Jo Dest
Acting
Biography
Jo Dest is known for The Wages of Fear (1953), The Damned (1947) and Flesh and the Woman (1954).
Known For
The Wages of Fear
In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.
Full House
Anthology film with three shorts each featuring a famous detective: Monsieur Wens, Lemmy Caution and Maigret.
Mr. Orchid
This character study of a French patriot during the Nazi Occupation has comedian Noel as the chief of the underground who uses his hobby of growing orchids to hide his radio equipment.
Return to Life
In France in 1946, the difficult return to civilian life of five deportees and prisoners of war after having lived through the hell of the Second World War.
Stain on the Snow
La neige était sale is based on a novel and play by the phenomenally prolific Georges Simenon. Upon learning that his mother was a prostitute, Frank (Daniel Gelin) dejectedly vows that he, too, will live a life of debauchery. Part of his self-degradation program is to kill someone, and since the story takes place during the Nazi occupation of France, he chooses a German officer as his victim. His steady descent into psychosis and depravity becomes his ultimate undoing.
Sky Battalion
Film in two eras.1st era: They are not angels. Chronicle of a Free French parachute training camp during the Second World War. 2nd era: Terre de France. A group of paratroopers landed in Brittany sabotages the German installations.
The Contessa's Secret
The lover of an Italian revolutionary offers herself to Napoleon in exchange for her sweetheart's life.
The Damned
A group of Nazis and sympathizers board a submarine bound for South America in the hopes of finding shelter.
Poison Ivy
FBI Agent Lemmy Caution is sent after a missing two million in Casablanca while mob boss mistress Carlotta plays both sides of the law.
Behind These Walls
June 1944, a French town towards the end of the occupation. Following several attacks perpetrated by the resistance, the inhabitants who listen to English radio are rounded up by the Germans in a prison and considered as hostages. In one of the cells are found men from all walks of life: an aristocrat, the Viscount of Saint-Leu, Doctor Noblet, a resistance fighter, Béquille the wanderer with a wooden leg, and a strange character nicknamed "Black Market". The latter arouses mistrust among the prisoners, because it could well have been introduced by the enemy.
Filmography
as Léopold - le grand-duc de Toscane
as Karl, boss of the bistro
as German
as Weber
as Harley Chase - l'américain ruiné
as Hans Smerloff
as (uncredited)
as Policeman
as Un assesseur
as Von Stoffel
as German Traveler (uncredited)
as German (segment "Le retour de Jean")
as Von Kloster, head of the German agents
as Dr. Frantz
as Hospital director (uncredited)
as William Jones
as Forster
as (uncredited)
as German Colonel Müller (uncredited)
as Un allemand (uncredited)
as German policeman (uncredited)