John Berry (director)

John Berry (* 6 September 1917 in the Bronx , New York as Jack Szold ; † 29. November 1999 in Paris , France ) was an American film director , screenwriter , actor and film producer . He has directed films like Tearing Up , Wanted Poster 7-73 , The Black Slave , Danger in the Valley of the Tigers or Trapped in Eternal Ice .

life and career

Born in 1917 as Jack Szold in the Bronx to Jewish parents, John Berry began his film career as an actor in small supporting roles such as in Orson Welles' short film Too Much Johnson from 1938, where he also earned his first spurs as an assistant director. This was followed by other small appearances in American films, such as in Billy Wilder's classic Woman Without a Conscience . At the end of the 1940s, his main focus was on training as a director, including further work as an assistant director on Max Ophüls ' drama Gefangen from 1948.

In 1949 he staged with stretched to breaking point a thriller in the style of film noir with a renowned cast as Richard Basehart , Audrey Totter , Cyd Charisse , Barry Sullivan and William Conrad .

Berry made only one other film in the US, Wanted Poster 7-73 , before being denounced as a communist to the Committee on Un-American Activities , he could no longer find work in Hollywood and was forced to take directorships in Europe .

In 1955 he worked with stars like Eddie Constantine in Kisses, Balls and Kanaillen or with Fernandel in The Great Seducer . In 1958 he cast Dorothy Dandridge , Curd Jürgens and Jean Servais in his film drama The Black Slave , for which he also wrote the screenplay.

Since the 1960s, he has mostly staged commissioned works such as Danger in the Valley of the Tigers (1966), Claudine (1974), I'm Right and You're To Be Guilty (1977) or The Bears Can't Be Braked Any More (1978) and appeared in 1976 after a long time Time also as an actor in front of the camera in Maurice Dugowsons F as Fairbanks at the side of Patrick Dewaere , Miou-Miou and Michel Piccoli .

It was not until the beginning of the 1980s that he invested more time in his own work as an actor, and he again increasingly wrote scripts such as French Streetfighters (1987) and realized his own film projects such as Gefangen im Ewigen Eis (1993) or his last work the drama Buschmann und Lena with Danny Glover and Angela Bassett , which came into theaters posthumously.

John Berry died on November 29, 1999 in the French capital at the age of 82.

From 1975 until his death in 1999 he was married to the French actress Myriam Boyer .

Awards

• In 1990 he was awarded the Telluride Film Festival Silver Medallion with Gérard Depardieu and Clint Eastwood .

Filmography

Director (selection)

• 1946: Tomorrow and All Days (From This Day Forward)
• 1948: Casbah - Forbidden Alleys (Casbah)
• 1949 stretched to breaking point (Tension)
• 1951: Profile 7-73 (He Ran All the Way)
• 1955: Hard fists - hot blood (Ça va barder) - also co-author
• 1955: Kisses, Balls and Kanaillen (Je suis un sentimental) - also co-author
• 1956: The great seducer (Don Juan) - also co-author
• 1958: The black slave (Tamango) - also co-author
• 1966: Danger in the Valley of the Tigers (Maya)
• 1974: Claudine
• 1977: I'm Right and It's Your Fault (Thieves)
• 1978: The bears can no longer be stopped (The Bad News Bears Go to Japan)
• 1987: French Streetfighters (Il ya maldonne) - also production and co-author
• 1993: A Captive in the Land - also production and co-author
• 2000: Buschmann and Lena (Boesman and Lena) - also screenplay

Actor (selection)

• 1944: Woman without a conscience (Double Indemnity)
• 1956: My friend Enrico (Mi tío Jacinto)
• 1976: F for Fairbanks (F comme Fairbanks)
• 1986: Golden Eighties
• 1986: At midnight (Round Midnight)
• 1987: Passionate encounter (Un homme amoureux)
• 1989: Blancs cassés
• 1997: Hantises

literature

• John Berry in: Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins , by Adrian Room, McFarland, 2010, p. 59

Web links

• John Berry in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Obituary for John Berry in: John Berry; Blacklisted Film Director Relocated Overseas - The Los Angeles Times, December 01, 1999
• John Berry, 82, Stage and Film Director Who Exiled Himself During Blacklisting of 1950's, by RALPH BLUMENTHAL, December 01, 1999, The New York Times
• Films by John Berry with German distribution titles

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biographical data of John Berry in: Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors - Volume 1, by Jerry Roberts, Scarecrow Press, 2009, p. 41.
2. ↑ Myrna Oliver: John Berry; Blacklisted Film Director Relocated Overseas , Los Angeles Times article on December 1, 1999, accessed February 22, 2013.
3. ^ Biographical data of John Berry in: The Guardian