Poligny, Serge de

(1903-1983)

   Director. Serge de Poligny began his career in cinema as a set decorator for Paramount Studios in France. He ultimately became interested in directing and went on to direct nearly twenty films over a period of twenty years. Poligny made his directorial debut in 1932 with the film Une brune piquante (1931). The following year he made Vous serez ma femme (1932), Coup de feu à l'aube (1932), and Les As du turf (1932), the film that really established his reputation. His subsequent films include Rivaux de la piste (1933), starring Albert Préjean, L'Étoile de Valencia (1933), starring Jean Gabin, Un de la montagne (1934), L'Or (1934), codirected with Karl Hartl and starring Pierre Blanchar, Retour au paradis (1935), starring Claude Dauphin, Johnny, haute-couture (1935), La Chanson du souvenir (1936), codirected with Douglas Sirk, Claudine à l'école (1937), starring Pierre Brasseur, Le Veau gras (1939), starring Elvire Popesco, Le Baron fantôme (1943), La Fiancée des ténèbres (1945), starring Pierre Richard-Willm and Jany Holt, Torrents (1947), La Soif des hommes (1949), Cap d'Alger (1952), and Les Armes de la paix (1954).

   It is difficult to identify a common theme in de Poligny's films. This is partly because several of the films he made, notably Coup de feu à l'aube, Vous serez ma femme, Rivaux de la piste, and L'Étoile de Valencia, were French versions of German films, essentially remakes. Among those films that de Poligny authored, including Retour au paradis, Le Veau gras, Le Baron fantôme, La Fiancée des ténébres, and La Soif des hommes, there are common elements. There are, in several of the films, the use of fantasy or myth and a somewhat gothic overtone. There is also an underlying theme of domination as there are films dealing with the crusades against the Cathares in France and two dealing with colonization and colonialism. What links all the films is de Poligny's visual style, which was mesmerizingly poetic. Some critics, in fact, regard de Poligny as a forgotten auteur of French cinema's golden age.

   Historical Dictionary of French Cinema by Dayna Oscherwitz & Mary Ellen Higgins