Karel Lamač (27 January 1897 – 2 August 1952) was a Czech

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

, actor,

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. ...

, producer and singer. He directed more than 100 films in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Life

Lamač was born 27 January 1897 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. His parents were Karel Lamač sr. (1863–1938), opera singer and a pharmacist, and Františka Lamačová (née Prusíková, 1860–1949). In his childhood Lamač was interested in pharmacy, electrical engineering, stage magic and acting. Before WWI he went to apprentice in camera manufacturer company Ernemann in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. During the war he was a combat cameraman. After the war he became a technical director of film laboratory in Excelsiorfilm. He started working in movies in 1918, first as an actor, later as a writer and a director. Among his best movies of this period are crime drama ''

The Poisoned Light ''The Poisoned Light'' ( cs, Otrávené světlo) is a 1921 Czechoslovak silent adventure film directed by Jan S. Kolár and Karel Lamač. Cast *Karel Fiala as Inventor Oskar Grant *Anny Ondra as Grant's daughter Anny *Karel Lamač as Milan Bell ...

'', comedy ''Catch Him!'' and drama '' White Paradise''. In 1923 he wrote a book ''How to write a film libretto''. His frequent collaborators were actress

Anny Ondra Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková; 15 May 1903 – 28 February 1987) was a Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In 1933, she married German boxing champion M ...

, cinematographer

Otto Heller Otto Heller, B.S.C. (8 March 1896 – 19 February 1970) was a Czech cinematographer long resident in the United Kingdom. He worked on more than 250 films, including '' Richard III'' (1955), '' The Ladykillers'' (1955) and ''Peeping Tom'' (1960 ...

and screenwriter

Václav Wasserman Václav Wasserman (19 February 1898 – 28 January 1967) was a Czechoslovak screenwriter, film actor and director. He wrote for 91 films between 1920 and 1958. Selected filmography * '' From the Czech Mills'' (1925) * '' The May Fairy'' (1 ...

. In 1926 he co-founded a film studio Kavalírka where he made his movies until it burned down in 1929. In 1930 he founded a production company Ondra-Lamač Film with his then girlfriend

in Berlin. During 1930s he was making movies in Germany, Czechoslovakia, France and Austria. After the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia he left to Netherlands to make '' De Spooktrein'' and then to United Kingdom where he joined Czechoslovak Army. He served in

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

until 1941 and in infantry division until 1946. He made war documentaries and three feature movies during WWII. After the war he made two movies in France. In 1947 then went to USA where he worked on technical innovations of color film and camera lenses. In 1951 he returned to Germany and directed his last film '' The Thief of Bagdad''. He died in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, West Germany due to serious problems with his kidneys.

Selected filmography

Director

Actor

* ''

Lead Us Not into Temptation ''Lead Us Not into Temptation'' is an album by David Byrne, released in 2003 for the movie '' Young Adam'', a film directed by David MacKenzie. Track listing All songs written by David Byrne except where noted. Personnel * Lisa Aferiat&nb ...

'' (1922) * '' Helena'' (1924) * ''

The Secret Agent ''The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale'' is a novel by Joseph Conrad, first published in 1907.. The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country (presumably Russia). ''The Secret Agent' ...

'' (1924) * '' White Paradise'' (1924) * ''

The Lantern ''The Lantern'' is an independent daily newspaper in Columbus, Ohio, by students at Ohio State University. It is one of the largest campus newspapers in the United States, reaching a circulation of 15,000. Copies of the paper are free and avail ...

'' (1925)

Producer

* '' The Double'' (1934)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamac, Karel 1897 births 1952 deaths Male actors from Prague People from the Kingdom of Bohemia 20th-century Czech male actors Czech film directors Czechoslovak film directors Silent film directors Czech film producers Czech male film actors Czech male silent film actors Czech screenwriters Male screenwriters Silent film screenwriters German-language film directors English-language film directors 20th-century screenwriters