Eugène Lourié (russian: Евгений Лурье; 8 April 1903 – 26 May 1991) was a French film director, art director,

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

, set designer and screenwriter who was known for his collaborations with Jean Renoir and for his 1950s

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

movies. Allmovie contributor Sandra Brennan has written that he was "among the best art directors in French cinema." He was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 1969 for Best Visual Effects on the film '' Krakatoa, East of Java''.

Early life

Lourié was born in

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1903. His first experience with cinema was in 1911 when a movie theater opened in Kharkov. In 1919, he worked on an anti-communist film titled ''Black Crowes''. After he fled from the Soviet Union, he made his way to

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. While there he made money for a fare to Paris, France by painting and drawing movie posters. He even slept in the theater on top of a piano to save money.

Film career

In the 1930s, he worked as a production designer for such directors as Jean Renoir,

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made near ...

, and

René Clair René Clair (11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. He wen ...

. As an assistant and production designer to Renoir, he worked on such French films as ''

La Grande illusion ''La Grande Illusion'' (also known as ''The Grand Illusion'') is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who ar ...

'' and '' La Règle du Jeu''. After Renoir had moved to Hollywood in the early 1940s, Lourié moved as well, and worked with other directors including

Sam Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and World War II veteran known for directing low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, often made ou ...

, Charlie Chaplin, and

Robert Siodmak Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (194 ...

. Then in 1953, he made his directorial debut with '' The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'', the first of three dinosaur films that Lourié would direct. The film was profitable, however Lourié has said that he regrets that the film typecast him as a science fiction director. He decided that after his 1961 film, '' Gorgo'', he would stop directing movies because he did not want to direct "the same comic-strip monsters." Eight years later, he received an

nomination for his visual effects on '' Krakatoa, East of Java''. In 1980, Lourié designed Clint Eastwood's ''

Bronco Billy ''Bronco Billy'' is a 1980 American Western comedy-drama film starring Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke. It was directed by Eastwood and written by Dennis Hackin. Plot Bronco Billy McCoy (Clint Eastwood) is a stuntman performing in front of a me ...

''. Lourié also had an acting part in

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

's 1983 picture, '' Breathless''. Lourié makes a silent cameo appearance in '' Krakatoa, East of Java'', portraying a lighthouse keeper on the coast of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

in 1883 who observes

Krakatoa Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group ( Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. T ...

's final, cataclysmic explosion and enters the lighthouse to send news of it by

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

.Model Ships in the Cinema: ''Krakatoa, East of Java'', 1969, caption of photo of lighthouse keeper operating telegraph.
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Death

Lourié died on 26 May 1991 due to a stroke while in the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills.

Partial filmography

* '' Jeanne'' (1934) * '' The Bread Peddler'' (1934) * '' Dark Eyes'' (1935) * ''

The Alibi ''The Alibi'' is a 2006 American film directed by Kurt Mattila and Matt Checkowski and written by Noah Hawley. It stars Steve Coogan, Rebecca Romijn, and Selma Blair. The film was shown at 2006 CineVegas. The film was released to DVD on Decembe ...

'' (1937) * '' The Messenger'' (1937) * ''

Ramuntcho ''Ramuntcho'' (1897) is a novel by French author Pierre Loti. It is a love and adventure story about contraband runners in the Basque province of France. It is one of Loti's most popular stories—"love, loss and faith remain eternal themes"—wit ...

'' (1938) * ''

The Lafarge Case ''The Lafarge Case'' (French: ''L'Affaire Lafarge'') is a 1938 French historical crime film directed by Pierre Chenal and starring Pierre Renoir, Marcelle Chantal and Raymond Rouleau. It recalls a famous nineteenth century case, and is mostly p ...

'' (1938) * '' There's No Tomorrow'' (1939) * ''

Cristobal's Gold ''Cristobal's Gold'' (French: ''L'or du Cristobal'') is a 1940 French drama film directed by Jean Stelli and Jacques Becker and starring Charles Vanel, Conchita Montenegro and Albert Préjean. Jean Renoir helped the original director, Jacques ...

'' (1940) * '' The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'' (1953), director * '' The Colossus of New York'' (1958), director * '' The Giant Behemoth'' (1959), director * '' Gorgo'' (1961), director * '' Flight from Ashiya'' (1964)Model Ships in the Cinema: ''Krakatoa, East of Java'', 1969, including quotes from Lourié, Eugene, ''My Work in Films'', Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985
. * '' Crack in the World'' (1965) * '' Bikini Paradise'' (1967) * '' Krakatoa, East of Java'' (1969) * ''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

'' (1972-1975)

References

External links