Biography: life and films
Verneuil began a career as a journalist before devoting his life to cinema. His first thirty or so films were shorts. He achieved the status of a popular film director in the 1950s, working on several occasions with the great comic actor Fernandel. In subsequent years he would work with other acting luminaries, including Jean Gabin, Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Verneuil's cinema shows a surprising range, including outrageous comic farces and tense detective thrillers. His most successful films include Le Mouton à cinq pattes, La Vache et le prisonnier , Mélodie en sous-sol, Le Clan des Siciliens and Peur sur la ville.
Henri Verneuil died in hospital in Paris on 11 January 2002.
© James Travers 2002
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Filmography
Key: d = director; w = writer; a = actor
Escale au soleil (1947) [d,w]
A la culotte de zouave (1948) [d,w]
La Table aux crevés (1952) [d,w]
Carnaval (1953) [d]
L'Ennemi public no 1 (1953) [d]
Le Boulanger de Valorgue (1953) [d]
Le Mouton à cinq pattes (1954) [d,w]
Des gens sans importance (1955) [d,w]
Paris, Palace Hôtel (1956) [d,w]
Une manche et la belle (1957) [d,w]
Maxime (1958) [d,w]
La Vache et le prisonnier (1959) [d,w]
Le Grand chef (1959) [d,w]
L'Affaire d'une nuit (1960) [a,d]
La Française et l'amour (1960) [d]
Le Président (1961) [d,w]
Les Lions sont lâchés (1961) [d]
Un singe en hiver (1962) [a,d]
Mélodie en sous-sol (1963) [d]
Cent mille dollars au soleil (1964) [d,w]
Week-end à Zuydcoote (1964) [d]
La Vingt-cinquième heure (1967) [d,w]
La Bataille de San Sebastian (1968) [d]
Le Clan des Siciliens (1969) [d,w]
Le Casse (1971) [d,w]
Le Serpent (1973) [d,w]
Peur sur la ville (1975) [d,w]
Le Corps de mon ennemi (1976) [d,w]
I... comme Icare (1979) [d,w]
Mille milliards de dollars (1982) [d,w]
Les Morfalous (1984) [a,d,w]
Mayrig (1992) [d,w]
588 rue paradis (1993) [a,d,w]
The best of American cinema
The best of British film comedies
The very best of French film comedy
