Jean Dréville

The great neglected independent film-maker Jean Dreville had no formal education - he was educated privately at home. He showed an early interest in photography and art and his first jobs were as photographer, poster designer and draftsman. His break into films came in 1928 when he made his first short films. In the 1930's, when films about Russia were popular with supporters of the Popular Front, he got on the bandwagon with 'Troika on the White Piste' (1938) and 'Sleepless Nights of St Petersburg' (1938). After the Second World War he had a big success with 'Heavy Water Battle' (1948), a spy thriller made in documentary style set in Nazi-occupied Norway, about Allied attempts to obliterate the factory producing heavy water to power V2 rockets. In 1960 he co-directed the fine French-Soviet aviation spectacular, Normandie-Niemen. In his later career he turned increasingly to comedy.