Leprince, René

(1876-1929)

   Actor, director, and screenwriter. René Leprince began his career in the Parisian café-concerts. He joined Pathé in about 1908, acting in and directing films. In the early years, Leprince was primarily an actor appearing in such films as Yves Mirande's Octave (1909), in which Harry Baur also appeared; Georges Monca's Le Chien de Montargis (1909); Michel Carré's La Peau de Chagrin (1909), in which he appeared with Stacia Napierkowska, Paul Capellani, and Henri Desfontaines; Albert Capellani's La Vengeance de la morte (1910) and La Mort du duc d'Enghien (1912); Georges Denola's Par un jour de carnaval (1910), in which he appeared with Maria Fromet; Camille de Morlhon's Fouquet, l'homme au masque de fer (1911); and Ferdinand Zecca's La Fièvre de l'or (1912), which Leprince codirected.

   Leprince may have directed a film called La Princesse noire (1908), but he did not seriously turn his attention to directing until 1910 or 1911. After that time, he directed more than fifty films over a period of approximately twenty years, working right up to the time of his death. Films directed by Leprince include Le Visiteur (1911), codirected with Capellani; Le Stigmate (1911); Josette (1912); Le Lys de la mansarde (1912), codirected with Monca; Le Club des élégants (1912); L'Amour plus fort que La Haine (1912); Le Miracle des fleurs (1912); Le Roi de l'air (1913) and L'Étoile du génie (1914), both codirected with Zecca; Sacrifice fraternel (1915); La Vie d'une reine (1917); La Force de la vie (1920); Vent debout (1923); Le Vert galant (1924), starring Joë Hamman; L'Enfant des Halles (1924); Mylordl'Arsouillle (1925); Fanfan-la-tulipe (1925); Titi, premier roi des gosses (1926); Princesse Masha (1927); and La Tentation (1929), which was finished by Jacques de Baroncelli as Leprince died while it was being filmed.

   Leprince directed the Comédie Française actor René Alexandre in a number of films, including Les Martyrs de la vie (1912), La Revanche du passé (1912), Le Roi du bagne (1913), codirected with Maurice Mahut, La Leçon du gouffre (1913), and Les Larmes du pardon (1919). He also directed several Max Linder films, including Max et Jane veulent faire du théâtre (1912), Max, Jockey par amour (1913), Max dans les airs (1914), and Max devrait porter des bretelles (1917). All of these were codirected with Linder, although Leprince did direct one or two Max films on his own.