Léo Joannon (21 August 1904 – 28 March 1969) was a French writer and film director. Born in Aix-en-Provence,^[1] Joannon was originally a law student who became a novelist and journalist before entering the film industry in the 1920s as a cameraman.^[2]

Career

Joannon first attracted international attention in early 1939 during the production of S.O.S. Mediterranean, when his attempts to include shots of a German naval ship docked in the port of Tangier created a diplomatic incident between the pre-World War II French and German governments. The film later won the Grand Prix du Cinema Français.^[3]

Joannon is best known to international audiences as the director of the comedy film Atoll K (1951), which was the final motion picture starring the legendary comedic double act Laurel and Hardy. Among his other better-known films were Le Defroqué (1954) and Fort du Fou (Outpost in Indochina) (1962).^[2]

Joannon died in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Selected filmography

• Five Anxious Days (1928)
• The Woman and the Puppet (1929)
• Durand Versus Durand (1931)
• The Voice of Happiness (1931)
• Suzanne (1932)
• 600,000 Francs a Month (1933)
• Excursion Train (1936)
• When Midnight Strikes (1936)
• Alert in the Mediterranean (1938)
• The Emigrant (1940)
• The White Truck (1943)
• Atoll K (1951)
• Le Defroque (1954)
• Fort du Fou (1962)

See also

• Amour de poche (1957)

References

External links

• Léo Joannon at IMDb