Léo Joannon (21 August 1904 – 28 March 1969) was a French writer and film director. Born in Aix-en-Provence,[1] Joannon was originally a law student who became a novelist and journalist before entering the film industry in the 1920s as a cameraman.[2] He was married to the Vietnamese actress Foun-Sen.
Career
Joannon first attracted international attention in early 1939 during the production of S.O.S. Mediterranean, when his attempts to include shots of a German naval ship docked in the port of Tangier created a diplomatic incident between the pre-World War II French and German governments. The film later won the Grand Prix du Cinema Français.[3]
Joannon is best known to international audiences as the director of the comedy filmAtoll K (1951), which was the final motion picture starring the legendary comedic double act Laurel and Hardy. Among his other better-known films were Le Defroqué (1954) and Fort du Fou (Outpost in Indochina) (1962).[2]
