film critic film historian journalist writer
Faculty of Arts of Paris.
Once a surrealist, he became a communist in 1932. He was a journalist of the Lettres Françaises. He is the author of l"Histoire générale du cinéma, a comprehensive work on world cinema.
He produced an important work on the filmmaker Georges Mélièson
He was trained at the Sorbonne and the IDHEC, a French cinema school. He is known for writing encyclopedias of film and filmmakers, many of which have been translated into English.
He died in Paris at the age of sixty three.