Paul Andréota (11 December 1917 in La Rochelle, France – 14 November 2007 in La Rochelle, France) was a French novelist and screenwriter. He was also known under the pen name Paul Vance.
Paul Andréota was born in La Rochelle in the Charente-Maritime department (when the department was then known as Charente-Inférieure). When he was 12 years old, his father died, and he and his family moved to Paris. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and entering the École Normale Supérieure, he started studying music, particularly piano and composition, at the conservatory; he was a big fan of jazz.
The onset of World War II changed Andréota's life dramatically. He spent part of the period of the German occupation of France in Marseille, which became the setting for his first novel after the war, Hors Jeu (lit. "Offside"), published by Grasset in 1947. He then wrote and published Evangeline (1948), which he dedicated to his friend, writer Michel Perrin, and Attentat à la pudeur (lit. "Indecent Assault") in 1949. These two autobiographical novels inspired him to move in another direction.
He then became a screenwriter, doing adaptations and dialogues. He wrote approximately 40 films, collaborating with famous directors. In 1968, while continuing to write for the stage, he returned to literature. Meanwhile, he also wrote screenplays and dialogues for the TV series Commissaire Moulin and Marie Pervenche. Later, under the pseudonym Paul Vance, he published two crime novels for Le Masque (lit. "The Mask").
Novels as Paul Andréota
Hors Jeu, Grasset, 1947
Evangéline, Fasquelle, 1948
Attentat à la pudeur, Denoël, 1949
Mystery novels as Paul Andréota
Ni tout à fait le même (lit. "Not Quite the Same"), Denoël, 1968
Zigzags, PJ/Julliard, 1969 - Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (1970); reissued by Le Livre de Poche (1977)
La Pieuvre (lit. "The Octopus"), PJ/Julliard, 1970 - adapted for film as Les Suspects (lit. "The Suspects"); reissued by Club des Masques (1981)
Le Piège (lit. "Trap"), Stock, 1972 - Best Screenplay, produced in the United States as The Sweet Taste of Burning
Les Lames (lit. "Blades"), Stock, 1973
Le Scénario (lit. "Scenario"), Stock, 1974
La Maison des oiseaux (lit. "House Birds"), Librairie des Champs-Élysées, 1975; reissued by Le Masque (1981)
Schizo, Librairie des Champs-Élysées, 1977
Le Puits, la corde et le seau (lit. "The Well, The Rope, and The Bucket") (1977)
Échec à l'innocence (lit. "Failure to Innocence") (1977)
Writer (Adaptations and dialogue)
1954 - La Rage au corps (US title: Tempest in the Flesh) - directed by Ralph Habib
1954 - Secrets d'alcôve (lit. "Alcove Secrets") - the "Riviera-Express" segment, realized by Ralph Habib
1954 - Orient Express - directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia
1955 - Escale à Orly (lit. "Stopover at Orly") - directed by Jean Dréville
1955 - Chantage - directed by Guy Lefranc
1956 - La Sorcière (lit. "The Witch") - directed by André Michel
1956 - Women's Club - directed by Ralph Habib
1957 - La Peau de l'ours (lit. "The Skin of the Bear") - directed by Claude Boissol
1958 - Rafles sur la ville (lit. "Raids on the Town") - directed by Pierre Chenal
1959 - Le Passager clandestin (English: "The Stowaway") - directed by Ralph Habib and Lee Robinson
1961 - Napoléon II, l'Aiglon - directed by Claude Boissol
1963 - Les Bonnes Causes (lit. "The Good Causes") - directed by Christian-Jaque
1964 - La Tulipe noire (lit. "The Black Tulip") - directed by Christian-Jaque
1965 - Me and the Forty Year Old Man - directed by Jack Pinoteau
1966 - La Seconde Vérité - directed by Christian-Jaque
1966 - La Nuit des adieux (lit. "The Night of Farewells") - directed by Jean Dréville and Isaak Menaker
1968 - Vivre la nuit (lit. "Night Life") - directed by Marcel Camus
1971 - Franz - directed by Jacques Brel
1972 - Roses rouges et piments verts (No encontré rosas para mi madre) (lit. "Red Roses and Green Peppers (No Roses Found for My Mother)") - directed by Francisco Rovira Beleta
1974 - Verdict - directed by André Cayatte
1974 - Les Suspects - directed by Michel Wyn
