
Renée Lichtig
Editor · Died October 16, 2007, aged 86 · Shanghai, China
Renée Lichtig is one of the major figures of film editing and restoration in France. Born in Shanghai to a Russian mother, she spent her childhood in China before moving to France in the 1930s. The tragic death of her father, an electrical engineer, in a nitrate‑film fire deeply shaped her relationship to cinema and fueled her later commitment to film preservation. She began as an intern at the Épinay studios and then became a film editor. Her half‑sister, Lucie Lichtig, was a script supervisor; together, they collaborated on numerous shoots, notably with Nicholas Ray. Thanks to Henri Langlois, she assisted Erich von Stroheim in the restoration of La Symphonie nuptiale (1954), a formative experience. In the following years, she worked with several major filmmakers, including Jean Renoir, with whom she collaborated on his last three films. Her reputation as a rigorous and inventive editor quickly spread, both in France and internationally. In 1978, she joined the Cinémathèque française, where she headed a unit responsible for checking film prints and devoted herself to heritage restoration. She reconstructed more than a hundred films, including Casanova (1927) by Alexandre Volkoff, screened in 1986 with a score by Georges Delerue. Her preservation work was recognized far beyond France: in 2023, she received the Jean Mitry Award from the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, honoring her lifelong contribution to the memory of cinema.
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Biography from TMDB.
- February 18, 1921
- October 16, 2007 (aged 86)
- Shanghai, China
- Editor
- 6 on MovieCove · 28 credits in all
What are Renée Lichtig's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Power.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 2 · Earnest 4
Light 1 · Serious 3 · Dark 2
Grounded 2 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 2
Gentle 1 · Charged 4 · Intense 1
A split, not a type: Steady 4 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 1
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 2
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 3 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 1
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet3
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Renée Lichtig's films?
As of October 24, 2026, none of Renée Lichtig's 6 MovieCove titles is streaming on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Renée Lichtig's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted.
Filmography
28 credits, 6 with a MovieCove page.

Confused Feelings (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)

Un si joli village... (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)

Fire's Share (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)

The 11,000 Sexes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1975)

The Big Delirium (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1975)

Tell Me You Love Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1974)

The Heavenly Bodies (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)

Kamouraska (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)

A Murder Is a Murder (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)

Schulmeister, l'espion de l'Empereur (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)

Daddy, Darling(1970)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Young Wolves (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1968)

The Day the Hot Line Got Hot (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1968)

A Man to Kill (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)

The Death of Alexandros (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1966)
The Forbidden Volcano (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1966)

The Exterminators (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1965)

Where Are You From, Johnny? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1963)

In the French Style (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1963)

The Elusive Corporal(1962)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
King of Kings(1961)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Towards Ecstasy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)

Experiment in Evil(1959)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
Picnic on the Grass(1959)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all filmsImpressions de New York (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1956)
The Three from the Filling Station (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1956)

Bullfight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1951)

Grand Illusion(1937)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 27 titles from 1951 to 1981.

Biggest box office
Grand Illusion (1937)

Highest rated
Grand Illusion (1937)

Most popular right now
King of Kings (1961)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Renée Lichtig's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 72nd percentile, the median of all 6; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 72nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th2
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
4 of their 6 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the pacing 49/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles; fans 51, detractors 35. The element that speaks to their work as an editor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Renée Lichtig work with?
People who share at least 2 of Renée Lichtig's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Jean Renoir shares the most, 4.
Directors
- Jean RenoirShared titles: The Elusive Corporal (1962), Experiment in Evil (1959), Picnic on the Grass (1959), Grand Illusion (1937)See all 4 shared titles with Jean Renoir

Writers
- Charles SpaakShared titles: The Elusive Corporal (1962), Grand Illusion (1937)See all 2 shared titles with Charles Spaak
Actors
- Raymond JourdanShared titles: The Elusive Corporal (1962), Experiment in Evil (1959)See all 2 shared titles with Raymond Jourdan

- Gaston ModotShared titles: Experiment in Evil (1959), Grand Illusion (1937)See all 2 shared titles with Gaston Modot

- Jean-Pierre GranvalShared titles: Experiment in Evil (1959), Picnic on the Grass (1959)See all 2 shared titles with Jean-Pierre Granval

Composers and cinematographers
- Joseph KosmaShared titles: The Elusive Corporal (1962), Experiment in Evil (1959), Picnic on the Grass (1959), Grand Illusion (1937)See all 4 shared titles with Joseph Kosma
- Georges LeclercShared titles: The Elusive Corporal (1962), Experiment in Evil (1959), Picnic on the Grass (1959)See all 3 shared titles with Georges Leclerc