Jules Dassin

Jules Dassin (1911, Middletown, Connecticut – 2008, Athens) came from a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He grew up in Harlem and, in the 1930s, joined the Communist Party of the United States, which he then left after Stalin signed the pact with Hitler. While his films Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948) and Thieves' Highway (1949) earned him a place among the leading representatives of American post-war film and film noir, he found himself on the Hollywood blacklist during the McCarthy era, and so he went off to work in Europe, first to France and, after his marriage to Melina Mercouri, to Greece. His best known film is the drama Rififi (1955), made on a minimal budget and with little known actors. Other important titles include Night and the City (1950), He Who Must Die (1957), Topkapi (1964), Up Tight (1968) and Promise at Dawn (1970). He also worked in theatre all his life.

50. MFF Karlovy Vary