Boris Ingster was a Russian-American screenwriter, film and television director, and producer (October 29, 1903 in Riga, then in the Russian Empire - August 2, 1978 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California) notable for his role in launching the film noir genre. In the 1930s he was a screenwriter on several films. He made his directorial debut in 1940 with the film noir movie '' Stranger on the Third Floor''. In the 1950s and 1960s he shifted much of his attention to producing television series in genres ranging from drama to

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

s and spy thrillers.

Early life and family

Boris Ingster is a literal

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

translation for Boris Jr. His real name and family name was Boris Mikhailovich Azarkh (russian: Борис Михайлович Азарх). He was born on October 29, 1903 in Riga,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now Latvia), in the family of guild merchant Moses Ber-Itsikovich Azarh (1869, Velizh - 1941, Riga) and Miriam-Basi Leizerovna Gottlieb (1876, Moscow - 1941, Riga). His older brother was Alexei Mikhailovich Granovsky. In the 1920s, Alexei worked in theatre, founding the Moscow State Jewish Theatre (GOSET), which he also directed. In 1928, Alexei went on tour with the theater and stayed in Berlin, and then moved to Paris. Another brother was Leonid Mikhailovich Azarh (March 20, 1900, Riga - 1964, Paris), a French film editor and film editor, and participant in the Second World War; before emigration he served as the Commissar of the USSR. He also had a sister, Fanny Mikhailovna Pevzner.

Career

In the beginning of his career in Russia, Boris Ingster met

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...

in 1922 in Moscow, when Ingster was an acting student and Eisenstein was a play director. Ingster saw him directing an

Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 origina ...

play with a bizarre, circus-like stage, complete with a tightrope, even though the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

was from a realistic genre. Ingster approached Eisenstein after the play to ask about the unusual re-casting of the setting.Ingster, Boris. ''Hollywood Quarterly'', Vol. 5 No. 4, Summer, 1951; (pp. 380-388) DOI: 10.2307/1209617 In the 1920s, Ingster emigrated to France, where in 1930 he was an assistant to Sergei Eisenstein on the set of the film ''

Sentimental Romance ''Romance sentimentale'' is a 1930 French film directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and Sergei M. Eisenstein. The film is also known as ''Sentimental Romance'' (International English title). Synopsis The film opens with a montage of scenes of ...

'' (1930). He moved to the United States, where he began to work in film and television; he was a screenwriter on various films, including ''

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell ''The Story of Alexander Graham Bell'' is a somewhat fictionalized 1939 biographical film of the famous inventor. It was filmed in black-and-white and released by Twentieth Century-Fox. The film stars Don Ameche as Bell and Loretta Young as Mab ...

''. He directed his first film in 1940 with '' Stranger on the Third Floor'', on which he also was a writer. This film is now most commonly cited as the first "true" film noir.See, e.g., Ballinger and Graydon (2007), p. 19; Irwin (2006), p. 210; Lyons (2000), p. 36; Porfirio (1980), p. 269. (???) In 1943, he contributed screenwriting to the MGM propaganda film ''

Song of Russia ''Song of Russia'' is a 1944 American war film made and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The picture was credited as being directed by Gregory Ratoff, though Ratoff collapsed near the end of the five-month production, and was replaced by Lás ...

'', which led to controversy due to concerns it had a pro-Soviet bias. In 1947, he wrote and directed the comedy '' The Judge Steps Out''. By the 1950s, Ingster switched much of his attention to television work. He produced 25 episodes of the Western ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

'' series, 18 episodes of the drama series '' The Roaring 20's'', 11 episodes of another Western, ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

'', and 38 episodes of the spy-thriller series ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

''.

Personal life

Boris married actress

Leni Stengel Leni Stengel (September 12, 1901 – July 1, 1982) was a German-born actress who appeared on Broadway, on television, and in films, through the 1920s to 1950s. Early life She was born in Berlin, Germany, and was a grandniece of the German c ...

in 1930, Wilma Ingster in 1938, Hungarian actress Zita Perczel in 1944 (they divorced in 1954), and Christiane Ingster-Oshay (nee Deleval, later Oshay) in 1955. With Christiane, he had a son, Michael in 1962.

Filmography

*''

The Last Days of Pompeii ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' is a novel written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. The novel was inspired by the painting ''The Last Day of Pompeii'' by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan. It culminates in ...

'' (1935), screenwriter *''

Dancing Pirate ''Dancing Pirate'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Lloyd Corrigan. It is the third film shot in the three strip Technicolor process and the first musical in that format. Produced by the makers of ''Becky Sharp'', the film was ...

'' (1936), screenwriter *'' Thin Ice'' (1937), screenwriter *'' I'll Give a Million'' (1938), screenwriter *'' Happy Landing'' (1938), screenwriter *'' Stranger on the Third Floor'' (1940), director *'' Paris Underground'' (1945), screenwriter *'' The Judge Steps Out'' (1948), director, screenwriter, screen story *''

Southside 1-1000 ''Southside 1-1000'' is a 1950 semidocumentary-style film noir directed by Boris Ingster featuring Don DeFore, Andrea King, George Tobias and Gerald Mohr as the off-screen narrator. It is about a Secret Service agent (Don DeFore) who goes undercov ...

'' (1950), director and screenwriter *''

Something for the Birds ''Something for the Birds'' is a 1952 film directed by Robert Wise and starring Victor Mature and Patricia Neal. Plot Johnnie Adams, an engraver in Washington, uses some of the invitations his firm makes to crash Washington parties. He gets to ...

'' (1952), screenwriter *''

Abdulla the Great ''Abdulla the Great'' (also known as ''Abdullah's Harem'') is a 1955 comedy film. It was directed and produced by Gregory Ratoff who also stars in the title role from a screenplay by Boris Ingster and George St. George, based on the novel ''My K ...

'' (1956), screenwriter *''

Guns of Diablo ''Guns of Diablo'' is a Metrocolor 1965 Western film directed by Boris Sagal and produced by Boris Ingster, starring Charles Bronson, Susan Oliver and Kurt Russell. It follows a wagon train master, who runs into difficulties when he meets ...

'' (1964), director and producer *''

The Spy in the Green Hat ''The Spy in the Green Hat'' is a 1967 feature-length film version of ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''s third season two-part episode " The Concrete Overcoat Affair". The episodes were originally broadcast in the United States on November 25, 1966 and D ...

'' (1966), producer *'' One of Our Spies Is Missing'' (1966), producer *''

The Karate Killers ''The Karate Killers'' is a 1967 American spy film and feature-length film version of ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''s third season two-part episode " The Five Daughters Affair". The episodes were originally broadcast in the United States on March 31, ...

'' (1967), producer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingster, Boris Russian film directors Russian film producers Russian screenwriters American film directors American film producers American screenwriters