
Jacques Poitrenaud
Directing
Biography
Jacques Poitrenaud (22 May 1922, Lille – died 2 April 2005, Paris) was a French film director and actor. He was a director and assistant director, known for Stranger from Hong-Kong (1963), Le canard en fer blanc (1967) and Mendiants et Orgueilleux (1972). He died on April 2, 2005 in Poissy, Yvelines, France.
Known For

Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.
'Round Midnight

The spoiled daughter of the French Ambassador tricks one of his aides into marrying her.
La Parisienne

Marcel and Francis are busy people. Marcel owns a café and spend all his nights running from meetings to meetings with members from the high society... at least, that's what he say to his barman! Francis leaves his home, loving wife and adorable daughter, frequently to attend meetings and demonstration with customers. His boss trusts him so much that his agenda is always full... at least, that's what he say to his wife! In fact, Marcel and Francis' incomes come from their night job: thieves! Here at least, they are professional. Troubles arise when, during one robbery, they encounter a young, high-pitched voice, candid girl who takes the decision to become their associate in crime... for the fun!
A Mouse with the Men

"Hangar" is a new agency whose purpose is to carry out missions even too sensitive for the police or intelligence services. The agency must eliminate a German female terrorist by the name of Birgitt Haas. The murder is to be disguised as a crime of passion, so an agent must lure Birgitt into falling in love.
Birgit Haas Must Be Killed

Three young men - Jacques, Pierre, and Michel - share an apartment in Paris, and have many girlfriends and parties. Once, during a party, a friend of Jacques' tells him he has a quite compromising package to deliver, and asks him if he can leave it discreetly at their place. Jacques agrees and, as he works as a steward, flies away for a one-month trip in Japan, telling Pierre and Michel about the package. Then, one of Jacques' former girlfriends drops a baby before their door, making Pierre and Michel believing it is the package they are waiting for. Their lives are then completely changed.
Three Men and a Cradle

When Guillaume Valmont dies in a car accident, the only thing he leaves his wife Isabelle is his pharmacy. She never loved her older husband and she regards his death as a deliverance. At the funeral, she meets Judith, widow too, and she soon realises that her husband had been leading a double life. A short while later, the pharmacy is broken into, but nothing is stolen. Police Inspector Laforêt is put in charge of the case. Isabelle becomes suspicious when Judith offers to buy the pharmacy.
Trouble Among Widows

Between a whimsical wife, two insolent girls, a son who is engaged in strange chemical experiments and a mother-in-law who is being courted by a rich English lord, André Costais, an intractable industrialist, is struggling to impose his authority on his family.
The Door Slams

A film made up of four sketches. In Marc Allégret's Sophie, a naive high-school girl invents a love affair with her mother's lover. But it's a guitarist with whom she falls in love. In Françoise, by Claude Barma, a young woman returning to France after living in the United States has an affair with her best friend's lover. In Antonia, by Michel Boisrond, a middle-aged woman tries to convince her ex-lover that she still has many assets to seduce. In Ella, by Jacques Poitrenaud, a Pigalle dancer meets a man in a cab.
Tales of Paris

The writer Pierre Carot became rich and famous with his book "Life as a Couple", which was based on the loving relationships of four couples. Now he's setting up his will and wants to leave his wealth to the couples among the four, which are still as deeply in love - if any: else, his companions get the money. He sends them out to visit the couples and test their love.
Life Together

In this film that sends up the foibles of filmmaking, a standard crew of actors, stage-hands, director, writers, producers, and others are gathered for the filming of a 45-second automobile commercial. Each role embodies an archetype (the harried director who has a deadline to meet, the Scrooge production manager who has a budget to meet, and the writers who are above these mundane concerns), and these personalities drive the working actors over the edge until they decide to lock them up and do their own thing -- happiness can be just around the corner if you are in the driver's seat. Hopefully, the actors will be able to bow out before the police catch on to the situation.
Qu'est-ce qu'on attend pour être heureux!

Hakim Gregory escapes from prison by killing a number of guards, and returns to his hide-out abroad, to lead again his gang of drug trafficking and contract murders. Layton of the Secret Service must discover, and arrest him. The difficult mission almost becomes impossible with the rivalry of Layton's partner, Petula, the jealousy of his bride, Marion, the possible treachery of a Spanish woman, Dolores Arrabal, and yet a mysterious and sexy informant, Rosario... Too many women for Layton.
Four Queens for an Ace

The spirit of a vengeful female vampire is released from her grave and possesses a wealthy young woman of nobility, who preys on other women in her village.
Blood and Roses

A group of Italian soccer fans arrive in Paris for a match, but most of them go their separate ways to explore the sights, have a bit of an adventure, and maybe even find some romance.
Paris Is Always Paris

In South America, airplane pilot François Cartier is searching for treasure for a group of political exiles who helped him escape the death penalty. But the members of the group are being murdered one by one. Having managed to get his hands on the loot, François will use it to exchange it for a beautiful revolutionary with whom he has fallen in love. But the return flight proves particularly perilous.
Le canard en fer blanc

Les amours de Paris focuses on three disparate couples and their problems in the arena of romantic love. One couple is comprised of a faithful husband and a sick wife whose stay in the hospital is not so bad because she has taken a sudden interest in her doctor. In the second pairing, a womanizer comes to see that the model who is in love with him is worth more than yet another conquest. And to complete the trio, two zany people finally realize they are a couple.
Paris Loves

Strip-tease has a pleasing Paris setting and a convincing strip club atmosphere, where a roster of exotic dancers do their thing. Making the club atmosphere work is the animated Dany Saval, as a charming gossip and outspoken cheerleader for the art of the strip-tease. Berthe encourages Ariane to loosen up and enjoy what she's doing.
Sweet Skin

To replace Hector Grofenol, the tyrannical boss of the "Tout pour le camping" factory, who has been put out of action, a group of employees call on his cousin Achille, a Provençal shepherd, thinking they can use him. But Achille is quick to take his role as CEO seriously, and becomes very enterprising. Fortunately, young secretary Martine uses her charms to calm this man with a thirst for power.
Qu'est-ce qui fait courir les crocodiles ?

Jacques spends his summer vacation with his grandfather, Jericho, in the company of his wife Marie. The malicious ancestor quickly realizes that his grandson's marriage is on the brink of breakdown. He does everything to save him.
The Marriage Came Tumbling Down

Jean the piano player introduces Georgia, a new, promising singer, to a handsome young-man in a Paris' night-club. From contact to contract, Georgia is soon traveling to Hong Kong with Mitzi, another cabaret artist, the pianist and the man with whom she is flirting. In their first night out, the girls watch a man being attacked and abducted by a pair of local thugs. Next thing, they are reading about the man's death in the papers, and are being hunted by the criminals. Georgia and Mitzi will then learn that their companions are not exactly a typical piano player and businessman. Suspition leads the girls to fight each other, but they'll unite for survival in a seedy environment.
L'inconnue de Hong Kong

Hadjis, a philosophy professor in his thirties, put his spiritual concepts into practice when he left Europe to settle in a working-class district of Tunis, where he lived in destitution. Together with two followers of his philosophy, a medical student and a poet, they form a close-knit, wise cenacle. Unfortunately, Hadjis strangles a prostitute while on a hashish binge. The police put an officer in charge of the investigation, and he soon tracked down the murderer. But, converted by the three friends to their philosophy, he ends his investigation and leaves the police to join them.