Marcel Grignon (born November 9, 1914 in Paris ; † June 6, 1990 ibid) was a French cameraman , one of the most experienced photographers of domestic entertainment films of the post-war period, who was primarily known for his work on various highly profitable Louis de Funès comedies of the 1960s is remembered.
Grignon had trained in 1931 at the 'École Technique de Photographie et de Cinématographie' in his hometown Paris and worked as a camera assistant (among others under Harry Stradling Sr. ) in the 'Pathé-Nathan' studios from 1933. From 1935 to 1937 and 1939/40 he was employed in the film department of the French armed forces. In between he was able to shoot a few short films as head cameraman. Grignon captured the liberation of Paris in the summer of 1944 for a film documentary of the same name. 21 years later, he was also supposed to work for a high-profile movie that retold the end of the German occupation of the French capital, Is Paris Burning? to stand behind the camera. For the performance shown there, he received an Oscar nomination in 1967 .
In 1945 he began his post-war career as head cameraman for feature films with Wenn der Himmel fails , an amusing, contemplative piece of the battle between angel and devil for young lovers. Over the next three and a half decades, Grignon photographed a long line of conventional entertainment films - melodramas and comedies, detective stories and action adventures, war and costume films. It was always about solid entertainment without any major artistic demands but implemented with the highest degree of professional routine.
In the 1960s, Grignon mainly worked on blockbuster historical and action films with Jean Marais and Frederick Stafford and, especially in the second half of this decade, on comedies with box office magnet Louis de Funès. In the 1970s, Grignon slowly let his career come to an end with a series of low-content, let alone tasteful Landser comedies from the hand of the actor and director Robert Lamoureux, played during the Second World War.
Filmography (selection)
1937: Il est un petit pays (medium-length documentary, also appearance)
1938: Frères corses (short film)
1939: Latin Quarter (short film)
1944: La liberation de Paris (documentary film)
1944: L'enfant de l'amour
1945: When Heaven fails (La tentation de Barbizon)
1945: I found an angel (L'ange qu'on m'a donné)
1946: La septième porte
1946: Jeux de femmes
1947: Le village perdu
1947: Le mannequin assassinée
1948: The secret of the five tulips (Les cinq tulipes rouges)
1949: Millionnaire d'un jour
1949: Mission à Tangiers
1949: La cage aux filles
1950: Your path is determined for you (Quai de Grenelle)
1950: The naive sinner (Minne, l'ingénue libertine)
1950: The New Orleans Tavern (The Adventures of Captain Fabian)
1951: Chief Physician Dr. Delius (Un grand patron)
1951: Adventure in Venice (Massacre en dentelles)
1952: Les femmes sont des Anges
1952/53: Love in a circle (Rue de l'estrapade)
1953: The doctor and the girl (Le guérisseur)
1953: Adventure of the Three Musketeers (Les trois mousquetaires)
1981: Longing for the pink chaos (Salut, j'arrive)
1988: Béruchet dit la boule
literature
Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 3: F - H. Barry Fitzgerald - Ernst Hofbauer. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 406.
