Émile Cousinet, (12 November 1896 – 24 October 1964) was a French film producer and film director.

Biography

The son of a carpenter, Couzinet became a traveling projectionist and then director of the

Royan Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; oc, Roian) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Its inhabitants are known as ''Royannais'' and ''Royannaises''. Capi ...

Casino. In the 1920s, he decided to invest in the of

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s, including those of . In 1930, due to the unbridled competition of the barriers of Bordeaux, he acquired his own studios, the "Studios de la Côte de Beauté", a cinema complex installed in the seaside resort of Royan. After the destruction of the city at the end of World War II, he recreated his studios in Bordeaux, which then took the name ''Studios de la Côte d'Argent''. The infrastructures were developed near the castle Tauzin which became its main residence He produced himself vaudevilles, of which he was also the screenwriter (occasionally under the name of Robert Eyquem) sometimes at the first degree or a little grivois, often adapted from boulevard theatre. Thus, ' is an adaptation of ' by

Eugène Labiche Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".Pierre Barillet Pierre Barillet (24 August 1923 – 8 January 2019) was a French playwright. Biography Barillet was born in Paris, France. Passionate about theatre since childhood, he wrote his first play, ''Les Héritiers'', in 1945 after being a law student. ...

and

Jean-Pierre Gredy Jean-Pierre Grédy, often anglicised as Gredy (16 August 1920 – 6 February 2022) was a French playwright. Biography After studying literature and law, Grédy entered IDHEC because he wanted to write screenplays. He wrote the screenplay for ...

. As a representative pillar of popular cinema, he produced jubilant films including ', ', ', ', and also '. If comedy was his favorite field, Couzinet also touched on other genres such as swashbuckler films ('), literary adaptation (' after

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

) or family melodrama (', a film for which he employed a certain Sergio Leone as an assistant. He made famous cinema names such as

Pierre Larquey Pierre Larquey (10 July 1884 – 17 April 1962) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1913 and 1962. Born in Cénac, Gironde, France, he died in Maisons-Laffitte at the age of 77. Selected filmography * ''Patr ...

Jeanne Fusier-Gir Jeanne Fusier-Gir (1885–1973) was a French stage and film actress. She was married to the painter Charles Gir, and was the mother of the film director François Gir.Rège p. 442 Selected filmography * '' The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard'' (192 ...

and

Gaby Morlay Gaby Morlay (born Blanche Pauline Fumoleau; 8 June 1893 – 4 July 1964) was a film actress from France.

play in his films. But he also helped the beginnings of truculent actors such as

Jean Carmet Jean Carmet (25 April 1920 – 20 April 1994) was a French actor. Life and career Jean Carmet began working on stage and then in film in the early 1940s becoming a very popular comedic actor in his native country. He is best known internatio ...

, who appeared in ''Mon curé champion du régiment'' and

Robert Lamoureux Robert Lamoureux (4 January 1920 – 29 October 2011) was a French actor, screenwriter and film director. He appeared in more than 30 films between 1951 and 1994. He starred in the film ''The Adventures of Arsène Lupin'', which was entered ...

, who held his own role in ''Le Don d'Adèle''. The Couzinet empire gradually disappeared from the late 1950s in the context of concentration of the film industry.

Filmography

* 1939: ' * 1939: ''Le Club des fadas'' * 1942: ' * 1943: ' * 1947: '' Hyménée'' * 1948: ' * 1949: ' * 1950: '' A Hole in the Wall'' * 1950: ' * 1951: ' * 1951: ' * 1951: ''Buridan, héros de la Tour de Nesle'' * 1952: ''Trois Vieilles Filles en folie'' * 1952: '' When Do You Commit Suicide?'' * 1952: ' * 1953: '' The Cucuroux Family'' * 1954: ''Le Congrès des belles-mères'' * 1954: ''Trois jours de bringue à Paris'' * 1956: ''Mon curé champion du régiment'' * 1957: ''Trois marins en bordée'' * 1959: ''Quai des illusions'' * 1962: ''Césarin joue les étroits mousquetaires''

Bibliography

References

External links

on BIFI
* *
Blog dedicated to Émile Couzinet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Couzinet, Emile French film directors French film producers 20th-century French screenwriters People from Gironde 1896 births 1964 deaths