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Charles Bitsch (on the right) with two classmates, Jacques Artus and Louis Chrétien, from the Louis Lumière School filming his graduation film, Les Trois rendez-vous (co-director Philippe de Broca) (1953).

Partial Filmography of Bitsch’s own films

1953 episode of Les Trois rendez-vous
1963 “Cher baiser”, sketch film in Les Baisers
1964 “Lucky la chance”, sketch film in La Chance et l’amour
1969 Le Dernier homme (feature; 82 mins)
1981 Le Marteau-piqueur (French television)
1985 L’Homme des couloirs (French television)
1989 “Pause-café” (French television series)
1989 La Traversée (French television; 85 mins)
1990 La Chignole (French television; 60 mins)
1990 Le Manoir des veuves (French television; episode of “Le Triplé gagnant”; 95 mins)
1990 Le Bonheur des autres (French television; episode of “V comme vengeance”; 90 mins)
1991 Jeux de vilains (French television)
1994 Le bel horizon (French television; 88 mins)

Bitsch’s Collaborations with New Wave Directors

Charles Bitsch (right) and Jacques Rivette on the set of Le Coup du berger.

1952 Le Divertissement (Jacques Rivette) – DOP
1956 Le Coup du berger (Rivette) – co-writer and DOP
1957 Véronique et son cancre (Eric Rohmer) – DOP
1958 Le Beau Serge (Claude Chabrol) – assistant director
1958 Paris nous appartient (Rivette) – DOP
1959 À Double tour (Chabrol) – assistant director
1960 Les Bonnes femmes (Chabrol) – assistant director
1961 “La Luxure”, sketch film by Jacques Demy in Les Sept péchés capitaux – assistant director
1962 “Antoine et Colette”, sketch film by François Truffaut in L’Amour à vingt ans – assistant cameraman
1962 Vivre sa Vie: film en douze tableaux (Jean-Luc Godard) – cameraman
1962 Landru (Chabrol) – assistant director and cameraman
1963 “Il Nuovo mondo”, sketch film by Godard in Ro.Go.Pa.G., assistant director
1963 Les Carabiniers (Godard) – assistant director
1963 Le Mépris (Godard) – assistant director
1963 “Le Grand escroc”, sketch film by Godard in Les plus belles escroqueries du monde – assistant director
1965 Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (Godard) – assistant director
1966 Made in U.S.A. (Godard) – assistant director
1967 2 ou 3 choses que je sais d’elle (Godard) – assistant director
1967 “Anticipation, ou l’amour en l’an 2000”, sketch film by Godard in Le Plus vieux métier du monde – assistant director
1967 La Chinoise (Godard) – assistant director
1967 “Camera-Eye”, sketch by Godard in Loin de Vietnam – assistant director
1969 “L’Amore”, sketch film by Godard in Amore e rabbia – assistant director

Bitsch’s Articles in Cahiers du Cinéma (1955-1959)

1955 June. “Naissance du CinémaScope”, No. 48, pp. 40-2.
1956 Feb. Multiple contributions to “Le Petit Journal du Cinéma”, No. 56, pp. 29, 30, 34-5.
1956 April. “Les Horizon nouveaux” [review of Cette sacrée gamine by Michel Boisrond], No. 58, pp. 44-5.
1956 May. “Un Film ottocratique” [review of The Man with the Golden Arm by Otto Preminger], No. 59, pp. 41-3.
1956 July. “[Richard] Brooks”, No. 61, p. 34.
1956 July. “Les Huns et les Autres” [review of Toute la ville accuse by Claude Boissol], No. 61, p. 44.
1956 Aug-Sept. “Rencontre avec Alfred Hitchcock” by C. Bitsch and F. Truffaut, No. 62, pp. 1-5.
1956 Oct. “Quine bourra!” [review of My Sister Eileen, aka Ma Sœur est du tonnerre, by Blake Edwards], No. 63, pp. 47-9.
1956 Nov. “Le G. I. Inconnu” [review of Attack by Robert Aldrich], No. 64, pp. 51-2.
1956 Nov. “Biofilmographie de Robert Aldrich”, No. 64, pp. 59-61.
1956 Dec. “Rencontre avec Joshua Logan” by C. Bitsch and J. Rivette, No. 65, pp. 3-11.
1956 Dec. “Biofilmogaphie de Carl Th. Dreyer”, No. 65, pp. 19-21.
1957 Jan. “Bio Filmographie d’Erich von Stroheim”, No. 67, pp. 57-9.
1957 March: “Entretien avec Anthony Mann”, by C. Bitsch and C. Chabrol, No. 69, pp. 2-19.
1957 Jan. “Biofilmographie de Max Ophuls”, by C. Bitsch and J. Rivette, No. 72, pp. 52-4.
1957 June “En attendant Zugspitze [review of The Incredible Shrinking Man by Jack Arnold], pp. 49-50.
1957 Aug.-Sept. “Entretien avec Vincente Minnelli”, by C. Bitsch and J. Domarchi, No. 74, pp. 4-18.
1958 June. “Entretien avec Orson Welles” by A. Bazin and C. Bitsch, No. 84, pp. 1-13.
1958 Mai. “L’Ennemi public No.1” [review of The Young Lions by Edward Dmytryk], No. 83, p. 59.
1958 July. “Rencontre avec Gene Kelly” by J. Rivette and C. Bitsch, No. 85, pp. 24-31.
1958 Sept. “Nouvel Entretien avec Orson Welles” by A. Bazin, C. Bitsch and J. Domarchi, No. 87, pp. 2-26.
1958 Nov. “Entretien avec Nicholas Ray”, No. 89, pp. 2-14.
1959 Feb. “Entretien avec Richard Brooks”, No. 92, pp. 4-23.
1959 Feb. “Alfred Hitchcock entre trois films”, No. 92, pp. 24-7.

On Bitsch

1967 February. Cahiers du Cinéma, No. 187, pp. 51-2.
1969 Feb. 20. Article on Le Dernier Homme. Cinéthique, No. 2, pp. 19-23.
1970 October. Entretien sur Le Dernier Homme. Cahiers du Cinéma No. 224, pp. 58-60.
1973 August. “Bio-Filmography”, Film Dope, pp. 45-6.

All photographs from the collection of Charles Bitsch. All rights reserved.

About The Author

A Research Associate at Williams College, Sally Shafto is a scholar of French and Francophone film. Her most recent publications include editing and translating the Writings of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet (New York: Sequence Press, 2016).

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