Carl Mayer (20 November 1894 – 1 July 1944) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

who wrote or co-wrote the screenplays to '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), ''

The Head of Janus ''Der Januskopf'' () is a 1920 German silent film directed by F. W. Murnau. The film was an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''. Little is kn ...

'' (1920), '' The Haunted Castle'' (1921), ''

Der Letzte Mann ''The Last Laugh'' (german: Der letzte Mann, ) is a 1924 German silent film directed by German director F. W. Murnau from a screenplay written by Carl Mayer. The film stars Emil Jannings and Maly Delschaft. Stephen Brockmann summarized the film' ...

'' (1924), ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; french: Tartuffe, ou l'Imposteur, ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical thea ...

'' (1926), '' Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'' (1927), and ''

4 Devils ''4 Devils'' (also known as ''Four Devils'') is a 1928 American silent drama film directed by German director F. W. Murnau and starring Janet Gaynor. It is considered to be lost. Premise The plot concerns four orphans (Janet Gaynor, Nancy Drex ...

'' (1928), most of them being films directed by

F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at t ...

. Mayer was a fundamental figure in the dramatic and narrative establishment of both

German expressionist German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

cinema and ''

Kammerspielfilm ''Kammerspielfilm'' is a type of German film that offers an intimate, cinematic portrait of lower middle class life. History The name derives from a theater, the '' Kammerspiele'', opened in 1906 by a major stage director Max Reinhardt to stage i ...

''.

Early life and career

Mayer was the son of a stock speculator who committed suicide, forcing the young Carl to leave school at 15, and go to work as a secretary. Mayer moved from native

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

and then

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he worked as a dramatist. The events of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

turned him into a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

. In 1917, Mayer went to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he worked at the small

Residenztheater The Residence Theatre (in German: Residenztheater) or New Residence Theatre (Neues Residenztheater) of the Residence in Munich was built from 1950 to 1951 by Karl Hocheder. The renovation of 1981 by Alexander von Branca removed the decoration whic ...

. He befriended

Gilda Langer Gilda Langer (born Hermengild Langer; 16 May 1896 – 31 January 1920) was a German stage and film actress whose career began in the mid-1910s and lasted until her death in 1920. She appeared both on stage and in silent films; however, all films ...

, a leading actress of the theater and fell in love with her. He wrote the script for ''Dr. Caligari'' (1920) with

Hans Janowitz Hans Janowitz (2 December 1890 – 25 May 1954) was a German author. Janowitz was an officer in World War I, but returned from it as a pacifist. Shortly after the war ended, he met the similarly minded Carl Mayer in Berlin, who suggested he wo ...

, and planned to have Langer star in the film. However, Langer became engaged to director

Paul Czinner Paul Czinner (30 May 1890 – 22 June 1972) was a Hungarian-born British writer, film director, and producer. Biography Czinner was born to a Jewish family in Budapest, Austria-Hungary. After studying literature and philosophy at the Universi ...

, then Langer died unexpectedly early in 1920. (The role went to actress

Lil Dagover Lil Dagover (; born Marie Antonia Siegelinde Martha Seubert; 30 September 1887 – 23 January 1980) was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar ...

instead.) Mayer paid for Langer's tombstone and had notes from Wagner's ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was compose ...

'' engraved on it. ''Kabinett'' led to Mayer working with many leading directors in Germany. He worked with F. W. Murnau on ''Der Letzte Mann'' (1924, known as ''The Last Laugh'' in the English-speaking world) in Germany, and he also wrote the scenario for Murnau's ''Sunrise'' (1927), made during Murnau's stay in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. Mayer also co-wrote '' Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis'' (1927) with

Karl Freund Karl W. Freund, A.S.C. (January 16, 1890 – May 3, 1969) was an Austrian cinematography, cinematographer and film director best known for photographing ''Metropolis (1927 film), Metropolis'' (1927), ''Dracula (1931 English-language film), Dracul ...

and

Walter Ruttmann Walter Ruttmann (28 December 1887 – 15 July 1941) was a German cinematographer and film director, an important German abstract experimental film maker, along with Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling and Oskar Fischinger. He is best known for dire ...

. Being

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

as well as a

, Mayer thought it best to leave Germany when the Nazis came to power. In 1933, shortly after working with

Béla Balázs Béla Balázs (; 4 August 1884 in Szeged – 17 May 1949 in Budapest), born Herbert Béla Bauer, was a Hungarian film criticism, film critic, aesthetics, aesthetician, writer and poet of History of the Jews in Hungary, Jewish heritage. He was a ...

on the script for ''

Das Blaue Licht ''The Blue Light'' (german: Das blaue Licht) is a black-and-white 1932 film directed by Leni Riefenstahl and written by Béla Balázs with uncredited scripting by Carl Mayer. In Riefenstahl's film version, the witch, Junta, played by Riefensta ...

'' (1932), directed by

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda. A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...

, he moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to escape the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime. In London, he worked as an adviser to the British film industry, and became friends with British film figures such as director and film writer

Paul Rotha Paul Rotha (3 June 1907 – 7 March 1984) was a British documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. Early life and education He was born Paul Thompson in London, and educated at Highgate School and at the Slade School of Fine Art. Career ...

Death

Grave of Carl Mayer, Highgate Cemetery 01

In 1942, Mayer was diagnosed with cancer. Near the end of his life, he wanted to make a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

on London, but due to anti-German sentiment and difficult economic conditions, he was unable to find a producer. His illness was treated somewhat ineptly due to war conditions and he died at the age of 49 on 1 July 1944, poor and almost forgotten, having only 23 pounds in cash and two books. He was buried in the eastern section of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

, south of the entrance, facing the grave of

William Friese-Greene William Friese-Greene (born William Edward Green, 7 September 1855 – 5 May 1921) was a prolific English inventor and professional photographer. He was known as a pioneer in the field of motion pictures, having devised a series of cameras in 1 ...

, in

. His epitaph reads "Pioneer in the art of the cinema. Erected by his friends and fellow workers". The city of

has named a prize after him.Criterion Forum entry
/ref>

Selected filmography

* '' Scherben'' (1921) * '' Nights of Terror'' (1921) * ''

Hintertreppe ''Hintertreppe'' (English: ''Backstairs'') is a 1921 silent film. This was the first movie by German director Leopold Jessner, in cooperation with Paul Leni. Carl Mayer specifically wrote this for Leopold Jessner, who would go on to direct '' E ...

'' (1921) * ''

Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In August ...

'' (1921) * ''

The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning ''The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning'' (german: Der Puppenmacher von Kiang-Ning) is a 1923 German silent fantasy film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Werner Krauss, Lia Eibenschütz, and Ossip Runitsch. A doll maker in China crafts a puppet ...

'' (1923) * '' Earth Spirit'' (1923) * ''

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

'' (1924) * '' Fräulein Else'' (1929) * ''

The Man Who Murdered ''The Man Who Murdered'' (german: Der Mann, der den Mord beging) is a 1931 German crime drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Conrad Veidt, Trude von Molo and Heinrich George.Grange p. 357 It is adapted from the play by Pierre Fro ...

'' (1931) * '' Ariane'' (1931) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1932) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1937) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1953, based on his original screenplay)

References

External links

*
Carl Mayer at Film ReferenceCarl Mayer at Criterion Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Carl 1894 births 1944 deaths Film people from Graz British male screenwriters Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom German screenwriters German male screenwriters Burials at Highgate Cemetery German male writers Austrian pacifists Jewish Austrian writers Jewish pacifists 20th-century British screenwriters Deaths from cancer in England