Guissart, René

(1888-1960)

   Cinematographer and director. René Guissart was born in Paris but began his career in film in the United States. Guissart started out in cinema as a cinematographer during the silent-film era, working with companies such as Fox, Paramount, MGM, and Pathé's American division. While in the United States, Guissart worked with a number of silent-film directors. He was the cinematographer for director James Vincent on films such as Sins of Men (1916), Ambition (1916), Love and Hate (1916), and Sister against Sister (1917). He worked with Harley Knoles on Stolen Orders (1918), The Cabaret (1918), Little Women (1918), and Land of Hope and Glory (1927). He also worked on other well-known silent films, such as Fred Niblo's Ben Hur (1925). Guissart also worked with both Maurice Tourneur and Léonce Perret on their American films. He worked with Tourneur on films such as Women (1918), Treasure Island (1920), and While Paris Sleeps (1923), and with Perret on Empire of Diamonds (1920), The Money Maniac (1921), and Madame Sans-Gêne (1924).

   In the late 1920s, Guissart returned to Europe. He worked as a cinematographer in Great Britain, Germany, and France. He worked most notably with Louis Mercanton on Chérie (1930), Charles de Rochefort on Le Secret du docteur (1930), and Alberto Cavalcanti on Dans une île perdue (1930).

   At about the same time, Guissart also began directing films himself. He made a number of films during the 1930s, including Rien que la vérité (1931), Tu seras duchesse (1931), Coiffeur pour dames (1932), La Poule (1932), Ah! Quelle gare! (1932), Le Père prématuré (1933), Primerose (1934), Dédé (1934), Prince de minuit (1934), Bourrachon (1935), Parlez-moi d'amour (1935), Ménilmontant (1936), and Visages de femmes (1938). He also codirected a number of films with various other directors, most notably Passionnément (1932), codirected with Mercanton, On a volé un homme (1933), codirected with Max Ophiils, and La Chance (1931) and Sept homes . . . une femme (1936), and A nous deux, madame, la vie (1936), all codirected with Yves Mirande.

   For the most part, although there were some exceptions, Guissart's films were largely light, romantic, or sentimental comedies. Coiffeur pour dames (1932), Primerose (1934), and the films he codirected with Mirande are typically considered his best films. Guissart gave up the cinema after the 1930s.