French filmmaker Jean Delannoy dead at 100

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — French filmmaker Jean Delannoy, prize-winner at the 1946 Cannes film festival for "La symphonie pastorale" (Pastoral Symphony), has died at age 100, his family said Thursday.

The actor-turned-director gained prominence for his screen adaptations of literary classics such as the 1943 version of "L'eternel retour" (Love Eternal) produced with Jean Cocteau.

He also directed US actor Anthony Quinn and Italian bombshell Gina Lollobrigida in "Notre Dame de Paris" (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) in 1956.

Delannoy died late Wednesday at his home in the town of Guainville, southwest of Paris, his family said.

A director of more than 30 films, Delannoy was harshly criticised by the younger generation of new wave filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard and...