Ernő Metzner (February 25, 1892 – September 25, 1953) was a film director and production designer.
Metzner was born in
Subotica
Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...
(then
Austria-Hungary). He studied art at the
Budapest Academy of Fine Arts, then worked as a painter and graphic artist. In 1920 he moved to Berlin and began working as an art director and production designer with some of the best-known German directors of the time:
Ernst Lubitsch (''
Sumurun
''Sumurun'' (a.k.a. ''One Arabian Night'') is a 1920 German silent film directed by Ernst Lubitsch based on a pantomime by .
Plot
A company of travelling performers arrive at a fictional oriental city. It includes the beautiful dancer Janaia, th ...
,
The Loves of Pharaoh''),
Robert Wiene
Robert Wiene (; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a film director of the silent era of German cinema. He is particularly known for directing the German silent film ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' and a succession of other German Expressionism, ...
(''
I.N.R.I.
In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews, both at the beginning of his life and at the end. In the Koine Greek of the New Testament, e.g., in John 19:3, this is written as '' Basileus ton Ioudaion'' ().
Both uses of t ...
'') and
Karl Grune (''
Arabella
''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration.
Performance history
It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the Dr ...
''). From the 1926 ''
Secrets of a Soul'' he developed a close and continuous partnership with
Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Metzner was art director for seven major Pabst films from 1926 to 1933, notably designing the production of ''
Kameradschaft
''Kameradschaft'' ( en, Comradeship, known in France as ''La Tragédie de la mine'') is a 1931 dramatic film directed by Austrian director G. W. Pabst. The French-German co-production drama is noted for combining expressionism and realism.Butle ...
'' (1931), for which Metzner constructed realistic mining tunnels in the studio.
[Film Architecture and the Transnational Imagination: Set Design in 1930s ...by Tim Bergfelder, Sue Harris, Sarah Street, page 158]
In 1927 Metzner began to direct films himself. His first short films are documentaries commissioned by the
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
. His most important work is probably the 1928 short film
Polizeibericht Überfall ("Police Report: Hold-Up", known in English as "Accident"). Metzner both wrote and directed this landmark of the
New Objectivity movement in film, banned by authorities as "brutalizing and demoralizing."
As a Hungarian Jew,
in 1933 Metzner emigrated from Germany to France and then to England, where he reunited with Austrian director
Friedrich Feher. From 1936 Metzner moved with his family to the United States, but found only occasional work in Hollywood.
He died in
Hollywood, California on September 25, 1953.
Filmography
* ''
Sumurun
''Sumurun'' (a.k.a. ''One Arabian Night'') is a 1920 German silent film directed by Ernst Lubitsch based on a pantomime by .
Plot
A company of travelling performers arrive at a fictional oriental city. It includes the beautiful dancer Janaia, th ...
'' (1920) - Production Design
* ''
The Bull of Olivera'' (1921) - Costumes
* ''
The Loves of Pharaoh'' (1922) - Costumes
* ''
Don Juan'' (1922) - Costumes
* ''
Fridericus Rex'' (in four parts, 1922-1923) - Production Design
* ''
Salome
Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...
'' (1923) - Production Design
* ''
Old Heidelberg'' (1923) - Production Design
* ''
I.N.R.I.
In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews, both at the beginning of his life and at the end. In the Koine Greek of the New Testament, e.g., in John 19:3, this is written as '' Basileus ton Ioudaion'' ().
Both uses of t ...
'' (1923) - Production Design, Costumes
* ''
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...
]'' (1923) - Costumes
*
Arabella
''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration.
Performance history
It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the Dr ...
'' (1924) - Costumes
* ''
Wood Love'' (1925) - Production Design, Costumes
* ''
Secrets of a Soul'' (1926) - Production Design
* ''At the beginning was the Word'' (1927) - Director
* ''Naftalin'' (1927) - Director
* ''Free Ride'' (1928) - Director
* ''It rises'' (1928) - Director
* ''
Mikosch Comes In'' (1928)
* ''
Accident'' (1928) - Director, Screenplay
* ''Destiny'' (1928) - Director
* ''
Hotel of Secrets
''Hotel of Secrets'' (German: ''Hotelgeheimnisse'') or ''The Adventuress from Biarritz'' (''Die Abenteurerin von Biarritz'') is a 1929 German silent film directed by Friedrich Feher and starring Gertrud Eysoldt, Magda Sonja and Angelo Ferrari.Pen ...
'' (1929) - Production Design
* ''
Diary of a Lost Girl'' (1929) - Production Design
* ''
The White Hell of Pitz Palu'' (1929) - Features
* ''
Westfront 1918
''Westfront 1918'' is a German war film, set mostly in the trench warfare, trenches of the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I. It was directed in 1930 by G. W. Pabst, from a screenplay by Ladislaus Vajda based on the n ...
'' (1930) - Production Design
* ''
Rivals for the World Record
''Rivals for the World Record'' (german: Rivalen im Weltrekord) is a 1930 German sports film directed by Ernő Metzner and starring Bob Stoll, Liselotte Schaak
Liselotte Schaak (born 27 October 1908, date of death unknown) was a German actress ...
'' (1930) - Director, Screenwriter, Production Design
* ''
Kameradschaft
''Kameradschaft'' ( en, Comradeship, known in France as ''La Tragédie de la mine'') is a 1931 dramatic film directed by Austrian director G. W. Pabst. The French-German co-production drama is noted for combining expressionism and realism.Butle ...
'' (1931) - Production Design
* ''
The Unknown Guest The Unknown Guest may refer to:
* ''The Unknown Guest'' (1931 film), German film
* ''The Unknown Guest'' (1943 film), American film
{{disamb ...
'' (1931)
* ''
The Firm Gets Married'' (1931)
* ''
L'Atlantide'' (1932) - Production Design
* ''
Monsieur, Madame and Bibi'' (1932) - Production Design
* ''
Scandal on Park Street'' (1932)
* ''
A Bit of Love'' (1932)
* ''
Gypsies of the Night'' (1932)
* ''
The Marathon Runner'' (1933)
* ''
High and Low'' (1933) - Production Design
* ''
Princess Charming'' (1934) - Production Design
* ''
Chu Chin Chow'' (1934) - Production Design
* ''
Oh, Daddy!
''Oh, Daddy!'' is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and Austin Melford and starring Leslie Henson, Frances Day, Robertson Hare, and Barry MacKay.
It was made at Islington Studios. The film's sets were designed by the art dir ...
'' (1935) - Production Design
* ''
The Tunnel
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
'' (1935) - Production Design
* ''
The Robber Symphony'' (1936) - Production Design
* ''
Seven Sinners'' (1936) - Production Design
* ''
O.H.M.S.'' (1937) - Production Design
* ''
Take My Tip'' (1937) - Production Design
* ''
The Great Awakening'' (1941) - Production Design
* ''
It Happened Tomorrow
''It Happened Tomorrow'' is a 1944 American fantasy film directed by René Clair, starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie, and featuring Edgar Kennedy and John Philliber. It is based on the one-act play "The Jest of Haha Laba" by L ...
'' (1944) - Production Design
* ''
The Macomber Affair'' (1947) - Production Design
References
External links
Erno Metzner in filmportal (German language)*
Biography on movie-zeit.de (German language)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metzner, Erno
1892 births
1953 deaths
German film directors
Film people from Subotica
German production designers
Hungarian Jews
Hungarian University of Fine Arts alumni
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States