Jules Dassin

Born: 1911-12-18

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France, where he revived his career. Dassin quickly became better known for his noir films Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948), and Thieves' Highway (1949), which helped him to become "one of the leading American filmmakers of the postwar era." Dassin's most influential film was Rififi (1955), an early work in the "heist film" genre. It inspired later heist films, such as Ocean's Eleven (1960). Another piece it inspired was Dassin's own heist film Topkapi, filmed in France and Istanbul, Turkey with Melina Mercouri and Oscar winner Peter Ustinov. Dassin said Darryl F. Zanuck in 1948 called him into his office to inform him he would be blacklisted, but he still had enough time to make a movie for Fox. Dassin was blacklisted in Hollywood during the production of Night and the City (1950). He was not allowed on the studio property to edit or oversee the musical score for the film. He also had trouble finding work abroad, as U.S. distribution companies blacklisted the U.S. distribution of any European film associated with artists blacklisted in Hollywood. In 1952, after Dassin had been out of work for two years, actress Bette Davis hired him to direct her in the Broadway revue Two's Company. The show closed early, however, and Dassin left for Europe. Dassin did not work as a film director again until Rififi in 1954 (a French production). Most of Dassin's films in the decades following the blacklist are European productions. His prolific later career in Europe and the affiliation with Greece through his second wife, combined with a common pronunciation of his surname as "Da-SAN" in Europe, as opposed to "DASS-in" in the United States leads to a common misconception that he was a European director.


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Rififi

as Cesar le Milanais
Released: 1955-04-13

Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo...

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Thieves' Highway

as Man in Freight Elevator (uncredited)
Released: 1949-09-20

Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his...

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Never on Sunday

as Homer Thrace
Released: 1960-05-24

An American scholar in Greece sets about improving the local prostitute with whom he is infatuated.

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Phaedra

as Christos (uncredited)
Released: 1962-05-25

A modern retelling of the Greek myth of Phaedra. The young and fiery second wife of an extremely...

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Promise at Dawn

as Ivan Mosjukine (as Perlo Vita)
Released: 1970-11-25

A single mother raises her son in impossible circumstances first in Leningrad, then Krakow, and...

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Filmmakers in Action

as Self
Released: 2006-09-15

What is the state of cinema and what being a filmmaker means? What are the measures taken to...

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The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides

as Narrator
Released: 2005-01-01

Filled with humor and defining experiences in both his own life and in the lives of some of his...

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Elective Vicissitudes: The Radical Exiles of Jules Dassin

as Himself
Released: 2023-05-31

In 1968, filmmaker Jules Dassin collaborated with Ruby Dee and civil rights activist Julian...

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Balkan Landscapes: The Gaze of Theo Angelopoulos

as Himself
Released: 1993-05-15

Theo Angelopoulos recalls the defining moment in 1964 that led to him to live his entire life in...

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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self
First aired: 1962-10-01

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight...

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Champs-Elysées

as Self
First aired: 1982-01-16

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Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

as Self
First aired: 1975-01-12

A talk show presented by Michel Drucker

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Le Grand Échiquier

as Self
First aired: 1972-01-12

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Discorama

as Self
First aired: 1959-02-04

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Cinépanorama

as Self
First aired: 1956-02-04

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