Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-50 of 213
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Originally planning to become a lawyer, Billy Wilder abandoned that career in favor of working as a reporter for a Viennese newspaper, using this experience to move to Berlin, where he worked for the city's largest tabloid. He broke into films as a screenwriter in 1929 and wrote scripts for many German films until Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. Wilder immediately realized his Jewish ancestry would cause problems, so he emigrated to Paris, then the US. Although he spoke no English when he arrived in Hollywood, Wilder was a fast learner and thanks to contacts such as Peter Lorre (with whom he shared an apartment), he was able to break into American films. His partnership with Charles Brackett started in 1938 and the team was responsible for writing some of Hollywood's classic comedies, including Ninotchka (1939) and Ball of Fire (1941). The partnership expanded into a producer-director one in 1942, with Brackett producing and the two turned out such classics as Five Graves to Cairo (1943), The Lost Weekend (1945) (Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay) and Sunset Blvd. (1950) (Oscars for Best Screenplay), after which the partnership dissolved. (Wilder had already made one film, Double Indemnity (1944) without Brackett, as the latter had refused to work on a film he felt dealt with such disreputable characters.) Wilder's subsequent self-produced films would become more caustic and cynical, notably Ace in the Hole (1951), though he also produced such sublime comedies as Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960) (which won him Best Picture and Director Oscars). He retired in 1981.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
Tall, lean, austere-looking Austrian character actor, whose chiselled features appeared on screen in small parts from 1945. Friedrich was the younger brother of renowned Viennese stage and film actor and director Leopold von Ledebur, both descended from a distinguished aristocratic family (their forebears included several high-ranking luminaries among the clergy, as well as political and military leaders). As a cavalry officer in an Ulan (Light Cavalry) Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army, he saw action during the First World War. Friedrich was a superb rider, a skill which later stood him in good stead as a trainer of horses for the film industry. After the war, having gained an engineering diploma (which he rarely, if ever, put to use), he spent the next two decades travelling the world, working all manner of odd jobs from gold mining to deep sea diving, to riding and winning prize money at rodeos. Having finally settled down in the United States in 1939, he eventually anglicised his name to 'Frederick'.
A close friendship with a fellow adventurer, the director John Huston, paved the way for more substantial character roles in Hollywood. The first and best of these was as the laconic cannibal Queeqeg, chief harpooneer on the ship "Pequod" in Huston's Moby Dick (1956). This is unquestionably the role for which he is best remembered. Friedrich came to specialise in eccentric character roles, ranging from stoic Indian chiefs to Vikings, from German Field Marshals to imposing Pirate Captains and Spanish aristocrats. Latterly white-maned, he popped up in a wide variety of genres, from historical epics, to spy thrillers and European westerns, even as one of the monastic guardians of the devil in the "The Howling Man" episode of The Twilight Zone (1959).
The actor was first married to English actress, poet and noted wit Iris Tree. His second wife (from 1955) was the Countess Alice Hoyos, who was descended from a titled Spanish dynasty, latterly resident in Austria.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Anny Ondra was a Polish-Czech-Austrian-German-French singer and a film and stage actress. As a child she lived in Prague, where her father was a colonel in the Austro-Hungarian army. After graduating from convent school in Prague, she studied to be an actress with Professor Bor. She was already a star in the Czech theater when, at age 16, the teenage beauty was discovered by the film industry.
From 1920--mostly under the direction of Karel Lamac--she became a major comedic star in Czech cinema, and in 1928 she conquered German cinema. Historically, she was Alfred Hitchcock's first blonde, appearing in his film Blackmail (1929), which was England's--and Hitchcock's--first talking film (Hitchcock, knowing that not all theaters supported talkies, also shot a silent version of the film). In 1930 in Germany she created, with the help of Karel Lamac, the Ondra-Lamac Film Society, which lasted till 1936. She was in Die vom Rummelplatz (1930) ("Those of the Sideshow") but the film, was lost and remains so to this day.
She played in German-, Czech- and French-language versions of all her movies, always as the leading lady. She became an international cinema superstar and one of the most beloved of German film stars. She appeared in more than 88 films. She retired from the industry in 1957 and lived in Hollenstedt in der Lüneburger Heide, Germany (near Hamburg), with her husband, boxing champion Max Schmeling, whom she married in 1933.
She died in Hollenstedt and will never be forgotten by her fans.- Stanislaus Zbyszko was born on 1 April 1879 in Jodlowa, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Jodlowa, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Night and the City (1950), Madison Square Garden (1932) and Gotch-Zbyszko World's Championship Wrestling Match (1910). He was married to Anna. He died on 23 September 1967 in St. Joseph, Missouri, USA.
- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Max Fleischer was an American animator, inventor, and film producer from Krakow. As an inventor, Fleischer is primarily known for inventing the rotoscope, an animation technique that allowed animators to draw realistic images and movements, based on live-action images. He later co-founded the short-lived animation studio Fleischer Studios (1929-1942), and served as the studio head for its entire history. The studio was primarily known for creating short film featuring the animated characters Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, and Bimbo the Dog. It also introduced the first animated adaptations of both Popeye and Superman. Fleischer lost control over his studio to Paramount Pictures, though he would continue to work in animation for decades.
In 1883, Fleischer was born to a Jewish family in Krakow, Austria-Hungary. His father was the tailor Aaron Fleischer, and his mother was the housewife Malka "Amelia" Palasz. The Fleischer family emigrated to the United States in 1887, settling in New York City. Aaron became an exclusive tailor to high society clients, and the family enjoyed a middle-class life for about a decade. Aaron lost control over his tailor shop in the late 1890s, forcing the family to move to an impoverished section of Brooklyn.
Fleischer received commercial art training at the Cooper Union, a private college located at Cooper Square in New York City. He received formal art training at the Art Students League of New York. His teacher there was the Canadian painter George Bridgman (1864-1943). Fleischer also received further education at "Mechanics and Tradesman's School".
After completing his education, Fleischer was hired as an errand boy by the newspaper "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" (1841-1955, 1960-1963). He remained there for years, working variously as a photographer, a photoengraver, and a staff cartoonist. He initially drew only single-panel editorial cartoons. He later created the satirical comic strips "Little Algie" and "S.K. Sposher, the Camera Fiend".
Fleischer left the newspaper c. 1905, in order to work as a technical illustrator for the Electro-Light Engraving Company in Boston. In 1909, he was hired as a catalog illustrator for the Crouse-Hinds Company. In 1910, he was hired as an art editor by the magazine "Popular Science". By 1914, the first commercially produced animated short films appeared in movie theaters. The characters; movements were generally "stiff and jerky", and so Fleischer started working on a method to trace images from a live-action film. He worked on his rotoscope from 1914 to 1916, and was granted a patent for the invention in 1917. This allowed the production of realistic animation.
Fleischer partnered up with his brother Dave Fleischer, to produce the animated film series "Out of the Inkwell" (1918-1929). It included 62 animated films, mostly featuring Koko the Clown as the protagonist. The character was inspired by Dave's previous job as a clown at Coney Island. The selling point of the series were the on-screen interactions between live-action artists and their pen and ink creations. The Fleischer brothers were eventually able to hire the experienced animator Dick Huemer, who produced more fluid animation for their films.
In 1924, Fleischer and a number of partners co-founded the film company Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on the East Coast of the United States. One of Fleischer's partners was the inventor Lee de Forest (1873-1961). De Forest was working on a method to produce sound-on-film recordings for films. Fleischer gained access to de Forest's Phonofilm process, and went to work in creating animated short films with sound. The first of them was "My Old Kentucky Home" (1926), which also featured the first use of lip-synch in animation. Fleischer eventually worked on 19 early sound films, but the Red Seal went bankrupt in 1927.
From 1927 to 1929, the Fleischer brothers had a brief business partnership with film producer Alfred Weiss. They agreed to produce animated short films for Paramount Pictures, which would serve as their distributor. The partnership dissolved due to the mismanagement of Weiss, but the Fleischer brothers would maintain a working relationship with Paramount for the following 15 years.
In 1929, Fleischer co-founded the Fleischer studios. The company's staff initially set up operations at the Carpenter-Goldman Laboratories in Queens. Only 8 months later, they moved to a new location in Broadway. This would remain their main headquarters until 1938.Fleischer and his staff started work on the film series "Screen Songs" (1929-1938). It featured sing-along animated shorts, teaching the lyrics of various songs to the audience. The short films featured performances by popular musicians of the 1930s, such as Lillian Roth, Ethel Merman, and Cab Calloway.
The short film "Dizzy Dishes" (1930) introduced the character of Betty Boop, a caricature of a Jazz Age flapper. She quickly became a recurring character, and served initially as an imitation of real-life singer Helen Kane (1904-1966). Betty was a hit with the audience, and she was granted her own film series in 1932. She starred in 90 films between 1932 and 1939, and had guest-star roles in other 36 films between 1930 and 1933. She was the most popular character of the Fleischer Studios, regarded as the first "sex symbol" on the animated screen.
In late 1932, Fleischer licensed the rights to the comic strip character Popeye the Sailor. The character was granted a film series of his own, appearing in 109 short films between 1933 and 1942. The series introduced animated adaptation of several comic strip characters from the series "Thimble Theatre" (1919-1994), such as the damsel-in-distress Olive Oyl, the muscular bully Bluto, and the gluttonous scam artist J. Wellington Wimpy. The characters became household names, with Popeye himself said to surpass Mickey Mouse in popularity by the end of the 1930s.
Due to a business deal, the Fleischer Studios acquired much of its funding from a long-term partnership with Paramount Pictures. At times when Paramount itself was facing financial problems, the studio found itself suffering from a lack of funding. Fleischer was initially unable to secure rights to the innovative three-color Technicolor process in 1932. The studio introduced its first color cartoons in 1934, but had to use the limited two-color processes of Cinecolor (red and blue) and Two-Color Technicolor (red and green). They introduced their first film in three-color Technicolor in 1936. By that point, the rival studio Walt Disney Animation Studios was considered to be more innovative in its uses of color animation.
In the mid-1930s, Fleischer patented the use of three-dimensional effects in animation. He promoted these under the name the "Stereoptical Process". The process was used to great effect in the featurettes "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor" (1936) and "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves" (1937). Max Fleischer started petitioning Paramount to fund an animated feature film, but their executives were doubtful of its commercial value. Following the box office success of the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), Fleischer received sufficient funding to work on his own feature film.
In 1938, the Fleischer Studios moved its headquarters to Miami, Florida. The studio staff started working on "Gulliver's Travels" (1939), the second American animated feature film to be produced. During its production, the personal relationship between brothers and business partners Max and Dave Fleischer deteriorated. Max reportedly disapproved of Dave's love life, and attempted to end one of Dave's romantic relationships. The film was eventually completed and grossed more than $3 million dollars at the American box office.
To Max Fleischer's disappointment, the Fleischer Studios found itself in debt due to their first feature film. Paramount received a lion's share of the profits from the American box office, and the animation studio had no rights to any profits from the film's releases in foreign markets. In addition, Paramount penalized the animation studio with the debt of 350,000 dollars. The film had exceeded its original budget, and this violated a contract agreement with Paramount. The Fleischer Studios were now indebted to their distributor.
In 1940, Fleischer Studios introduced three new animated series: "Gabby", "Animated Antics", and "Stone Age Cartoons". "Gabby" was a spin-off from "Gulliver's Travels" , featuring the adventures of the film's town crier. "Animated Antics" was an anthology series, often featuring supporting characters from "Gulliver's Travels". "Stone Age Cartoons" featured a surprisingly modern take on Stone Age life, and has been cited as a precursor to "The Flintstones". All three series were regarded as commercial failures, generating little interest from exhibitors.
In search for a more viable series, Fleischer licensed to the superhero character Superman. The studio created a short-lived series for the character, releasing 9 short films between 1941 and 1942. It was the character's first animated adaptation, and featured more technically complex elements than most of its contemporaries in animation. Each episode had a budget of about 50,000 dollars, twice the budget of the typical Popeye cartoon in the same period. Frustrated that they had to animate the character leaping from place to place (as in the comics), the Fleischer brothers came up with the idea that Superman could fly on his own. The high cost of the series turned out to be a problem, but the series was popular.
Meanwhile, the Fleischer brothers were working on their second animated feature, at the request of Paramount. The film in question was "Mr. Bug Goes to Town", a tale of anthropomorphic insects. It was scheduled for release in early December 1941, but its release was postponed for months due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Theater owners showed only a limited interest in the film, and it turned out to be a box office bomb.
With the Fleischer Studios heavily in debt to Paramount and Dave Fleischer having already resigned, Paramount decided to claim ownership over the animation studio and its characters. Max Fleischer was forced to resign, while the studio was re-organized into the Paramount subsidiary Famous Studios (1942-1967). The most notable character of the new studio was Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Fleischer was briefly out of work. He subsequently was hired as the head of the animation department for "The Jam Handy Organization", a Detroit-based company owned by film producer (1886-1983). Fleischer primarily worked on animated training films for the Army and Navy during World War II. He continued working for Handy until 1953. His most notable film for this entire period was "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1948), the first animated adaptation of a 1939 Christmas story by Robert L. May. Fleischer personally directed the film.
In 1953, Fleischer was hired as a production manager by Brayco. It was a company which primarily produced filmstrips from the late 1960s to its closing in 1963. It had formed as a corporate successor to the animation studio Bray Productions (1912-1928), where Fleischer had briefly worked in his early career.
In 1955, Fleischer won a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures. They had the rights to re-release most of his former films, but the court decided that they did not have the right to remove Fleischer's name from the film credits. In 1958, Fleischer and his new partner Hal Seeger (1917-2005) founded the minor animation studio "Out of the Inkwell Films". They had the intention to revive "Out of the Inkwell" as a television series. They eventually produced 100 color episodes of the new series, released from 1960 to 1961. Due to his failing health, Fleischer decided against appearing in person in the live-action segments.
For most of the 1960s, Fleischer made efforts to reclaim ownership over Betty Boop, his most popular character. Paramount had sold its rights to the character in 1958, but the courts were unable to decide which person or company held the exclusive rights to the character.
In 1967, Fleischer and his wife Essie retired to the Motion Picture Country House, a retirement community for film industry people. The retirement community was located at the southwest end of the San Fernando Valley, and had been operational since 1942. In September 1942, Fleischer died there, due to "arterial sclerosis of the brain". He was 89-years-old at the time of his death, having survived several of his former partners and employees.
Fleischer's animated works eventually found a new audience in animation fans who regard them as an alternative to Walt Disney's works, and who often find them to be more appealing to older audiences. Works of the Fleischer Studios have also been popular with animation historians, which regard them highly for their innovations. Fleischer remains one of the most famous animated film producers of the 20th century, but his reputation mostly endures due to the cult following of some of his characters.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Born in Germany he went to America some time before the second World War and spent a year in Hollywood reading foreign scripts after which he returned to Berlin where he set up his own company to organise the remaking of foreign films into German language versions. One he handled was 'All Quiet on the Western Front', an anti war film that became a kind of personal crusade for him. On the opening night the Nazi's, then in power, put a bomb in the cinema. When the Nazis came into power he left Germany and divided his time between Britain, France and America. He changed his name to the more international sounding S.P. Eagle but changed it back when with 'On the Waterfront' he realised he'd made a film to which any man would be proud to put his name.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
One of the most respected cinematographers in the industry, Polish-born Rudolph Mate entered the film business after his graduation from the University of Budapest. He worked in Hungary as an assistant cameraman for Alexander Korda and later worked throughout Europe with noted cameraman Karl Freund. Mate was hired to shoot some second-unit footage for Carl Theodor Dreyer and Erich Pommer, and they were so impressed with his work that they hired him as cinematographer on Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) (US title: "The Passion of Joan of Arc"). Mate was soon working on some of Europe's most prestigious films, cementing his reputation as one of the continent's premier cinematographers. Hollywood came calling in 1935, and Mate shot films there for the next 12 years before turning to directing in 1947. Unfortunately, while many of his directorial efforts were visually impressive (especially his sci-fi epic When Worlds Collide (1951)), the films themselves were for the most part undistinguished, with his best work probably being the film-noir classic D.O.A. (1949).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
W. Lee Wilder was born on 22 August 1904 in Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Sucha Beskidzka, Malopolskie, Poland]. W. Lee was a director and producer, known for Once a Thief (1950), The Big Bluff (1955) and Killers from Space (1954). W. Lee died on 14 February 1982 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Allan (or Josef as he was then) studied under the great pioneering modernist Arnold Schönberg. To pay for his tuition he composed popular, jazz-influenced tunes for cabaret acts in Berlin. Josef took his pseudonym from Oscar Wilde's narcissistic hero, Dorian Gray.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Irving Allen started his film career in 1929 as an editor. He turned to directing in the 1940s, and two shorts he directed, Forty Boys and a Song (1941) and Climbing the Matterhorn (1947), won Academy Awards. His feature film output, however, was not particularly successful, and in the 1950s he and producer Albert R. Broccoli formed Warwick Films in Great Britain to produce films there.- Actor
- Art Director
- Additional Crew
Jacob Kalich was born on 18 November 1891 in Rymanów, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Rymanów, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was an actor and art director, known for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Yidl mitn fidl (1936) and Mamele (1938). He was married to Molly Picon. He died on 16 March 1975 in Lake Mahopac, New York, USA.- Jake Guzik was known as the Chicago mob's financial genius. A pimp, his friendship with mob leader Al Capone began when he overheard two gangsters planning Capone's murder, and he quickly got word to Capone of the plot. In gratitude, Capone took him into his organization, and when he discovered Guzik's financial aptitude, eventually made him treasurer of his outfit. A major part of Guzik's job was paying off local police and political leaders, which is where he got the nickname "Greasy Thumb" (a name that was actually first applied to his brother, also a mob bagman, then later transferred to him). A short, fat man who detested violence and was incapable of even picking up a gun, he endeared himself to Capone to the extent that once, when a local hood beat up Guzik, an outraged Capone tracked the gangster to a local bar, walked up to him and emptied a revolver into his head. Guzik was trusted not only by Capone but also by other Mafia leaders outside of Chicago, and despite the internecine squabbles, turf fights and gang wars that erupted regularly among Mafia families, Guzik was never part of them and was considered above them by other Mafia leaders. Although federal and state authorities had long been after Guzik, they only managed to land him in prison for a few years on an income tax evasion rap, and when he got out he went right back to his old activities. He died of a heart attack in Chicago in 1956.
- Stanislaw Milski was born on 8 February 1897 in Czchów, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Czchów, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Gruby (1973), Ashes and Diamonds (1958) and Knights of the Teutonic Order (1960). He died on 4 September 1972 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Wladek Zbyszko was born on 30 November 1891 in Jodlowa, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Jodlowa, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Deception (1932). He was married to Maria Orzelska and Amelia Diaz. He died on 9 June 1968 in Savannah, Missouri, USA.
- Antonina Gordon-Górecka was born on 6 June 1914 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for The Last Stage (1948), Adventure in Marienstadt (1954) and Pozegnanie z diablem (1957). She died on 12 June 1993 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Danuta Szaflarska was born on 6 February 1915 in Kosarzyska, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kosarzyska, Piwniczna-Zdrój, Malopolskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Time to Die (2007), Diably, diably (1991) and Pozegnanie z Maria (1993). She was married to Janusz Kilanski and Jan Ekier. She died on 19 February 2017 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Leo Fleider was born on 12 October 1913 in Hermanowa, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Hermanowa, Podkarpackie, Poland]. Leo was a director and writer, known for Siempre te amaré (1971), Operación rosa rosa (1974) and Piloto de pruebas (1972). Leo died on 5 August 1977 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Maciek Piotrowski was born on 11 December 1907 in Tyczyn, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Tyczyn, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He is known for A View to a Kill (1985), The Bounty (1984) and El Cid (1961). He was married to Jadwiga Serbenska. He died on 22 May 1992 in London, England, UK.- Maria Malicka was born on 9 May 1900 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Niebezpieczny raj (1931), Szlakiem hanby (1929) and Wiatr od morza (1930). She was married to Zbigniew Sawan. She died on 30 September 1992 in Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland.
- Leon Liebgold was born on 31 July 1910 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Tevya (1939), The Dybbuk (1937) and Yidl mitn fidl (1936). He was married to Lili Liliana. He died on 3 September 1993 in New Hope, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Kazimierz Opalinski was born on 22 February 1890 in Prömsel, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Przemysl, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Television Theater (1953), Ludzie Wisly (1938) and Gangsterzy i filantropi (1963). He died on 6 June 1979 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Tadeusz Kondrat was born on 8 April 1908 in Prömsel, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Przemysl, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Lalka (1968), Zemsta (1957) and Adventure in Marienstadt (1954). He died on 19 June 1994 in Skolimów, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Stanislaw Zelenski was born on 23 February 1905 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Jadzia (1936), The Epopee of Warsaw (1953) and Warszawska premiera (1951). He died on 3 December 1981 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Writer
- Music Department
Wanda Wasilewska was born on 22 January 1905 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. She was a writer, known for The Rainbow (1944), Veter s vostoka (1940) and Children Must Laugh (1938). She was married to Roman Szymanski, Marian Bogatko and Oleksanr Koniychuk. She died on 22 July 1964 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, USSR [now Ukraine].- Henry Rosner was born on 2 March 1905 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was married to Manci Rosner. He died on 3 December 1995 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Mark M. Dintenfass was born on 17 April 1872 in Tarnów, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Tarnów, Malopolskie, Poland]. Mark M. was a producer, known for Between Two Husbands (1922), My Four Years in Germany (1918) and Love That Never Fails (1912). Mark M. was married to Esther Wallace. Mark M. died on 23 November 1933 in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, USA.
- Guido Lorraine was born on 2 September 1912 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for The Great Manhunt (1950), The Great Van Robbery (1959) and Port Afrique (1956). He was married to Irena Anders. He died on 31 December 2009 in Melbourne, Australia.
- Józef Orwid was born on 14 November 1891 in Besko, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Besko, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Pani minister tanczy (1937), Zapomniana melodia (1938) and Jadzia (1936). He died on 13 August 1944 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Eduard Hofman was born on 16 May 1914 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was a director and writer, known for Lidé za kamerou (1961), La création du monde (1958) and Jablunka se zlatými jablky (1952). He died on 11 June 1987 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].- Jerzy Zulawski was born on 14 July 1874 in Lipowiec, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lipowiec, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for On the Silver Globe (1988), Pod vlastyu luny (1911) and Teatr Polskiego Radia (2004). He died on 9 August 1915 in Debica, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Debica, Podkarpackie, Poland].
- Soundtrack
Eddie Seiler was born on 14 March 1911 in Iwonicz-Zdrój, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Iwonicz-Zdrój, Podkarpackie, Poland]. Eddie died on 1 January 1952 in Linden, New Jersey, USA.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Miroslaw Zulawski was born on 16 January 1913 in Nisko, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Nisko, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Opowiesc atlantycka (1955), The Third Part of the Night (1971) and Autobus odjezdza 6.20 (1954). He died on 17 February 1995 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Barbara Kostrzewska was born on 24 September 1915 in Jodlowa, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Jodlowa, Podkarpackie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Warszawska premiera (1951). She was married to Stanislaw Kostrzewski. She died on 14 October 1986 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Stefan Jaracz was born on 24 December 1883 in Stare Zukowice, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Stare Zukowice, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Bóg wojny (1914), Obrona Czestochowy (1913) and Pan Tadeusz (1928). He was married to Jadwiga Danilowicz-Jaraczowa. He died on 11 August 1945 in Otwock, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Max Glass was born in Oriental Galicia, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Poland. Max, the youngest of 5 children, arrived as a young boy in Vienna with his parents, Hersh Mendel, a Talmud scholar and jeweler, and his mother Rachel - known as Rosa Wachsmann, whose parents were from Krakow. He obtained in 1905 a Ph.D degree in philosophy, at the University of Vienna, a work which was published by Strecker and Schröder in Stuttgart under the title "Klassiche und romantische Satire" ("Satire classique et romantique" / "Classical and romantic Satire"). On July 9th 1908, Max Glass married Helene Münz (originally Münzdorf), from the Viennese suburb Pötzleinsdorf, one year his senior. Like Max, she was a Doctor in philosophy. The couple had two sons, Paul, born on May 18, 1909 and George(s), born on October 19th, 1917. Only about 5.000 students were enrolled, at the turn of the century, at the "University of Vienna", half of them at the "Faculty of Law". Several professors, dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge, took the initiative of organizing classes for adults in what came to be known as "Volksbildungsbewegung" ("Mouvement pour l'Éducation populaire" / "Mouvement for popular Education"). Among the leaders of this movement, one finds two lay Jews, Ludo Moritz Hartmann (1865-1924), son of Bohemian poet Mortiz Hartmann, and Moritz Szeps, Chief editor of "Neues Wiener Tageblatt", one of the major progressive daily newspapers in Vienna. In 1900, Hartmann and Szeps help found the "Volksheim" ("Maison du Peuple" / "House of the People") where workers were enrolled in evening classes. Max Glass contributed several articles to the weekly "Wissen für Alle" ("Savoir pour tous" / "Knowledge for all"), a "synthesis of contemporary knowledge" edited by Moritz Szeps. He also wrote and had several novels published. After the Second World War, he moved to Berlin where he devoted himself to script writing, to directing and producing films. Berlin was the "Mecca" for Austrians whose intellectuals suffered from an inferiority complex, exemplified by a passage in a letter written in 1914 by Arthur Schnitzler to his sister-in-law "... the expression "real Austrian" has a derogatory connotation, whereas the associations brought forth by anything "German" are of the order of nobility, strength and beauty". In Berlin, Max Glass' second novel "Die entfesselte Menschheit" ("L'Humanité déchaînée" / "Humanity unleashed") was brought to the screen by Joseph Delmont in 1920, in a Max Nivelli production... Max Glass rapidly entered production himself and rose to the head of the "Terra Film". According to German journalist Georg Fuchs, "Terra Film" owed its rise to international recognition to Max Glass, sometimes nicknamed "the Dictator of Cinema" because of his iron will. In 1928 Max Glass started up his own production company, "Max Glass Film Produktion GmbH", at Friedrichstrasse 221, in Berlin. His first two productions that same year were signed by Robert Wiene: "Leontines Ehemänner" ("Les Maris de Leontine" / "Leontine's Husbands") and "Unfug der Liebe" ("Les Farces de l'Amour" / "Love's Pranks"). The following year, he took on Maurice Tourneur to direct "Das Schiff der verlorenen Menschen" ("Le Navire des Hommes perdus" / "Ship of lost Men"), starring Marlene Dietrich, Robin Irvine, Gaston Modot, Fritz Kortner and Wladimir Sokoloff. Before Hitler came to power in 1933, Max Glass produced another 8 films, some of them by the second production / distribution company he had set up in 1929, the "Kristall Film", also located at Friedrichstrasse 221, in Berlin. Like "Max Glass Film Produktion GmbH", the "Kristall Film" was both owned by Max Glass. Many of the films produced and distributed by these companies were eventually banished from any commercial success or even from any commercial distribution, as the "Racial Laws" tightened. Not only was Max Glass a Jew, (his conversion to Catholicism dating back to his youth in Vienna and his efforts at assimilation were to no avail), but several of the actors that appeared in his films were too, like for example Szöke Szakall, Helga Molander and Grete Mosheim. In 1933, both companies were shut down and Max Glass went into exile in Paris, where he founded yet another production company, "Flora Films". With the help of his eldest son Paul, he produced, in the early 1930s, a series of films such as "La Rosière des Halles", "L'Auberge du Petit Dragon", and "La Reine des Resquilleuses". Certain scripts were signed "E. Raymond, Budapest", pseudonym and fictional origin Max Glass sometimes used. In 1937 Max Glass and his two sons created a second French production and distribution company called "Arcadia Films". It undertook two super-productions, "La Tragédie Impériale" (1938) with Harry Baur in the role of Rasputin, and "Entente Cordiale" (1939) after the novel by André Maurois. Both films were directed by Marcel L'Herbier. On November 23, 1939, a decree granted Max Glass his French citizenship. On September 2, 1942 the Vichy Government issued another decree, bearing the number 2718, stripping him of his French citizenship. But by then, he had already departed for Brazil, then the United States. Little is known of his sojourns in Brazil and the U.S. He seems to essentially have devoted himself to writing. In 1947, the American Beechurst Press released "Liberation from Yesterday", under the name of Max Glass-Plesching Ph.D. (Plesching was the name of the Austrian village where Max Glass had acquired a country estate before his departure for Berlin in the early twenties) The 672 page volume of this book contains a detailed geo-political survey of the planet, no references whatsoever to cinema, art history or personal hazards. Upon returning to France after the war, Max Glass discovered that during his exile his companies, "Flora Films" and "Arcadia Films", had been declared bankrupt and dissolved by a provisional administrator on May 28, 1941 and August 12, 1942 respectively. In 1945, Max Glass obtained an agreement that permitted him to recover some of the French films he had produced before the war. On November 6, 1948, at age 67, Max Glass created what was to become his last company, the "Max Glass Films". Within this new structure, he produced three feature length films and some shorts... In 1957, Max Glass divorced Helene Münz and married his long-time friend, German-Jewish actress Helga Molander, mother of famous psychiatrist Hans-Jürgen Eysenck (know especially for his I.Q. tests). Helga Molander - whose real name was Ruth Werner - had starred in many of Max Glass' Berlin productions such as the 1923 "Der Mann mit der Eisernen Maske" ("L'Homme au Masque de Fer" / "The Man with the Iron Mask") "Bob und Mary" ("Bob et Marie" / "Bob and Mary") both films not only produced but also directed by Max Glass. According to some sources, Max Glass had "spent a fortune" buying his friend's freedom after - like most refugees from Germany - she had been rounded up by the French police and locked up in a French internment camp (prelude to Drancy, then Auschwitz for most of those who were handed over to the Nazis). Helga Molander eventually joined Max Glass in Bresil, then the United States. Max Glass died in Paris on July 18th, 1965 and was incinerated in the Père Lachaise Cemetary.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Józef Kondrat was born on 3 March 1902 in Prömsel, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Przemysl, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Wniebowstapienie (1969), Love Only Me (1935) and Trójka hultajska (1937). He died on 4 August 1974 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Wladyslaw Eugeniusz Sikorski was a Polish military and political leader. Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause for Polish independence. He fought with distinction in the Polish Legions during the First World War, and later in the newly created Polish Army during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919 to 1921. In that war, he played a prominent role in the decisive Battle of Warsaw (1920). In the early years of the Second Polish Republic, Sikorski held government posts, including serving as prime minister (1922 to 1923) and as minister of military affairs (1923 to 1924). Following Józef Pilsudski's May Coup of 1926 and the installation of the Sanation government, he fell out of favor with the new regime.
During the Second World War, Sikorski became prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, and a vigorous advocate of the Polish cause in the diplomatic sphere. He supported the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union, which had been severed after the Soviet pact with Germany and the 1939 invasion of Poland-however, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin broke off Soviet-Polish diplomatic relations in April 1943 following Sikorski's request that the International Red Cross investigate the Katyn Forest massacre.
In July 1943, a plane carrying Sikorski plunged into the sea immediately after takeoff from Gibraltar, killing all on board except the pilot. The exact circumstances of Sikorski's death have been disputed and have given rise to a number of different theories surrounding the crash and his death. Sikorski had been the most prestigious leader of the Polish exiles, and his death was a severe setback for the Polish cause. - Music Department
Joseph Rosenstock was born on 27 January 1895 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He is known for Hebrew Melody (1935) and Rôzensutokku kokubetsu ensoukai (1957). He died on 17 October 1985 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Ralph Erwin was born on 31 October 1896 in Bielitz, Silesia, Austria-Hungary [now Bielsko-Biala, Slaskie, Poland]. He was a composer, known for An Education (2009), A Girl You Don't Forget (1932) and Malle gevallen (1934). He died on 15 May 1943 in Beaune-la-Rolande, Loiret, France.- Alexander Schoenberg was born on 5 June 1886 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Crashing Through Danger (1936), The Beast of Borneo (1934) and They Shall Have Music (1939). He died on 1 October 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Tadeusz Dura was born on 11 December 1880 in Kraków, Halic, Austria-Hungary [now Poland]. He was an actor, known for Prodaná nevesta (1913) and Zlatý klícek (1922). He died on 2 December 1945 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Camera and Electrical Department
Joseph Natanson, who has died in Rome aged 94, began life as a Surrealist painter before being recruited in 1947 to do the special effects for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's film The Red Shoes. The picture won an Oscar for its designs, but Natanson vowed never to become involved with such a project again. Yet he went on to provide the illusionistic art work for some of the best-known directors of the second half of the 20th century. This followed Natanson's move in the early 1950s from London to Italy, where he collaborated with many leading Italian filmmakers, including Vittorio De Sica, Sergio Leone, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Franco Zeffirelli, as well as numerous other visitors to Cinecitta, from John Huston to Joseph Mankiewicz. In the end, he was involved in more than 80 films, the last of them Jean-Jacques Annaud's Name of the Rose.
His principal task was painting and filming "matte-shots", miniature scenes and additional elements on glass, that were blown up by the camera to create magnificent backdrops cityscapes, vistas and details that would have been prohibitively expensive to construct, or impossible to engineer and co-ordinate while shooting the main action. Natanson was dispatched to Italy a number of times in the early 1950s, to participate in various international co-productions at Cinecitta in Rome, the new "Hollywood on the Tiber".- Writer
- Music Department
- Art Director
Leon Schiller was born on 14 April 1887 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was a writer and art director, known for Television Theater (1953), Janko Muzykant (1930) and November Night (1932). He died on 25 March 1954 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Additional Crew
Zbigniew Grabowski was born on 22 December 1903 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He is known for The White Eagle (1942). He died on 13 June 1972 in London, England, UK.- Josef Mischel was born on 2 March 1899 in Szczyrzyc, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Szczyrzyc, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Prison Ship (1945), Danger Woman (1946) and Isn't It Romantic (1948). He died on 17 November 1954 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski was born on 24 March 1885 in Rzeszów, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Rzeszów, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Luk Erosa (1987), Black Wings (1963) and Television Theater (1953). He died on 8 August 1944 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Aleksander Bogusinski was born on 25 February 1877 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Dziesieciu z Pawiaka (1931), Spy (1933) and Story of a Sin (1933). He died on 3 December 1953 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Jerzy Turowicz was born on 10 December 1912 in Krakau, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland]. He died on 27 January 1999 in Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland.
- Stefan Hnydzinski was born on 29 July 1901 in Prömsel, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Przemysl, Podkarpackie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Girls of Nowolipki (1937), Pani minister tanczy (1937) and Romans panny Opolskiej (1928). He died on 2 October 1939 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Production Manager
Nina Kowalik was born on 8 October 1914 in Starczynów, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Bukowno, Malopolskie, Poland]. Nina is a production manager, known for Around the World with Bolek and Lolek (1977), Margo the Mouse (1985) and Bolek i Lolek (1963).