Robert Clavel (15 October 1912 – 14 July 1991) was a French production designer and art director whose career spanned from the mid-1940s to the late 1970s. He is best known internationally for his production design on Luis Buñuel's Belle de Jour (1967), and for his extensive collaborations with directors Henri Verneuil and André Cayatte.
Early Life and Education
Robert Joseph Clavel was born on 15 October 1912 in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. He trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and worked professionally in advertising drawing before entering the film industry.
Career
Clavel entered the film industry in 1942 as an assistant decorator, working under prominent set designers Léon Barsacq, Max Douy, and Alexandre Trauner. His first assistant credit was on Robert Bresson's Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945). He transitioned to the role of chef décorateur (principal production designer) around 1949–1950, beginning with Tous les chemins mènent à Rome (1949) directed by Jean Boyer.
During the 1950s, Clavel worked steadily on mainstream French films and Franco-Italian co-productions, including Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (1954), Le Mouton à cinq pattes (1954), and Signé Arsène Lupin (1959). His peak period came in the 1960s, when he contributed to a series of high-profile films. He served as production designer on Henri Verneuil's Un singe en hiver (1962), the heist thriller Mélodie en sous-sol (1963), Cent mille dollars au soleil (1964), and Week-end à Zuydcoote (1964).
His most internationally acclaimed work was the production design for Luis Buñuel's Belle de Jour (1967), where he created sets that blended realistic bourgeois interiors with surreal, dreamlike brothel environments. In the 1970s, his work increasingly centered on collaborations with André Cayatte, including Mourir d'aimer (1971), Verdict (1974), À chacun son enfer (1977), La Raison d'État (1978), and L'Amour en question (1978).
Over his career, Clavel worked on nearly eighty films, collaborating most frequently with Henri Verneuil (twelve films) and André Cayatte (ten films).
Death
Robert Clavel died on 14 July 1991 in Paris at the age of 78.
Selected Filmography
- Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945) – assistant decorator
- Le Comte de Monte-Cristo (1954)
- Le Mouton à cinq pattes (1954)
- Signé Arsène Lupin (1959)
- Un singe en hiver (1962)
- Mélodie en sous-sol (1963)
- Cent mille dollars au soleil (1964)
- Week-end à Zuydcoote (1964)
- Belle de Jour (1967)
- La Bataille de San Sebastian (1968)
- Mourir d'aimer (1971)
- Verdict (1974)
- L'Amour en question (1978)
References
- Wikipedia, "Robert Clavel (art director)"
- Wikipedia (French), "Robert Clavel (décorateur)"
- IMDb, "Robert Clavel"
- Susan Hayward, French Costume Drama of the 1950s: Fashioning Politics in Film (Intellect Books, 2010)
