Jacques Haïk (20 June 1893 – 31 August 1950) was a French film producer.[1] Born of Jewish descent in French-controlled Tunisia, he moved to Paris where he found work in the film industry, introducing Charlie Chaplin to French audiences.[2] He gradually built up a chain of cinemas including the Grand Rex (1931), and established his own production company Les Établissements Jacques Haïk which was very active during the early 1930s. Following the introduction of sound film he made several French-language films at the Twickenham Studios in the United Kingdom until his Paris studios were equipped for sound production.

Jacques Haïk
Born20 June 1893
Died31 August 1950
OccupationProducer
Years active1924-1948 (film)

Haïk was Jewish.[3] Following the outbreak of the Second World War he produced the anti-Nazi My Crimes After Mein Kampf and supported the Free French.[3] In 1940, the Nazis took control of his company Les Films Régent during the Nazi plunder,[4] and he returned to Tunisia to hide.[3] He returned to Paris in 1945 but all of his movie theaters were confiscated under the pretext of Aryanization.[3] Haïk spent the last five years of his life trying to reclaim his real estate and died in 1950.[3]

Selected filmography edit

References edit

  1. ^ Crisp p.39
  2. ^ "Haïk Jacques - Memoires de guerre". 15 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Biographie: Jacques Haïk, de Charlot au Grand Rex" [Biography: Jacques Haïk, from Charlot to the Grand Rex]. Le Petit Journal (in French). 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  4. ^ Habib, André; Marie, Michel (2016). "La spoliation du cinéma français par les nazis: La spoliation". In Habib, André; Marie, Michel (eds.). L'avenir de la mémoire. Arts du spectacle − Images et sons (in French) (Presses universitaires du Septentrion ed.). Villeneuve-d'Ascq. pp. 47−52. doi:10.4000/books.septentrion.2237. ISBN 9782757404393.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Bibliography edit

  • Crisp, C.G. The Classic French Cinema, 1930-1960. Indiana University Press, 1993.

External links edit