Christian Stengel(1903-1986)

Christian Stengel (b. 1902)managed the Pathé production department from 1941 to 1943.At the beginning of his career ,he seemed to be at the actors' beck and call ,directing vehicles for Charles Trénet ("Je Chante", featuring a famous song) (1938)and Noel-Noel ("La Famille Duraton", pleasant to watch though )(1939).His thrillers ("Seul Dans La Nuit" (1945) and "Pas De Pitié Pour Les Femmes "(1950) seemed more interesting,but they were marred by weak screenplays ,although the latter featured the excellent Michel Auclair ."Rome Express" (1949) highlighted his problem : good potential but ,wavering between thriller and comedy,the movie suffered accordingly."Minuit ,Quai De Bercy"(1952) was probably his best effort in the field ,thanks to his peerless actors (Von Stroheim,Madeleine Robinson).Both his final movies were comedies ("Casse-Cou ,Mademoiselle"(1954)and "Vacances explosives"(1956).His best movie,by far ,remained the unfairly overlooked "La Figure De Proue" (1949):A sailor,François , is in love with....the figurehead,the bust of a gorgeous woman..Stengel creates strange erotic scenes on the ship ,then a mysterious atmosphere depicting a growing desire when Georges Marchal meets his dream lover in the shape of cold blond Madeleine Sologne . Stengel called it a day in 1956 ;then there was silence till his death in 1986.