Anatole Litvak(1902-1974)
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
The distinguished film director Anatole Litvak was born in the
Ukrainian city of Kiev, the son of Jewish parents. His very first job
was as a stage hand. In 1915, he became an actor, performing at a
little-known experimental theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a
teenager, he witnessed the 1917 Russian Revolution and the consequent
nationalization of all theaters and drama schools. It was at this time
Litvak decided to quit the stage and join the burgeoning Soviet film
industry. He was given a job at the Leningrad Nordkino studio as a set
designer, but, before long, he worked his way up to directing short
features, notably Tatiana (1925), a film about children.
In 1925, he left the Soviet Union for Berlin and was hired by the
renowned director Georg Wilhelm Pabst
to edit
The Joyless Street (1925)
starring Greta Garbo. He
then began directing numerous short films for Ufa, and, eventually, moved on to
full-length features. The most important of these was the romantic
comedy
Dolly macht Karriere (1930).
Litvak's stay in Germany was cut short by the rise to power of
Adolf Hitler. Litvak moved to
France, and directed Mayerling (1936),
starring Charles Boyer and
Danielle Darrieux. This production was
the turning point in Litvak's career, being a major hit on both sides
of the Atlantic. He received effusive praise from critic
Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times,
who commented on the director's "superb assembling of scenes" and the
"matchless performances" of the stars (September 14,1937). Hollywood
soon beckoned, and, from 1937 to 1941, Litvak became a contract
director for Warner Brothers. His first film was
The Woman I Love (1937), which
starred his future wife Miriam Hopkins.
His experience with diverse aspects of stagecraft, as well as his
fluency in four languages (Russian, German, French and English), enabled
him to competently tackle a wide variety of subjects: from
sophisticated continental comedy
(Tovarich (1937)) to historical drama
(Anastasia (1956)) and romance
(All This, and Heaven Too (1940)).
Litvak was at his best directing taut, suspenseful crime dramas, such
as
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)
with Edward G. Robinson and
Humphrey Bogart, hailed by Variety as
"an unquestionable winner"; and two tough action films starring
John Garfield:
Castle on the Hudson (1940)
and Out of the Fog (1941). Having
become an American citizen in 1940, Litvak enlisted in the US army and
collaborated with Frank Capra on the wartime
"Why we Fight" series of documentaries. At war's end he left the army
with the rank of colonel and returned to Hollywood to direct the
classic thriller
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
with Barbara Stanwyck. Arguably his
best film was the superb psychological drama
The Snake Pit (1948), Hollywood's first
attempt to seriously examine the treatment of mental illness. Indeed,
the film was so influential that it precipitated changes in the
American mental health system. Litvak was nominated for an Academy
Award as Best Director, but lost out to
John Huston for
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).
In 1949, the director -- who had once described Hollywood as a "Mecca" --
returned to Europe and settled in Paris, working only infrequently. He
undertook several projects under contract to 20th Century Fox (in 1951, and
from 1955 to 1956). Notable among his later efforts are two contrasting
films with Ingrid Bergman: the
lavishly produced Anastasia (1956),
about a woman claiming to be the Romanoff dynasty's last living direct
descendant; and the moody, introspective romantic drama
Goodbye Again (1961), shot on
location in Paris. In stark thematic contrast to these, he also
directed the suspenseful wartime thriller
The Night of the Generals (1967),
starring Peter O'Toole.
Anatole
Litvak died in a hospital in Neuilly, Paris, in December 1974 at the
age of 72.
Ukrainian city of Kiev, the son of Jewish parents. His very first job
was as a stage hand. In 1915, he became an actor, performing at a
little-known experimental theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a
teenager, he witnessed the 1917 Russian Revolution and the consequent
nationalization of all theaters and drama schools. It was at this time
Litvak decided to quit the stage and join the burgeoning Soviet film
industry. He was given a job at the Leningrad Nordkino studio as a set
designer, but, before long, he worked his way up to directing short
features, notably Tatiana (1925), a film about children.
In 1925, he left the Soviet Union for Berlin and was hired by the
renowned director Georg Wilhelm Pabst
to edit
The Joyless Street (1925)
starring Greta Garbo. He
then began directing numerous short films for Ufa, and, eventually, moved on to
full-length features. The most important of these was the romantic
comedy
Dolly macht Karriere (1930).
Litvak's stay in Germany was cut short by the rise to power of
Adolf Hitler. Litvak moved to
France, and directed Mayerling (1936),
starring Charles Boyer and
Danielle Darrieux. This production was
the turning point in Litvak's career, being a major hit on both sides
of the Atlantic. He received effusive praise from critic
Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times,
who commented on the director's "superb assembling of scenes" and the
"matchless performances" of the stars (September 14,1937). Hollywood
soon beckoned, and, from 1937 to 1941, Litvak became a contract
director for Warner Brothers. His first film was
The Woman I Love (1937), which
starred his future wife Miriam Hopkins.
His experience with diverse aspects of stagecraft, as well as his
fluency in four languages (Russian, German, French and English), enabled
him to competently tackle a wide variety of subjects: from
sophisticated continental comedy
(Tovarich (1937)) to historical drama
(Anastasia (1956)) and romance
(All This, and Heaven Too (1940)).
Litvak was at his best directing taut, suspenseful crime dramas, such
as
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)
with Edward G. Robinson and
Humphrey Bogart, hailed by Variety as
"an unquestionable winner"; and two tough action films starring
John Garfield:
Castle on the Hudson (1940)
and Out of the Fog (1941). Having
become an American citizen in 1940, Litvak enlisted in the US army and
collaborated with Frank Capra on the wartime
"Why we Fight" series of documentaries. At war's end he left the army
with the rank of colonel and returned to Hollywood to direct the
classic thriller
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
with Barbara Stanwyck. Arguably his
best film was the superb psychological drama
The Snake Pit (1948), Hollywood's first
attempt to seriously examine the treatment of mental illness. Indeed,
the film was so influential that it precipitated changes in the
American mental health system. Litvak was nominated for an Academy
Award as Best Director, but lost out to
John Huston for
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).
In 1949, the director -- who had once described Hollywood as a "Mecca" --
returned to Europe and settled in Paris, working only infrequently. He
undertook several projects under contract to 20th Century Fox (in 1951, and
from 1955 to 1956). Notable among his later efforts are two contrasting
films with Ingrid Bergman: the
lavishly produced Anastasia (1956),
about a woman claiming to be the Romanoff dynasty's last living direct
descendant; and the moody, introspective romantic drama
Goodbye Again (1961), shot on
location in Paris. In stark thematic contrast to these, he also
directed the suspenseful wartime thriller
The Night of the Generals (1967),
starring Peter O'Toole.
Anatole
Litvak died in a hospital in Neuilly, Paris, in December 1974 at the
age of 72.