Émile Chautard (7 September 1864 – 24 April 1934) was a French-American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, actor, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, most active in the silent era. He directed more than 100 films between 1910 and 1924. He also appeared in more than 60 films between 1911 and 1934.

Life and work

Chautard was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. After a significant career beginning as a stage actor at the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe and moving up to the head of film production at Éclair Films' Paris studio in 1913, Chautard emigrated to the United States in January 1915, sailing on the S/S ''Rochambeau'', from

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

to New York. From 1915 to about 1918, Chautard worked for the World Film Company based in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

. At World, along with a group of other French-speaking film technicians including

Maurice Tourneur Maurice Félix Thomas (; 2 February 1876 – 4 August 1961), known as Maurice Tourneur (), was a French film director and screenwriter. Life Born Maurice Félix Thomas in the Épinettes district (17th arrondissement of Paris), his father was a w ...

, Léonce Perret, George Archainbaud, Albert Capellani and Lucien Andriot, he developed such films as the 1915 version of '' Camille'', and taught a young apprentice film cutter at the World studio: Josef von Sternberg. In 1919 Chautard hired von Sternberg as his assistant director for '' The Mystery of the Yellow Room'', for his own short-lived production company. Choosing Hollywood over a return to France, Chautard went to work for Famous Players–Lasky and other studios. He received some high-profile assignments, for instance a Colleen Moore vehicle and two features for Derelys Perdue, but he was a generation older than other directors in Hollywood's French colony. After 1924 Chautard did not direct again, but continued to make film appearances, in the von Sternberg film '' Blonde Venus'' (1932), where he appears for his former protege as "Night club owner Chautard". Chautard died in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is interred at the

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematorium, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries ...

Selected filmography

* '' The Mystery of the Yellow Room'' (1913, director) * ''Protéa'' (1913) - Ministre de CEltie * '' The Eaglet'' (1913) - Napoleon Bonaparte * '' The Rack'' (1915, director) * '' The Boss'' (1915, director) * '' Human Driftwood'' (1916, director) * '' The Family Honor'' (1917, director) * '' The Fires of Youth'' (1917, director) * '' Magda'' (1917, director, lost) * '' A Girl's Folly'' (1917) - Actor (uncredited) * '' The Eternal Temptress'' (1917, director) * '' The Marionettes'' (1918, director) * '' The House of Glass'' (1918, director) * '' The Ordeal of Rosetta'' (1918, director) * '' Under the Greenwood Tree'' (1918, director) * '' The Marionettes'' (1918, director) * '' Eyes of the Soul'' (1919, director) * '' The Marriage Price'' (1919, director) * '' The Mystery of the Yellow Room'' (1919, director, based on a Gaston Leroux story)Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 243.. * '' The Black Panther's Cub'' (1921, director) * '' Whispering Shadows'' (1921, director) * '' Forsaking All Others'' (1922, director) * '' Youth to Youth'' (1922, director) * '' The Glory of Clementina'' (1922, director) * '' Daytime Wives'' (1923, director) * '' Untamed Youth'' (1924, director) * '' Paris at Midnight'' (1926) - Père Goriot * '' Broken Hearts of Hollywood'' (1926) - Director * '' Bardelys the Magnificent'' (1926) - Anatol * '' My Official Wife'' (1926) - Count Orloff, Hélène's Father * '' Upstage'' (1926) - Performer (uncredited) * '' The Flaming Forest'' (1926) - André Audemard * '' Blonde or Brunette'' (1927) - Father-in-Law * '' Upstream'' (1927) - Campbell-Mandare * '' Whispering Sage'' (1927) - José Arastrade * '' Seventh Heaven'' (1927) - Father Chevillon, the Priest * '' Now We're in the Air'' (1927) - Monsieur Chelaine * '' The Love Mart'' (1927) - Louis Frobelle * '' The Noose'' (1928) - Priest * '' His Tiger Lady'' (1928) - Stage Manager * '' The Olympic Hero'' (1928) - Grandpa Brown * '' Lilac Time'' (1928) - The Mayor * '' Out of the Ruins'' (1928) - Père Gilbert * '' Caught in the Fog'' (1928) - The Old Man * ''

Adoration Adoration is respect, reverence, strong admiration, and love for a certain person, place, or thing. The term comes from the Latin ''adōrātiō'', meaning "to give Homage (arts), homage or worship to someone or something". Ancient Rome In class ...

'' (1928) - Murajev * '' House of Horror'' (1929) - Old Miser * ''Marianne'' (1929, silent and

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

versions) - Père Joseph * ''

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'' (1929) - David Lederwitski * '' South Sea Rose'' (1929) - Rosalie's Uncle * '' Tiger Rose'' (1929) - Frenchman (uncredited) * '' Free and Easy'' (1930) - Minor Role (uncredited) * ''Le spectre vert'' (1930) - Abdoul * ''Sweeping Against the Winds'' (1930) * '' Estrellados'' (1930) * ''

A Man from Wyoming ''A Man from Wyoming'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code war romance film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Gary Cooper, June Collyer, and Regis Toomey. Written by Albert S. Le Vino and John V.A. Weaver, the film is about a man from Wyoming ...

'' (1930) - French Mayor * '' Mysterious Mr. Parkes'' (1930) - Sylvester Corbett * '' Just Like Heaven'' (1930) - Jacques Dulac * ''

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

'' (1930) - French General (uncredited) * '' Counter Investigation'' (1930) - O'Brien * ''Échec au roi'' (1930) - Le roi Eric VIII - The King * '' The Little Cafe'' (1931) - Philibert * '' The Big Trail'' (1931) - Padre * ''Révolte dans la prison'' (1931) - Pop * '' The Common Law'' (1931) - Doorman (uncredited) * '' The Road to Reno'' (1931) - Andre * '' The Yellow Ticket'' (1931) - Headwaiter (uncredited) * ''Le procès de Mary Dugan'' (1931) * '' Cock of the Air'' (1932) - French Ambassador * '' Shanghai Express'' (1932) - Major Lenard * ''Le fils de l'autre'' (1932) - John Whitcomb * '' The Man from Yesterday'' (1932) - Priest * '' Blonde Venus'' (1932) - Chautard, French Nightclub Manager (uncredited) * ''Le bluffeur'' (1932) - Oscar Brown * '' Rasputin and the Empress'' (1932) - Minor Role (uncredited) * '' The California Trail'' (1933) - Don Marco Ramirez * ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

'' (1933, Serial) - Gen. Pelletier h. 1* '' The Devil's in Love'' (1933) - Father Carmion * '' The Solitaire Man'' (1933) - French Hotel Clerk (uncredited) * '' Design for Living'' (1933) - Train Conductor (uncredited) * '' Gallant Lady'' (1933) - French Hotel Clerk (uncredited) * '' The Way to Love'' (1933) - M. Prias * '' Man of Two Worlds'' (1934) - Natkusiak * '' Wonder Bar'' (1934) - Pierre - the Concierge (uncredited) * '' Come On Marines!'' (1934) - Priest * '' Riptide'' (1934) - Doctor (uncredited) * '' Viva Villa!'' (1934) - General Told to Leave Room (uncredited)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chautard, Emile 1864 births 1934 deaths French film directors French male film actors French male silent film actors French male screenwriters 20th-century French screenwriters Actors from Avignon Male actors from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French emigrants to the United States 20th-century French male actors Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery 20th-century French male writers Articles containing video clips