Préjean, Albert

(1893-1979)

   Actor. One of the great actors of the early cinema, Albert Préjean began his career in film in 1921 after being discharged from military service. He had no theatrical training and was one of the first actors to make his career entirely in the cinema. His career spanned silent and sound film, and he appeared in more than ninety films over a period of forty years, during which time he worked with many of the great directors of the day.

   Préjean made his film debut in Henri Diamant-Berger's Les Trois mousquetaires (1921). During the silent era, he went on to appear in Diamant-Berger's Gonzague (1922), starring Maurice Chevalier, Le Roi de la vitesse (1923), and Éducation de Prince (1927), Raymond Bernard's Le Miracle des loups (1924) and Le Joueur d'échecs (1927), René Clair's Paris qui dort (1925), Le Fantôme du Moulin rouge (1925), Le Voyage imaginaire (1926), and Un chapeau de paille (1927), Henri Chomette's Le Requin (1929), and Jacques Feyder's Les Nouveaux messieurs (1929). It was really Préjean's work with Clair during the silent era that established him as an actor and also established the persona he would often portray onscreen, a sort of hapless everyman, defined by an optimism and caught up in the wonder of the world. This combination rendered many of Préjean's characters endearing and very human.

   During the sound era, Préjean continued to be a force onscreen and appeared in starring roles through the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in such films as Clair's Sous les toits de Paris (1930), Serge de Poligny's Les Rivaux de la piste (1932), Henri Decoin's Les Bleues du ciel (1933), Pierre Colombier's Théodore et Cie (1933), Jean de Limur's L'Auberge du petit dragon (1934), Félix Gandara's Le Secret d'une nuit (1934), Julien Duvivier's Le Pacquebot Tenacity (1934), René Guissart's Dédé (1934), Robert Siodmak's La Crise est finie (1934) and Mollendard (1938), Léo Joannen's Quelle drôle de gosse! (1935), Edmond T. Gréville's Princesse Tam-Tam (1935), Marcel Carné's Jenny (1936), Christian-Jacque's A Venise, une nuit (1937), Carl Lamac's Place de la Concorde (1937), Pierre Billon's Piste du sud (1938), André Hugon's La Rue sans joie (1938), Maurice Cloche's Nord Atlantique (1939), Jean Stelli's Pour le maillot jaune (1939) and L'Or du Cristobal (1940), codirected by Jacques Becker and Jean Renoir, André Cayatte's Au bonheur des dames (1943), and Richard Pottier's Les Caves du 'Majestic' (1945).

   During the 1930s and 1940s, Préjean was one of the preferred leading men of the cinema, and he was often cast opposite Danielle Darrieux. He also appeared opposite Françoise Rosay, Elvire Popesco, and Dita Parlo. During the 1950s, his career waned a bit and he appeared in supporting roles in a much smaller number of films. Most of the films in which he appeared were fairly insignificant. He made his last film appearance in 1962 in Jean-Louis Richard's Bonne chance, Charlie (1962). He is the father of actor Patrick Préjean.

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