Joe May (born Joseph Otto Mandl; 7 November 1880 – 29 April 1954) was an Austrian film director and film producer and one of the pioneers of

German cinema The film industry in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema made major technical and artistic contributions to early film, broadcasting and television technology. Babelsberg became a household synonym for the early 20 ...

Biography

After studying in Berlin and a variety of odd jobs, he began his career as a stage director of operettas in

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. In 1902 he had married the actress

Mia May Mia May (born Hermine Pfleger; 2 June 1884 – 28 November 1980) was an Austrian actress. She was married to the Austrian film producer and director Joe May and appeared in 44 films between 1912 and 1924. Her daughter was the actress Eva May ...

(born Hermine Pfleger) and took his stage name from hers.

Continental-Kunstfilm

As Joe May, he made ten films for

Continental-Kunstfilm 123 Chauseestraße, Berlin, Continental-Kunstfilm's first studioThe inscription ERBAUT MDCCCXCVI (built 1906) appears on the building. Remarkably it survived East_Berlin.html"_;"title="World_War_II,_and_ended_up_on_the_East_Berlin">World_War_II, ...

GmbH in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

; the first, ''In der Tiefe des Schachtes (In the Depths of the Pit)'' was released in November 1912, followed by ''Vorglühen des Balkanbrandes (The Balkan Traitors)'' (starring

Ernst Reicher Ernst Reicher (19 September 1885 – 1 May 1936) was a German-Jewish actor, screenwriter, film producer and film director of the silent era. Biography His father was the actor Emanuel Reicher, born in Galicia, then part of the Kingd ...

). In the spring of 1914 May directed the first three of the ' Stuart Webbs' films, a popular series in which Reicher played a

gentleman detective The gentleman detective, less commonly lady detective, is a type of fictional character. He (or she) has long been a staple of crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories set in the United Kingdom in the Golden Age. The heroe ...

modelled on Sherlock Holmes: ''

Die geheimnisvolle Villa ''Die geheimnisvolle Villa'' (lit. 'The Secret-Filled Villa') is a 1914 silent German detective film directed by Joe May and starring Ernst Reicher. It is the first in the series starring the fictional gentleman detective Stuart Webbs, modelle ...

(The Black Triangle)''; ''Der Mann im Keller (The Man in the Cellar)''; and ''Der Spuk im Haus des Professors (The Spook in the Professor's House)''.

Stuart Webbs-Film

May and Reicher fell out with the managers of Continental over the 'Stuart Webbs' films, and left Continental together.''Licht-Bild-Bühne'' no. 34, 1914, p. 37, quoted in . Having formed their own production company, Stuart Webbs-Film GmbH, they made the next in the 'Stuart Webbs' series, ''Das Panzergewölbe'' ('' The Armoured Vault'') in June 1914, using Continental-Kunstfilm's new studios at 9 Franz Joseph-Strasse,

Weissensee Studios The Weissensee Studios (german: Filmstadt Weißensee) was a collection of separate film production studios located in the Berlin suburb of Weißensee during the silent era. History The two main studios comprising the complex were almost next ...

, for the filming. When the

First World War 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 ...

broke out in August 1914, May had to return to his native

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

to do his military service, and on his return to Berlin he and Reicher split up. May's last film at Continental was ''Der geheimnisvolle Nachtschatten (The Secret Shadows of Night)'' which he produced in December 1914, with

Harry Piel Heinrich Piel (12 July 1892 – 27 March 1963), known professionally as Harry Piel, was a prolific German actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer who was involved in over 150 films. Piel became a director in 1912, turning out such ...

directing. Reicher then leased the studio at 9 Franz Joseph-Strasse from Continental, and continued to make the 'Stuart Webbs' films with his Reicher & Reicher company until 1918.

May-Film

In 1915 he founded his own film production company, May-Film GmbH and began to produce a successful series of crime films, whose detective hero went by the name of

Joe Deebs Joe Deebs was a fictional detective who appeared in a series of German films and serials during the silent era. Along with Stuart Webbs and a number of other fictional cinema detective characters with Anglo-Saxon names, he was modeled on Arth ...

. Some of these were directed by May himself, others by

;

Max Landa Max Landa ( be, Макс Ландаў; 24 April 1873 – 8 November 1933; born Max Landau) was a Russian-born Austrian silent film and stage actor. Career Landa attended the Handelsakademie (commercial academy) in Vienna and took classes with a ...

and later

Harry Liedtke Harry Liedtke (12 October 1882 – 28 April 1945) was a German film actor. Early life Liedtke was born in Königsberg, East Prussia to a merchant as the seventh out of 12 children. After the death of his father in 1896, he grew up in an orphanage ...

played the title role. In 1917 May gave

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

one of his earliest breaks in the film industry as screenwriter on the film ''Die Hochzeit im Excentricclub ( Wedding in the Eccentric Club)'' and Lang also worked on other May films at this time. After the end 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 ...

May-Film leased the double glasshouse studios at 5–7 Franz Joseph-Strasse (belonging to Deutsche Vitascope) in 1919 for 600,000 marks, which became known as the May-Atelier. He also built a film studio in Woltersdorf a village northeast of Berlin in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

. There he went on to produce and direct a series of popular and exotic adventure films, among them the monumental three-hour-long ''Veritas vincit'' (1919), the eight-part series ''Die Herrin der Welt (

The Mistress of the World ''The Mistress of the World'' (german: Die Herrin der Welt) is an eight-part 1919 silent film made in the Weimar Republic starring Mia May in the lead role. The film, under the creative control of director Joe May, is noted for bringing togeth ...

)'' (1919–20) as well as the two-part adventure film ''Das indische Grabmal ( The Indian Tomb)'' (1921) starring

Conrad Veidt Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German film actor who attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and '' The Man Who Laug ...

and written by

and

Thea von Harbou Thea Gabriele von Harbou (27 December 1888 – 1 July 1954) was a German screenwriter, novelist, film director, and actress. She is remembered as the screenwriter of the science fiction film classic ''Metropolis'' (1927) and for the 19 ...

. These featured Mia May in leading roles and she regularly worked under her husband's direction in a number of melodramas like ''

Tragedy of Love ''Tragedy of Love'' (German: ''Tragödie der Liebe'') is a 1923 German silent film directed by Joe May and starring Mia May, Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Erich Kettelhut, Paul Leni and ...

'' (1922/23) co-starring

Emil Jannings Emil Jannings (born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz, 23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a Swiss born German actor, popular in the 1920s in Hollywood. He was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' The La ...

. Their teenage daughter

Eva May Eva Maria Mandl (29 May 1902 – 10 September 1924), known professionally as Eva May, was an Austrian actress. She was the daughter of the film director Joe May and his wife Mia May. In 1924, she committed suicide by gunshot. Biography Eva Mar ...

(born 1902 in Vienna) tried to build her own career as an actress but committed suicide in 1924 after the end of her third marriage with the film directors Manfred Liebenau,

Lothar Mendes Lothar Mendes (19 May 1894 – 24 February 1974) was a German-born screenwriter and film director. His two best known films are '' Jew Süss'' (1934) and '' The Man Who Could Work Miracles'' (1936), both productions for British studios. Career B ...

and

Manfred Noa Manfred Noa (22 March 1893 – 5 December 1930) was a German film director. Noa was described by Vilma Bánky, who he directed twice, as her "favourite director". Noa's 1924 film '' Helena'' has been called his "masterpiece" although it was so exp ...

. Towards the end of the 1920s, May moved away from adventure films and produced more realist works, notable among them the World War I love-triangle ''

Heimkehr ''Heimkehr'' (English: "Homecoming") is a 1941 Nazi German anti-Polish propaganda film directed by Gustav Ucicky. It received the rare honor "Film of the Nation" in Nazi Germany, bestowed on films considered to have made an outstanding contribut ...

(The Return Home)'' (1928) and the contemporary thriller ''

Asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

'' (1929). During the early years of sound film he worked as a producer for Erich Pommer at

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital city, capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya River (Kama), Belaya and Ufa River, Ufa rivers, in the centre-n ...

then for different production companies in Germany, Austria and France directing a series of multilingual versions in German and French among those is ''Ihre Majestät die Liebe / Son altesse l'amour'' (1930) one of the best musical comedies of the Weimar Cinema.

Emigration to the United States

In 1933 he and Mia, along with many others in the German film industry, emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

where he was able to establish himself as director, mainly for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, although his work was mainly on what would be regarded as

B movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

. His most notable works of this period were the Kay Francis vehicle ''

Confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

'', a remake of the 1935 German film '' Mazurka'', ''

The House of the Seven Gables ''The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance'' is a Gothic novel written beginning in mid-1850 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in April 1851 by Ticknor and Fields of Boston. The novel follows a New England family and their anc ...

'' and ''

The Invisible Man Returns ''The Invisible Man Returns'' is a 1940 American horror science fiction film directed by Joe May. The film stars Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey and John Sutton. The film is a sequel to the 1933 film ''The Invisible Man'', and the sec ...

'' (1940). He also worked with the

Dead End Kids The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York City who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play '' Dead End'' in 1935. In 1937, producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film. They prov ...

during this period, helming two films, ''

You're Not So Tough ''You're Not So Tough'' is a 1940 Universal Studios drama film directed by Joe May and starring ''Dead End Kids'' and the '' Little Tough Guys'' and was the first in the series where Billy Halop and Huntz Hall weren't billed in the opening credits ...

'' (1940) and '' Hit the Road'' (1941), despite constant friction with his juvenile delinquent cast members. ''

'' is especially interesting, in that May's film is an exact copy of German director Willi Forst's '' Mazurka'', right down to the last fade and dissolve, with every shot timed to run exactly the same length, and using the same music as Forst's original film. May's last film was the wartime comedy featuring

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

in a small role, '' Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More'', made in 1944 by the King Brothers and released through Monogram Pictures.

Death

After retiring as a director, May and his wife opened the Blue Danube Restaurant in Los Angeles which was not a successful business venture. He died on April 29, 1954, after a long illness. He is interred in the

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angel ...

in Hollywood, California.

Partial filmography

May served as director unless otherwise noted.

References

Notes Sources * * * * *

External links

*
Joe May
at

filmportal.de filmportal.de is an online database of information related to German film. It includes extensive information on films and filmmakers as well as articles on film issues. The website was released on occasion of the 54th Berlin International Film Fe ...

(English) {{DEFAULTSORT:May, Joe 1880 births 1954 deaths Austrian expatriates in Germany Austrian Jews Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Film people from Berlin Film people from Vienna Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States