Robert Enrico; Prolific French Film Director

French director Robert Enrico, whose work ranged from poetic, critically acclaimed short films to crowd-pleasing tales of adventure, has died in Paris, his film agency announced Friday. He was 69.

Enrico died overnight in a Paris clinic after a long battle with cancer, the Artmedia agency said.

In his 30-year career, the commercially successful filmmaker’s work ranged from a state-sponsored film about the French Revolution to a buddy movie about a search for a mythical sunken treasure off the African coast.

Actress Brigitte Bardot, one of the stars of Enrico’s 1971 film “Boulevard du Rhum” (Rum Runners), said the director’s diverse work was characterized by his gift for finding touches of beauty.

“He wanted . . . for conversations to be beautiful, for images to be beautiful, for me to be beautiful,” Bardot told France-Info radio.

Born to Italian immigrant parents in the northern town of Lievin in 1931, Enrico began his film career with a series of short films that brought him international attention.

One film, “La Riviere du Hibou” (An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge), won him the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1962 and an Academy Award for best short film two years later.

Based on a story by American writer Ambrose Bierce, the dream-like black-and-white film portrayed a man awaiting death in a hangman’s noose and his hallucinations of escape.

The film gained popular attention in the United States when it was shown on Rod Serling’s “Twilight Zone” television series.

In the mid-1960s, Enrico branched out into feature-length films, many of which were popular successes in France and employed the day’s top stars, including Bardot, Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.

Enrico’s best-loved film, “Le Vieux Fusil” (The Old Gun), which starred Schneider and Philippe Noiret, told the story of a man’s quest to avenge the deaths of his wife and daughter, killed by soldiers during World War II. The film won him a Cesar, France’s most prestigious film award, for best film in 1976.

Other hit films included “Les Grandes Gueules” (The Jailbird’s Vacation) and “Les Aventuriers” (The Last Adventure).

Enrico’s last film, “Fait d’Hiver” (Winter Tale), was released in 1999. In his later years he also worked to promote French and European cinema, serving on several national film boards.