Jacqueline Audry | |
---|---|
Born | September 25, 1908 Orange, Vaucluse, France |
Died | June 22, 1977 Poissy, Yvelines, France |
(aged 68)
Occupation | Film director |
Years active | 1946–1973 |
Spouse(s) | Pierre Laroche |
Jacqueline Audry (September 25, 1908 – June 22, 1977) was a French film director who began making films in post-World War II France and specialised in literary adaptations. She was the first commercially successful female director of post-war France.
Audry was born in Orange, Vaucluse, France. Because there were few opportunities for female directors during the Nazi occupation, Audry worked as an assistant to directors Jean Delannoy, G. W. Pabst and Max Ophüls and directed a short film of her own, Le Feu de paille (1943), with the help of the Centre Artistique et Technique des Jeunes du Cinéma (now La Femis). The end of World War II and the liberation of France provided increased opportunities for women, but they still faced prejudice in the film industry.
Audry's first feature film was Les Malheurs de Sophie (1946). This was based on the popular novel of the same name by the Comtesse de Ségur. No copies of this film, which was censored for its "politically inappropriate" riot scenes, exist. Unable to raise funds for her next film, she had to wait a couple of years before making Sombre dimanche (1948). In the 1940s and 1950s, she directed three films based on Colette novels; Gigi (1949), Minne (1950) and Mitsou (1956), all three with actress Danièle Delorme. Mitsou, which featured sex outside of marriage, was heavily censored.