Jean Negulesco (born Ioan Negulescu; – 18 July 1993) was a Romanian-American film director and screenwriter.Oliver, Myrna
"Jean Negulesco 1900–1993
''The Los Angeles Times'', 22 July 1993. He first gained notice for his film noirs and later made such notable films as '' Johnny Belinda'' (1948), '' How to Marry a Millionaire'' (1953), ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'' (1953), and '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' (1954). He was called "the first real master of CinemaScope".

Biography

Early life

Born in Craiova, Negulesco was the son of a hotel keeper and attended Carol I High School. When he was 15, he was working in a military hospital during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Georges Enesco George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

, the Romanian composer, came to play the violin to the war wounded; Negulesco drew a portrait of him, and Enesco bought it. Negulesco decided to be a painter and studied art in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. Negulesco went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1920, and enrolled in the Académie Julian. He sold one of his paintings to Rex Ingram.

America

In 1927, he visited

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

for an exhibition of his paintings and settled there. He then made his way to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, at first working as a portraitist. He became interested in movies and made an experimental feature film, financed as well as written and directed by himself, called ''Three and a Day''. Through his contact with the film's star, Mischa Auer, he managed to get a job at Paramount.

Paramount

He did the opening montage for the film musical ''

Tonight We Sing ''Tonight We Sing'' is a 1953 American musical biopic film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring David Wayne, Ezio Pinza and Roberta Peters. It is based on the life and career of the celebrated impresario Sol Hurok. The film is based on the 19 ...

'' and worked on ''

The Story of Temple Drake ''The Story of Temple Drake'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Stephen Roberts and starring Miriam Hopkins and Jack La Rue. It tells the story of Temple Drake, a reckless woman in the American South who falls into the hands of ...

'' and '' A Farewell to Arms'' (1932). He worked his way to assistant producer, second unit director.

Warner Brothers

Negulesco went to

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

in 1940. He made his reputation at Warner Bros by directing short subjects, particularly a series of band shorts featuring unusual camera angles and dramatic use of shadows and silhouettes. Negulesco's first feature film as director was ''

Singapore Woman ''Singapore Woman'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Brenda Marshall and David Bruce. The Warner Bros. B picture is a remake of '' Dangerous'' (1935) using leftover sets from '' The Letter'' (1940). The s ...

'' (1941). In 1948, he was nominated for an

Academy Award for Directing The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibit ...

for '' Johnny Belinda''.

20th Century Fox

In 1948 Negulesco went to work for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. He was the first director to make two films in Fox's CinemaScope - '' How to Marry a Millionaire'' and '' Three Coins in the Fountain''; the former receiving a nomination for a

BAFTA Award for Best Film The BAFTA Award for Best Film is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. It has been given since the 1st BAFTA Awards, representing the best films of 1947, but until 1 ...

. His 1959 movie '' The Best of Everything'' was on ''Entertainment Weeklys Top 50 Cult Films of All-Time. During his Hollywood career and in his 1984 autobiography ''Things I Did and Things I Think I Did'', Negulesco claimed to have been born on 29 February 1900; he apparently was motivated to make this statement because birthdays on

leap year day February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mo ...

are comparatively rare (and even though 1900 was not a leap year in the Gregorian calendar, it was under the Julian calendar, which applied in Romania at that time). He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6212 Hollywood Blvd.

Death

From the late 1960s Negulesco lived in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

, Spain, where he died, at age 93, of heart failure. He is buried in the Virgen del Carmen cemetery in Marbella.

Filmography

Shorts

*''Alice in Movieland'' (1940) *''The Flag of Humanity'' (1940) *''Joe Reichman and His Orchestra'' (1940) *''Henry Busse and His Orchestra'' (1940) *''Skinnay Ennis and His Orchestra'' (1941) *''The Dog in the Orchard'' (1941) *''Jan Garber and His Orchestra'' (1941) *''Cliff Edwards and His Buckaroos'' (1941) *''Freddie Martin and His Orchestra'' (1941) *''Marie Green and Her Merry Men'' (1941) *''Hal Kemp and His Orchestra'' (1941) *''Those Good Old Days'' (1941) *''University of Southern California Band and Glee Club'' (1941) *''Carioca Serenaders'' (1941) *''At the Stroke of Twelve'' (1941) *''

The Gay Parisian ''The Gay Parisian'' is an American short film produced in 1941 by Warner Bros. and directed by Jean Negulesco. The film is a screen adaptation, in Technicolor, of the 1938 ballet '' Gaîté Parisienne'', choreographed by Léonide Massine to m ...

'' (1941) *''Carl Hoff and His Orchestra'' (1942) *''Calling All Girls'' (1942) *''The Playgirls'' (1942) *''Spanish Fiesta'' (1942) *''The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady'' (1942) *''Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra'' (1942) *''The Spirit of Annapolis'' (1942) *''Six Hits and a Miss'' (1942) * ''

United States Marine Band The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in th ...

'' (1942) *''Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica School'' (1942) *''The United States Army Air Force Band'' (1942) *''A Ship Is Born'' (1942) *''Army Show'' (1942) *''Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra'' (1943) *''Three Cheers for the Girls'' (1943) *''The All American Bands'' (1943) *''All Star Melody Masters'' (1943) *''Childhood Days'' (1943) *''Hit Parade of the Gay Nineties'' (1943) *'' Women at War'' (1943) *'' Cavalcade of Dance'' (1943) *''Sweetheart Serenade'' (1943) *''Food and Magic'' (1943) *''Over the Wall'' (1943) *''The Voice That Thrilled the World'' (1943) *''The United States Service Bands'' (1943) *''The United States Army Band'' (1944) *''Roaring Guns'' (1944) *''Grandfather's Follies'' (1944) *''South American Sway'' (1944) *''Listen to the Bands'' (1944) * ''

The Dark Wave ''The Dark Wave'' is a 1956 American short documentary film directed by Jean Negulesco about a young girl with severe epilepsy. The short stars Charles Bickford and features Nancy Davis, the actress who would later become First Lady of the Uni ...

'' (1956)

Feature films

*'' Crash Donovan'' (1936) *''

City for Conquest ''City for Conquest'' is a 1940 American epic drama film directed by Anatole Litvak and starring James Cagney, Ann Sheridan and Arthur Kennedy. The picture is based on the 1936 novel of the same name by Aben Kandel. The supporting cast features ...

'' (1940) (uncredited) * ''

'' (1941) * '' The Mask of Dimitrios'' (1944) * '' The Conspirators'' (1944) * ''

Three Strangers ''Three Strangers'' is a 1946 American film noir crime drama directed by Jean Negulesco, written by John Huston and Howard Koch, starring Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Peter Lorre, and featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier. Pl ...

'' (1946) * '' Nobody Lives Forever'' (1946) * ''

Humoresque Humoresque (or Humoreske) is a genre of Romantic music characterized by pieces with fanciful humor in the sense of mood rather than wit. History The name refers to the German term ''Humoreske'', which was given from the 1800s (decade) onward to h ...

'' (1946) * '' Deep Valley'' (1947) * '' Johnny Belinda'' (1948) * '' Road House'' (1948) * ''

The Forbidden Street ''The Forbidden Street'' is a 1949 British melodrama film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Dana Andrews, Maureen O'Hara, Sybil Thorndike, Fay Compton and A. E. Matthews. Set in Victorian London, it tells the story of a wealthy young wo ...

'' (1949) * '' Three Came Home'' (1950) * '' Under My Skin'' (1950) * ''

Take Care of My Little Girl ''Take Care of My Little Girl'' is a 1951 drama film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Jeanne Crain, Dale Robertson, Mitzi Gaynor and Jean Peters. The film, shot in Technicolor, is based on the 1950 novel of the same name written by Peggy ...

'' (1951) * ''

The Mudlark ''The Mudlark'' is a 1950 film made in Britain by 20th Century Fox. It is a fictional account of how Queen Victoria was eventually brought out of her mourning for her dead husband, Prince Albert. It was directed by Jean Negulesco, written and ...

'' (1951) * ''

Lydia Bailey ''Lydia Bailey'' is a 1952 American historical film directed by Jean Negulesco, based on the novel of the same name by Kenneth Roberts. It stars Dale Robertson and Anne Francis. Plot In 1802, lawyer Albion Hamlin travels from Baltimore to Cap ...

'' (1952) * '' Lure of the Wilderness'' (1952) * '' O. Henry's Full House'' (1952) (segment) * '' Phone Call from a Stranger'' (1952) * ''

'' (1953) * ''

Scandal at Scourie ''Scandal at Scourie'' is a 1953 American drama Technicolor film directed by Jean Negulesco, starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon "above the title", and co-starring Donna Corcoran. Garson and Pidgeon were together for the 8th and last time in t ...

'' (1953) * '' How to Marry a Millionaire'' (1953) * '' Three Coins in the Fountain'' (1954) * ''

River of No Return ''River of No Return'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Otto Preminger and starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe. The screenplay by Frank Fenton is based on a story by Louis Lantz, who borrowed his premise from the 1948 Italia ...

'' (1954) (uncredited) * ''

Woman's World ''Woman's World'' is an American supermarket weekly magazine with a circulation of 1.6 million readers. Printed on paper generally associated with tabloid publications and priced accordingly, it concentrates on short articles about subjects such a ...

'' (1954) * '' The Rains of Ranchipur'' (1955) * '' Daddy Long Legs'' (1955) * '' Boy on a Dolphin'' (1957) * '' A Certain Smile'' (1958) * '' The Gift of Love'' (1958) * '' Count Your Blessings'' (1959) * '' The Best of Everything'' (1959) * '' Jessica'' (1962) * '' The Pleasure Seekers'' (1964) * ''

The Invincible Six ''The Invincible Six'' is a 1970 American-Iranian adventure film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Stuart Whitman, Elke Sommer, Curd Jürgens, and Ian Ogilvy. Six international criminals attempt to steal the crown jewels of Iran, but i ...

'' (1970) * '' Hello-Goodbye'' (1970)

Notes

References

*Michelangelo Capua, "Jean Negulesco. The Life and the Films," McFarland, Jefferson, N.C., 2017 * Leff, Leonard J. "What in the World Interests Women? Hollywood, Postwar America, and 'Johnny Belinda.'" ''Journal of American Studies'' 31#32 (1997), pp. 385–405
online
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External links

at Allmovie
Jean and Dusty Negulesco papers
Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Jean Negulesco Hollywood Star Walk
''Los Angeles Times'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Negulesco, Jean 1900 births 1993 deaths American film directors Carol I National College alumni People from Craiova Romanian emigrants to the United States Romanian scenic designers 20th-century Romanian painters