; aka The Check Mate)
Le Beau Serge (1958; dir, scr; aka Bitter Reunion)
Les Cousins (1958; dir, coscr)
A Bout de Souffle (1959; art dir)
A Double Tour (1959; dir; based on the novel The Key to Nicholas Street by Stanley Ellin)
Les Bonnes Femmes (1959; dir, coscr; aka Girls... Girls!!)
Les Godelureaux (1960; dir, coscr; based on a novel by Eric Ollivier)
L'Œil du Malin (1961; dir, coscr)
Les Septs Pèches Capitaux (1961; seq dir)
Landru (1962; dir, act; aka Bluebeard)
Les Plus Belles Escroquéries du Monde (1963; seq dir, coscr; aka The Beautiful Swindlers)
Paris Vu Par (1964; seq dir, scr, act; aka Six in Paris)
Le Tigre Aime la Chair Fraiche (1964; dir)
Marie-Chantal contre Dr. KHA (1965; dir, coscr; based on the character by Jacques Chazot)
Le Tigre se Parfume a la Dynamite (1965; dir)
Brigitte et Brigitte (1966; act)
The Champagne Murders/Le Scandale (1966; dir; based on a story by William Benjamin)
La Route en Corinthe (1967; dir, act; based on a novel by Claude Rank)
Les Biches (1968; dir, coscr, act)
La Femme Infidèle (1968; dir, scr; aka Unfaithful Wife)
Que la Bete Meure (1969; dir, coscr; based on the novel The Beast Must Die by Nicholas Blake)
La Rupture (1970; dir, scr; based on a novel by Charlotte Armstrong)
Le Boucher (1970, dir, scr)
Juste Avant la Nuit (1971; dir, scr; based on Edward Atiyah's The Thin Line; aka Just Before Nightfall)
La Décade Prodigieuse (1971; dir; based on Ellery Queen's Ten Days Wonder; aka Ten Days Wonder)
Docteur Popaul (1972; dir; based on the novel Meurtre a Loisir by Hubert Montheilet)
Les Noces Rouges (1972; dir, scr; aka Wedding in Blood)
Nada (1973; dir, coscr; based on the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette; aka The Nada Gang)
Une Partie de Plaisir (1974; dir)
Death Wish (1974, coscr???; based on the novel by Brian Garfield)
Les Innocents aux Mains Sales (1975; dir, scr; based on a novel by Richard Neely)
Les Magiciens (1975; dir; based on the novel Initiation au Meurtre by Frédéric Dard)
Les Folies Bourgeoises (1976; dir, coscr; based on the novel Le Malheur Fou by Lucie Faure; o.t. The Twist)
Alice ou la Dernière Fugue (1976; dir, scr)
Blood Relatives/Les Lieus de Sang (1977; dir, coscr, act, based on a novel by Ed McBain)
Violette Nozière (1978; dir, based on a novel by Jean-Marie Fitère)
Fantomas 1. L'Echaffaud Magique (1979; dir, based on the novels by Pierre Souvestre & Marcel Allain)
Fantomas 4.: Le Tramway Fantome (1979, dir, based on the novels by Pierre Souvestre & Marcel Allain)
Le Cheval d'Orgueil (1980; dir, coscr, based on a novel by Pierre-Jakez Hélias; aka Horse of Pride)
Les Affinites Electives (1981; dir; based on a story by Goethe; made for TV)
Les Fantomes du Chapelier (1982; dir, scr, based on the novel by Georges Simenon)
Polar (1983; act; based on the novel Morgue Pleine by Jean-Patrick Manchette)
Blood of Others, The (1984; dir; based on the novel by Simone de Beauvoir)
Poulet au Vinaigre (1985; dir, coscr, act; based on the novel Une Mort en Trop by Dominique Roulet)
Inspecteur Lavardin (1986; dir, coscr)
Masques (1986; dir, coscr)
Le Cri du Hibou (1987; dir, coscr; based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith)
Alouette, Je Te Plumerai (1987; act)
Une Affaire de Femmes (1988; dir, coscr, based on a novel by Francis Szpiner)
Les Dossiers de l'Inspecteur Lavardin: Le Diable en Ville (1988; coscr)
Les Dossiers de l'Inspecteur Lavardin: L'Escargot Noir (1988; dir)
Les Dossiers de l'Inspecteur Lavardin: Maux Croises (1988; dir, coscr)
Quiet Days in Clichy (1990; dir, coscr, based on Quiet Days in Clichy by Henry Miller)
Dr. M (1990; dir, coscr, loosely based on Mabuse, der Spieler by Norbert Jacques)
Madame Bovary (1991; dir, scr, based on Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert)
Sam Suffit (1991; act)
Betty (1992; dir, scr)
L'Oeil de Vichy (1992; dir)
L'Enfer (1994; dir; coscr)
La Cérémonie (1995; dir, scr)
The Son of Gascogne (1995; act)
Rien Ne Va Plus (1997; dir, scr)
Au Coeur de Mensonge (1999; dir, coscr)
Merci Pour le Chocolat (2000; dir, coscr)
La Fleur du Mal (2003, dir, coscr)
Claude Chabrol - Mon Premier Film (2003; doc)
[...]

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© Ron Altman (last update 02/24/07)