André Hunebelle (; 1 September 1896 – 27 November 1985) was a French maître verrier (master

glassmaker Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container pro ...

) and

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 ...

Master Glass Artist

After attending polytechnic school for mathematics, he became a decorator, a designer, and then a master glass maker in the mid-1920s (first recorded exhibition PARIS 1927 included piece "Fruit & Foliage"). His work is known for its clean lines, which are elegant and singularly strong. He exhibited his own glass in a luxurious store located at 2 Avenue Victor-Emmanuel III, at the roundabout of the Champs Èlysées in Paris. Etienne Franckhauser, who also made molds for Lalique and Sabino, made the molds for Hunebelle's glass which was fabricated by the crystal factory in Choisy-le-Roi, France. Hunebelle's store ceased all activity in 1938 prior to World War II. Hunebelle pieces are marked in several ways. The most common is A.HUNEBELLE-FRANCE in molded capitals either within the glass design or on the base. Other pieces are marked simply A.HUNEBELLE. There was also a paper label with A and H superimposed in a stylized manner. Since paper labels are frequently lost, many pieces may appear completely unmarked. In the author's collection there are pieces marked A.HUNEBELLE both with and without the word FRANCE, and a bowl marked MADE IN FRANCE that is identical to one shown in a Hunebelle catalogue. Hunebelle also used a more elaborate maker's mark imprinted on some glass pieces which had the word FRANCE encircled by the words MADE IN FRANCE MODELLE DEPOSE et R COGNEVILLE and with A. HUNEBELLE underneath (reflects mid 1930s partnership with COGNEVILLE). In a short essay, he defined his stylistic aims as a glassmaker, explaining that he wanted to be "an adept of an abstract art where the geometric exactness, the poetry of line, and transparency are combined." He also patented techniques for producing exact mouldings of items. His glasswork displays a calculated modernism in contrast to influences derived from animals, plants and flowers which featured in the work of contemporaries such as René Lalique, Pierre D'Avesn and Marius-Ernest Sabino at the time. Hunebelle chose to focus on geometric forms, using technique and his scientific background to enhance light emission as much as possible. Surface contrasts, volume intersections, polished-non polished effects, geometry, light and poetry of line feature prominently in his work. Hunebelle employed both mold-blown and pressed-molded techniques in producing his pieces.

Filmmaker

Hunebelle was a publisher of a French newspaper called ''La Fleché''. During World War II, he had no job until a friend Marcel Achard found him work in films for Production Artistique Cinématographique (P.A.C.) where he acted as an

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

and later began producing filmspp.56-57 Dickos, Andrew ''Street With No Name: A History of the Classic American Film Noir'' 2002 University Press of Kentucky beginning with '' Leçon de conduite'' (1946). He directed his first film '' Métier de fous'' in 1948. His next three films were a

film series A film series or movie series is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. It is a type of series fiction. This article explains what film series are and gives brief examples ...

of French

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

featuring Raymond Rouleau as a journalist character mixing with crime. All three had the titles beginning with the letter "M" in honour of author Pierre Benoît whose heroines all began with the letter "A". The films were written by Michel Audiard, a crime novelist. In 1960 Hunebelle teamed up with Jean Marais to make several successful swashbucklers. Following the highly successful French release of '' Dr No'' in 1963, Marais thought of adapting Jean Bruce's spy hero OSS 117 in a series of films starring himself; however, Hunebelle selected the American actor

Kerwin Mathews Kerwin Mathews (January 8, 1926 – July 5, 2007) was an American actor best known for playing the titular heroes in ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958), ''The Three Worlds of Gulliver'' (1960), and ''Jack the Giant Killer (1962 film), Jack the G ...

.album notes 'OSS-117 Bande Originales du Films Michel Magne At the same time as his OSS 117 films, Hunebelle and Marais made a trilogy of

Fantômas Fantômas () is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914). One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared ...

films.

Filmography

* 1948 : '' Métier de fous'', with

Henri Guisol Henri Guisol (12 October 1904 – 11 May 1994) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than seventy films from 1931 to 1980. He enjoyed a career in French ''mystery fiction, who done its'' and film noir. Filmography References External ...

, Gaby Sylvia * 1949 : '' Mission in Tangier'', with Raymond Rouleau * 1949 : '' Millionaires for One Day'', Gaby Morlay,

Pierre Brasseur Pierre Brasseur (; 22 December 1905 – 16 August 1972), born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor. Biography The son of actors Georges Espinasse and Germaine Brasseur was an actor as well. The family tradition of using the name ''Br ...

* 1950 : '' Beware of Blondes'', with Raymond Rouleau, Martine Carol, Claude Farell * 1951 : '' My Wife Is Formidable'', with

Fernand Gravey Fernand Gravey (25 December 1905 in Ixelles (Belgium) – 2 November 1970 in Paris, France),Death certificate # 8/445/1970 also known as Fernand Gravet in the United States, was a Belgian-born French actor. Early life Gravey was the son o ...

, Sophie Desmarets * 1952 : '' Massacre in Lace'', with Raymond Rouleau, Anne Vernon * 1952 : '' Monsieur Taxi'', with Michel Simon * 1952 : '' My Husband Is Marvelous'', with

, Sophie Desmarets * 1953 : , with Georges Marchal, Bourvil, Gino Cervi * 1954 : '' Cadet Rousselle'', with François Périer, Dany Robin, Bourvil * 1955 : '' Thirteen at the Table'', with Micheline Presle,

, Mischa Auer * 1955 : '' The Impossible Mr. Pipelet'', with Michel Simon * 1956 : '' Mannequins of Paris'', with Madeleine Robinson,

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, Mischa Auer * 1957 : '' Les Collégiennes'', with Marie-Hélène Arnaud * 1957 : '' Casino de Paris'', with

Gilbert Bécaud François Gilbert Léopold Silly (24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001), known professionally as Gilbert Bécaud (), was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-know ...

, Caterina Valente,

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* 1958 : ', with Micheline Presle * 1958 : '' Taxi, Roulotte et Corrida'', with Louis de Funès * 1959 : '' Arrêtez le massacre'', with Jean Richard * 1959 : '' Le Bossu'', with Jean Marais, Sabine Sesselmann, Bourvil *1960 : '' Le Capitan'', with Jean Marais, Bourvil,

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*1961 : '' Le Miracle des loups'', with Jean Marais, Rosanna Schiaffino,

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundi ...

, Roger Hanin *1962 : '' The Mysteries of Paris'', with Jean Marais, Dany Robin, Jill Haworth, Raymond Pellegrin, Pierre Mondy *1963 : '' OSS 117 se déchaîne'', with

, Irina Demick *1963 : ''

Méfiez-vous, mesdames ''Méfiez-vous, mesdames!'' (English title: ''Be Careful, Ladies!'') is a 1963 French comedy film directed by André Hunebelle. The screenplay was written by Pierre Foucaud and Jean Halain, based on a novel by Ange Bastiani. It tells the story of ...

'', with Michèle Morgan, Danielle Darrieux, Paul Meurisse, Sandra Milo *1964 : ''

'', with Jean Marais, Louis de Funès,

Mylène Demongeot Mylène Demongeot (; born Marie-Hélène Demongeot ; 29 September 1935 – 1 December 2022) was a French film, television and theatre actress and author with a career spanning seven decades and more than 100 credits in French language, French, ...

*1964 : ''

Banco à Bangkok pour OSS 117 ''Banco à Bangkok pour OSS 117'', released in the USA as ''Shadow of Evil'', is a 1964 French/Italian international co-production Eurospy spy-fi (neologism), spy-fi film. It was based on Jean Bruce's 1960 novel ''Lila de Calcutta'', the 74th OS ...

'', with

Robert Hossein Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed Les Misérables (1982 film), the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in ''Vice and Virtue'', ''Le Casse'', ''Les U ...

, Pier Angeli *1965 : '' Furia à Bahia pour OSS 117'', with

Frederick Stafford Frederick Stafford (11 March 1928 – 28 July 1979) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born actor. Born Friedrich Strobel von Stein, he spoke fluent Czech, German, English, French and Italian, and was a leading man in European spy-movies and in ...

, Raymond Pellegrin *1965 : '' Fantômas se déchaîne'', with Jean Marais, Louis de Funès,

*1967 : '' Fantômas contre Scotland Yard'', with Jean Marais, Louis de Funès,

*1968 : '' Sous le signe de Monte-Cristo'', with Paul Barge, Claude Jade, Anny Duperey,

Michel Auclair Michel Auclair (born Vladimir Vujović, sr-cyr, Владимир Вујовић; 14 September 1922 – 7 January 1988) was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema. Auclair was born to a Serbian fat ...

, Raymond Pellegrin *1968 : '' Pas de roses pour OSS 117'', with John Gavin, Margaret Lee, Curd Jürgens,

, Luciana Paluzzi *1973 : ' (TV miniseries), with Jean Marais, Udo Kier *1974 : ', with Les Charlots, Josephine Chaplin, Daniel Ceccaldi *1974 : ', with Les Charlots, Josephine Chaplin, Daniel Ceccaldi *1978 : '' Ça fait tilt'', with Bernard Menez, Eleonora Giorgi, Michel Constantin, Yoko Tani

References

External links

André Hunebelle Master Glass Artist
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunebelle, Andre 1896 births 1985 deaths People from Meudon French film directors French comedy film directors