Marcel Courmes

Marcel Louis Henry Joseph Léon Courmes (13 June 1885 – 5 May 1950) was a French officer and aviator during the First World War. He subsequently became one of the first French sound cinematographers.

Family origins
Courmes was a direct descendant in the agnatic line of the Huguenot captain Luc Courmes (1580, Grasse).

Coming from an ancient French bourgeois lineage [fr], he was the son of Captain Arthur Louis Courmes (1849-1921), Knight of the Legion of Honor, and Euphémie Segond. he was also the great-grandnephew of Claude-Marie Courmes, deputy of Var, mayor of Grasse and knight of the royal order of the Legion of Honour (1833).

On 21 March 1910, in Grez-sur-Loing, Courmes married Louise Read Chadwick, daughter of the American painter Francis Brooks Chadwick and the Swedish painter Emma Löwstädt-Chadwick.

Courmes had two children: Lieutenant Christian Courmes (1913–1987) and Gilbert Courmes. Christian was a prisoner in 1942 at the Colditz fortress. He was part of the escape attempt called "the metro" or "the French tunnel". Gilberte was the wife of the Companions of Liberation Colonel Maurice Delage. He joined General Leclerc's Force "L" and created the 13th Engineering Battalion of the 2nd Armored Division, taking command and taking part in Operation Overlord and the Liberation of Paris.

Officer and aviator
During his time as a student at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, he graduated 6th out of 277 and major out of 60 at École de cavalerie, Saumur.

He was a classmate of Colonel de La Rocque and demonstrated his military loyalty to him by testifying at his trial to his respect for his comrades from Saint-Cyr. He was also close to the first Chinese Saint-Cyrien, General Prince Pao-Tchao Dan (1884-1958).

He served as second lieutenant in the 5th African Hunter Regiment (1907), then as lieutenant in the 2nd African Hunter Regiment (1907–1908). He served during the Moroccan Campaign in the 28th Dragoon Regiment (1910–1911), then in the 7th Dragoon Regiment (1913). He was described as a "brilliant but dreamy, excessively artistic cavalry officer who has a tendency towards too much benevolence in his command, which can have serious disadvantages in times of war."

In 1914, he was a special staff officer in the 4th Dragoon Regiment. He joined the air force on 1 August 1915 in the French 2nd Bombardment Group, then in the Escadrille F 63. He was described as "an officer of perfect education, of an independent character who has great qualities of composure, courage and willpower, which make him an excellent pilot".

Sound cinematographers
From 1931, Courmes was one of the first French sound cinematographers, along with Joseph de Bretagne, both of whom participated in the most famous films of the 1930s. They were novices on the film by Jean Renoir, La Chienne, in 1931, of which Courmes was the artistic director and in which he played the role of the colonel. They were supported by technical advisors from Western Electric, Bell and Hotchckiss who explained to them how to use the equipment.

This training by American experts was fundamental for the implementation of direct sound outdoors. Thanks to this help, the final sequence of La Chienne in a tracking shot with a dialogue between Michel Simon and Alexis Godart, captured in the middle of the street, works perfectly. The "sound trucks" necessary for this sequence were used by the novice technicians, with the help of experts from Western Electric.

Subsequently, Courmes continued to do the sound for Braunberger and Richebé films, such as Fantômas (with Bell in 1932) and The Agony of the Eagles (1933, with Bell). Courmes also recorded the magnificent street sounds of La Tête d'un homme for Julien Duvivier (1932, production Vandal et Delac) and those of Hôtel du Nord for Marcel Carné in 1938. He also worked again with Bretagne for another Renoir film, Madame Bovary (1933), then on Le Voyage de M. Perrichon (1934).

Awards and honors
Courmes obtained the following distinctions:
 * Knight of the Legion of Honor on 6 July 1929
 * Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 with palm
 * Morocco commemorative medal (1909), Morocco clasp, Algerian-Moroccan borders (at war)

Citation to the order of the army, number 32489 dated 13 July 1916, with the mention: "Bold and skillful pilot carried out 10 bombings, including 9 at night; this is particularly distinguished by carrying out successfully on the night of the 17th on May 18, 1916 a particularly perilous expedition to an important station."

Filmography
Marcel Courmes was one of the first French sound cinematographers and was also the artistic director of Jean Renoir's film La Chienne. He participated in the following films
 * 1931 : La Chienne by Jean Renoir
 * 1931 : L'Amour à l'américaine by Paul Fejos
 * 1932 : Fantômas by Paul Fejos
 * 1932 : Criminel by Jack Forrester
 * 1933 : L'agonie des aigles by Roger Richebé
 * 1933 : La tête d'un homme by Julien Duvivier
 * 1933 : L'Homme à l'Hispano by Jean Epstein
 * 1933 : Madame Bovary by Jean Renoir
 * 1933 : Quelqu'un a tué by Jack Forrester
 * 1933 : Tire-au-flanc by Henry Wulschleger
 * 1933 : Tour de chant by Alberto Cavalcanti
 * 1934 : Cessez le feu by Jacques de Baroncelli
 * 1934 : Les nuits moscovites by Alexis Granowsky
 * 1934 : Le Voyage de monsieur Perrichon by Jean Tarride
 * 1935 : Le comte Obligado by Léon Mathot
 * 1935 : Le Billet de mille by Marc Didier
 * 1935 : Quelle drôle de gosse by Léo Joannon
 * 1935 : Golgotha by Julien Duvivier
 * 1935 : Les yeux noirs by Victor Tourjanski
 * 1935 : Le Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre by Abel Gance
 * 1936 : Sous les yeux d'occident by Marc Allégret
 * 1936 : Aventure à Paris by Marc Allégret
 * 1936 : Partie de campagne by Jean Renoir
 * 1936 : Les Hommes nouveaux by Marcel L'Herbier
 * 1936 : Tarass Boulba by Alexis Granowsky
 * 1936 : Opéra de Paris by Claude Lambert (short film)
 * 1936 : Le grand refrain by Yves Mirande
 * 1937 : Vous n'avez rien à déclarer? by Léo Joannon
 * 1937 : Les Perles de la couronne by Sacha Guitry
 * 1938 : Orage by Marc Allégret
 * 1938 : Hôtel du Nord by Marcel Carné
 * 1938 : Carrefour by Kurt Bernhardt
 * 1938 : Durand bijoutier by Jean Stelli
 * 1938 : Lumières de Paris by Richard Pottier
 * 1938 : Le train pour Venise by André Berthomieu
 * 1939 : La charrette fantôme by Julien Duvivier
 * 1939 : La famille Duraton by Christian Stengel
 * 1939 : Le déserteur by Léonide Moguy
 * 1943 : L'Auberge de l'abîme by Willy Rozier
 * 1943 : Les Deux timides by Yves Allégret
 * 1943 : Le camion blanc by Léo Joannon