Being an earnest and diligent student, Dassin Jr. Joe doesn't seem to be really im-pressed by this musical style. As Joe gets enrolled in the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Elvis Presley starts his crusade for Rock'n'Roll. So, he comes back to the USA where, at that time, the standards of the university education were second to none. Joe takes the failure of his parents' family life close to heart and decides to return to his hearth and home of America. The film-maker continues his career with a new companion, the Greek actress Melina Mercouri, while the violinist prefers, from this time on, to keep in the back-ground. He speaks three languages fluently and gets a good (excellent) mark for his "bac" exam. By this time Joe is 16 and he is a very handsome guy with a winsome look in his eyes. In 1954 this latter sends him to Grenoble to pass his "baccalaureat" exam and get a bachelor's degree, for this kind of diploma doesn't exist in Switzer-land.
1953: he at-tends the International School in Geneva. Meanwhile, the educational establishments follow one another.
There Joe makes acquaintance with Karim Aga Khan and the rich European heirs. In spite of the exile the money doesn't seem to be a big problem to the Dassins. The establishment is chic and very expensive. While Jules and Bea are settling in Paris, Joe is sent to a boarding school of a famous Col-lege Rosey in Switzerland. The Marshall Plan and ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) make front-page stories. This is 1950 and the old continent is under total re-construction. Joe discovers the Old Europe at the age of 12. From this time on, he won't call any country home. Joe is watching his native land disappear in the morning mist and the liner's smoke. In the end of 1949 a transatlantic liner leaves the New York harbor heading for Europe. This means the end of sweet Hollywood life and the exile for the Dassin family. Jules Dassin, who has already won some fame, is also under suspicion.
Joseph McCarthy, a Republican senator from Wisconsin opens and leads his witch-hunt against people suspected of sympathizing communists. East and West face each other: the USA against USSR, capitalism against socialism. Along with the end of the World War II and Yalta agreements the world has to put up with the consequences of the "Cold War". In this American city, where East meets West, Joe lives a happy teenager's life till the day when… The mysterious Los Angeles of the MGM studios and the Pacific Coast beaches. Then his father, seduced by the seventh art, decides to move to Los Angeles. This tight couple who lives in an America ready to take revenge on Japan for Pearl Harbour, gives Joe two sisters: Ricky, the elder, and Julie, the little. After a short stage career, he becomes Hitchcock's associate director and a film director at last. His father, Jules Dassin, is fond of cinema. Joseph is the son of a violinist Beatrice, called Bea, who works with the best classical musicians such as Pablo Casals. He was born in New York, under the protection of the Statue of Liberty, on November 5. Joe Dassin - The Unofficial Site - Biography