Joë Hamman
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 118.
Joë Hamman [not to be confused with Joe Hamann] was the French equivalent of the cowboy in a long-ranging career from 1907 to 1967. He was also an affluent film director.
We generally associate the western with American cinema, but in the early years there were European westerns too. Joë Hamman was the epitome of the French western, often filmed in the Camargue, South of France. Joë Hamman aka Joe Hamman, originally Jean Hamman, was born in Paris, France, in 1883. His father was a Dutch expert in painting, his mother a former lady’s companion of empress Eugénie. Hamman studied in Paris and London before going to Art School in Paris. He became a drawer and a noted water colorist, but he chose a different career. When Jean was six, the circus of Buffalo Bill alias William Cody came to Paris, but young Hamman was not allowed to go. He had to wait until he was 21 and meet Cody, when in 1904 his father took him on a business trip to America. Hamman and Cody met privately, became friends, and Hamman visited Cody’s North Plate house in Nebraska, meeting the extras of Cody’s wild west show, and drawing watercolours for local rangers. At a ranch in Montana, Jean Hamman learned to ride, was engaged asa cowboy, and learned to break and gather horses. He also visited the Pine Ridge reservation in Dakota, and met Spotted Tail, war lieutenant of indian chief Red Cloud, who donated him a buckskin war costume. Autumn 1904 he returned to Paris to do his military service, during which he staged a coach attack. When in 1905 Cody’s circus came over, Hamman was invited to join and participated in the French tour of Buffalo Bill. And Jean became Joë Hamman.
In 1907 Hamman started out as both actor and director of Le desperado, followed by performances in some 40 other short westerns until early 1914, such as Un drame mexicain (1909), Un drame au Far West (1909), Les aventures de Buffalo Bill (1911), the tree-part sequel Le vautour de la Sierra (Victorine-Hipolyte Jasset 1909), and Le railway de la mort (Jean Durand 1912). While Le vautour de la Sierra was an Eclair production, most short westerns with Hamman were Gaumont westerns, often directed by Jean Durand, who from 1910 on specialised in the genre at Gaumont, though some were also shot by Léonce Perret. Often Hamman’s antagonist in the Gaumont westerns was the actor Gaston Modot, nowadays better known as comedian. In the mean time, Hamman also directed 10 early shorts himself, in different genres, such as L’ile d’épouvante/The Island of Terror (1911) and the western La ville souterraine/The Subterranean City (1913) for the Eclipse company.
During the First World War, his film acting and directing came to a halt. He only recontinued as actor in 1921 with Le gardian, an adventure short, directed by himself; Mireille (1922) a short by Ernest Servaes, L’étrange aventure (Hamman 1922), Tao (Gaston Ravel 1923) with other prewar actors such as comedian André Deed, and the drama Rouletabille chez les bohémiens (Henri Fescourt 1923). He had the male lead as Chevalier de Mallory in the costume drama L’enfant roi (Jean Kemm 1923), opposite Andrée Lionel as queen Marie Antoinette. In 1924 followed Le vert galant (René Leprince). Les fils du soleil (René le Somptier), and Le fils du stigmate (Louis Feuillade/Maurice Champreux 1924). After a break in 1925 followed six films in 1926: Sa petite (Routier-Fabre), Le capitaine Rascasse (Henri Desfontaines), La fille des pachas (Hamman, Adrien Caillard), Lady Harrington (Hewitt Claypoole Grantham-Hayes/ Fred LeRoy Granville), and Le berceau de Dieu (Fred LeRoy Granville), a religious drama starring Léon Mathot in which Hamman played a triple role of Abner, Pharao and Confucius. After another Granville film: Sous le ciel d’Orient (1927), opposite his old buddy Modot, Hamman ended his career in silent cinema with a bit part as Baskytt in Abel Gance's famous epic Napoléon (1927).
When sound cinema came in, Hamman had a comeback and leads in several French early sound films. He was Erlkönig in Marie-Louise Iribe’s homonymous film (1930-1931) after Goethe’s ballad and played in both the German version Erlkönig and the French version Le roi des aulnes. Hamman also had leads in Adieu les copains (Léo Joannon 1930), and the French version of Luis Trenker’s Berge in Flamme: Mont en flammes, for which Hamman was co-director too. After that his parts got smaller, in Je serai seule après minuit (Jacques de Baroncelli 1931), Romance à l’inconnue (René Barberis 1931), Danton (André Roubaud 1932), the Mistral-adaptation Mireille (René Gaveau 1933), Le train d’amour (Pierre Weil 1935), Le clown Bux (1935) in which Hamman was a cowboy once more, Notre-Dame d’amour (Pierre Caron 1936), Tamara la complaisante (Félix Gandéra, Jean Delannoy). In the late 1930s, Hamman played smaller parts in four films by Henri Fescourt: L’occident (1937), Bar du sud (1938), Vous seule que j’aime (1939), and the emblematically titled Face au destin (Fescourt 1940), as France had got involved in the Second World War but Hamman himself too faced destiny: no film roles during the war anymore. After the war, Hamman played in an uncredited role as general Kellermann in Sacha Guitry’s Napoléon (1955). His last performance was an uncredited part in Pop’game (Francis Leroi 1967). Joë Hamman died in Dieppe in 1974.
Sources: IMDB, pagesperso-orange.fr/phareouest/hammanE.html
Some of Joë Hamman's early westerns can be found on the dvd Gaumont. Le cinéma premier, II, 2009, which contains one disc with Jean Durand's westerns shot in the Camargue.
Joë Hamman
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 118.
Joë Hamman [not to be confused with Joe Hamann] was the French equivalent of the cowboy in a long-ranging career from 1907 to 1967. He was also an affluent film director.
We generally associate the western with American cinema, but in the early years there were European westerns too. Joë Hamman was the epitome of the French western, often filmed in the Camargue, South of France. Joë Hamman aka Joe Hamman, originally Jean Hamman, was born in Paris, France, in 1883. His father was a Dutch expert in painting, his mother a former lady’s companion of empress Eugénie. Hamman studied in Paris and London before going to Art School in Paris. He became a drawer and a noted water colorist, but he chose a different career. When Jean was six, the circus of Buffalo Bill alias William Cody came to Paris, but young Hamman was not allowed to go. He had to wait until he was 21 and meet Cody, when in 1904 his father took him on a business trip to America. Hamman and Cody met privately, became friends, and Hamman visited Cody’s North Plate house in Nebraska, meeting the extras of Cody’s wild west show, and drawing watercolours for local rangers. At a ranch in Montana, Jean Hamman learned to ride, was engaged asa cowboy, and learned to break and gather horses. He also visited the Pine Ridge reservation in Dakota, and met Spotted Tail, war lieutenant of indian chief Red Cloud, who donated him a buckskin war costume. Autumn 1904 he returned to Paris to do his military service, during which he staged a coach attack. When in 1905 Cody’s circus came over, Hamman was invited to join and participated in the French tour of Buffalo Bill. And Jean became Joë Hamman.
In 1907 Hamman started out as both actor and director of Le desperado, followed by performances in some 40 other short westerns until early 1914, such as Un drame mexicain (1909), Un drame au Far West (1909), Les aventures de Buffalo Bill (1911), the tree-part sequel Le vautour de la Sierra (Victorine-Hipolyte Jasset 1909), and Le railway de la mort (Jean Durand 1912). While Le vautour de la Sierra was an Eclair production, most short westerns with Hamman were Gaumont westerns, often directed by Jean Durand, who from 1910 on specialised in the genre at Gaumont, though some were also shot by Léonce Perret. Often Hamman’s antagonist in the Gaumont westerns was the actor Gaston Modot, nowadays better known as comedian. In the mean time, Hamman also directed 10 early shorts himself, in different genres, such as L’ile d’épouvante/The Island of Terror (1911) and the western La ville souterraine/The Subterranean City (1913) for the Eclipse company.
During the First World War, his film acting and directing came to a halt. He only recontinued as actor in 1921 with Le gardian, an adventure short, directed by himself; Mireille (1922) a short by Ernest Servaes, L’étrange aventure (Hamman 1922), Tao (Gaston Ravel 1923) with other prewar actors such as comedian André Deed, and the drama Rouletabille chez les bohémiens (Henri Fescourt 1923). He had the male lead as Chevalier de Mallory in the costume drama L’enfant roi (Jean Kemm 1923), opposite Andrée Lionel as queen Marie Antoinette. In 1924 followed Le vert galant (René Leprince). Les fils du soleil (René le Somptier), and Le fils du stigmate (Louis Feuillade/Maurice Champreux 1924). After a break in 1925 followed six films in 1926: Sa petite (Routier-Fabre), Le capitaine Rascasse (Henri Desfontaines), La fille des pachas (Hamman, Adrien Caillard), Lady Harrington (Hewitt Claypoole Grantham-Hayes/ Fred LeRoy Granville), and Le berceau de Dieu (Fred LeRoy Granville), a religious drama starring Léon Mathot in which Hamman played a triple role of Abner, Pharao and Confucius. After another Granville film: Sous le ciel d’Orient (1927), opposite his old buddy Modot, Hamman ended his career in silent cinema with a bit part as Baskytt in Abel Gance's famous epic Napoléon (1927).
When sound cinema came in, Hamman had a comeback and leads in several French early sound films. He was Erlkönig in Marie-Louise Iribe’s homonymous film (1930-1931) after Goethe’s ballad and played in both the German version Erlkönig and the French version Le roi des aulnes. Hamman also had leads in Adieu les copains (Léo Joannon 1930), and the French version of Luis Trenker’s Berge in Flamme: Mont en flammes, for which Hamman was co-director too. After that his parts got smaller, in Je serai seule après minuit (Jacques de Baroncelli 1931), Romance à l’inconnue (René Barberis 1931), Danton (André Roubaud 1932), the Mistral-adaptation Mireille (René Gaveau 1933), Le train d’amour (Pierre Weil 1935), Le clown Bux (1935) in which Hamman was a cowboy once more, Notre-Dame d’amour (Pierre Caron 1936), Tamara la complaisante (Félix Gandéra, Jean Delannoy). In the late 1930s, Hamman played smaller parts in four films by Henri Fescourt: L’occident (1937), Bar du sud (1938), Vous seule que j’aime (1939), and the emblematically titled Face au destin (Fescourt 1940), as France had got involved in the Second World War but Hamman himself too faced destiny: no film roles during the war anymore. After the war, Hamman played in an uncredited role as general Kellermann in Sacha Guitry’s Napoléon (1955). His last performance was an uncredited part in Pop’game (Francis Leroi 1967). Joë Hamman died in Dieppe in 1974.
Sources: IMDB, pagesperso-orange.fr/phareouest/hammanE.html
Some of Joë Hamman's early westerns can be found on the dvd Gaumont. Le cinéma premier, II, 2009, which contains one disc with Jean Durand's westerns shot in the Camargue.