ARIO BAVA’S NEXT assignment was another Steve Reeves spec- tacle, this time entrusted to a di-
rector who, by all accounts, should have been a kindred spirit. Born in Paris, France, on November 12,
1904, Jacques Tourneur was—like Bava— a son of a great luminary of the silent cin- ema. Tourneur’s father was French pro- ducer–screenwriter–director Maurice Tourneur (1873–1961), who among many
other accomplishments was responsible for early screen adaptations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe (Le Système du Docteur Goudron et du Professeur Plume, 1913), George Du Maurier (Trilby, 1915), and Jules Verne (The Mysterious Island, 1929). Before turning to the cinema, Maurice had been a hopeful young painter, and Jacques once reminisced (in terms that will sound very familiar to readers of this book) “His studio was a big, mysterious room that filled me with fear.” 1
