While is was in Germany, he worked as an editor for Austrian director G.W. Pabst.

In the 1930's, he left Germany. He lived and worked in Paris, France.

During World War 2, Jean served with the French army in Morocco, and then later joined the American army to work on war films with the likes of John Ford.

In 1942, Jean immigrated to the United States.

During the 1950's, he continued working in the movie industry. He worked with Garson Kanin, Jean Renoir and Burgess Meredith to name a few.

In in 1953, Jean won an Oscar for the film "A Light in the Window"

During the next 30 years, Jean lived in New York making industrial films, TV features and travel films.

In 1970, Jean work on Waterloo, which was his last major film before moving to Canada. He was invited to Regina, Saskatchewan, to establish a film school and the University of Regina.

During the 1970's and 1980's, he taught film history and aesthetics.

Jean mostly lived in Regina, until 2002 when he passed away.