Jacques Nahum (27 February 1921 – 21 July 2017) was a French director, screenwriter, and producer, famed for producing the cult television show ''

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin () is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine '' Je sais tout''. The first ...

'', descended from the

Pallache family Pallache, also de Palacio(s), Palache, Palaçi, Palachi, Palatsi, Palacci, Palaggi, al-Fallashi, and many other variations, is a prominent, Judaeo-Spanish, Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish family from the Iberian Peninsula, who spr ...

Background

Jacques Nahum was born on February 27, 1921, in Cairo, Egypt. His

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

parents were Joab Nahum of Izmir, Turkey, and Fortunée Palacci of Cairo, Egypt; he had one brother, Robert (1925–1973). Nahum arrived in Paris at the age of 24 and in 1945 began to study at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC, since 1988 La Fémis).

Career

Film

By the late 1940s, Nahum was an assistant director.

John Berry

In the 1950s, Nahum was first assistant director to American film director John Berry. Berry went to France to escape the impact of the

Hollywood Blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

. Early in 1950, his documentary '' The Hollywood Ten'' was released; thereafter, fellow director

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was a Canadian-born American film director and editor. He was known for his 1940s films noir, noir films and received an Academy Award for Best Director, Oscar nomination for Best Director for ...

denounced him as a communist. After two movies in 1951–1952, Berry hit a dry spell. French film distributor David Medioni hired him for French-distributed movies on a low salary plus percentage in the films. Nahum later explained: "Here was this small-time producer edioni He knew that John erryhad made great films in Hollywood, and thought it would be quite a coup if he could get this big Hollywood director, who had worked with

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle; March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

, to work on his little

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

." Berry did not have to have a director's permit under French law and union rules at that time. For Berry's first film in France, ''Ça va barder'' (1955), Nahum's job started as assembling crew . While shooting, Berry, Nahum, and Nahum's friend Jacques-Laurent Bost, modified the story of the first film considerably. For '' Tamango'' (1957), Berry could not find Black actors, so Nahum helped him hire French soldiers from French African colonies. The French soldiers disliked the make-up intensely or anything else that made them feel like African slaves, according to Nahum.

Television

In 1960, he founded his own production company, Mars International Productions. From 1962 to 1980, he directed 400 commercials. In 1961, the film '' Une aussi longue absence'', directed by Henri Colpi and co-scripted by

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

, for which he was executive producer, shared the

Palme d'or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. In the early 1960s, he directed the film '' Le Saint mène la danse'', which starred Michèle Mercier. In the 1970s, he turned toward television production, where he would stay for the remainder of his live. Best known among his television works are: ''Arsène Lupine'' (1971) starring Georges Descrières, ''Le Cheval de coeur'' (1995) starring

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, and

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (, also ; ; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the . Pagnol is generally regarded as one of France's ...

's trilogy ''Marius'', ''Fanny'', and ''César'' (2000) starring Roger Hanin. His last production was ''Le chapeau de Mitterrand'' (2014).

Personal life and death

Nahum married Odette Pinto. They had one child, Alain Nahum, also a film director as well as photographer. Nahum died on July 21, 2017, in Paris, France.

Legacy

Dominique Ambiel, often a co-producer, called him:

"''Pionnier dans la production de séries télévisées populaires, il est aussi l'un des premiers à mener des coproductions internationales d'envergure et à initier des films patrimoniaux et de grande qualité pour la télévision.'' (Pioneer in the production of popular television series, he is also one of the first to carry out major international co-productions and to initiate high-quality films for television.)"

Awards

* Palme d'or (1961) * Chevalier dans l'Ordre national du Mérite

Filmography

Nahum's major works span a half century.

Producer

* 1961: '' Une aussi longue absence'' * 1971: ''Arsène Lupin'' (TV series) * 1977: '' Bilitis'' * 1980: ''Sam et Sally'' * 1982: ''Salut, j'arrive'' * 1983: ''L'Art d'aimer'' * 1986: ''Le Tiroir secret'' (TV series) * 1990: ''Le retour d'Arsène Lupin'' (TV series) * 1995: ''Le Cheval de Cœur'' * 1997: ''L'enfant Perdu de Christian Faure'' * 1998: ''À nous deux la vie'' * 1999: ''La Femme du boulanger'' * 2000: ''La Trilogie Marseillaise - Marius, Fanny, César'' * 2002 - 2003: ''Action Justice'' (TV series) * 2004: ''Le Président Ferrare'' (TV series) * 2007: ''Le temps des secrets - Le temps des amours'' * 2009: ''Des gens qui passent'' * 2012: ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' * 2014: ''Le Chapeau de Mitterrand''

Director

* 1954: ''Face of Paris'' episode "Your favorite story" * 1960: '' Le Saint mène la danse'' (AKA ''Le Saint conduit le bal'') * 1967: ''Yves Robert un chemin de la liberté'' * 1971: ''Madame Simone'' (also writer) * 1973: ''Le Double Assassinat de la rue Morgue'' * 1974: '' Eugène Sue (film)'' * 1975: ''Maître Pygmalion'' * 1975: ''Les Grands Détectives'' episode "Six hommes morts"

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

* 1955: ''Ça va barder'' by John Berry * 1955: ''Je suis un sentimental'' by John Berry * 1956: ''Don Juan'' by John Berry * 1958: ''Tamango'' by John Berry

Writer

* 1952: ''The Face of Paris'' (co-writer) * 2012: ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' by Cinzia TH Torrini (co-writer)

References

External sources

*
Le Film Français

Mubi

UniFrance

Premiere

Sens Critique

British Film Institute (BFI)

Bibliotèque nationale de France

Getty
Photos
Photo
1966 with

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...

10 films liés à Jacques Nahum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nahum, Jacques 1921 births 2017 deaths French directors French screenwriters French producers Film people from Cairo Palme d'Or winners French people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Film directors from Paris Egyptian emigrants to France French people of Turkish-Jewish descent Egyptian people of Turkish-Jewish descent Institut des hautes études cinématographiques alumni