Leopold Jessner (3 March 1878 – 13 December 1945) was a noted producer and director of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

and cinema. His first film, ''

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), is considered a major turning point which paved the way for the later German Expressionist experiments of German filmmakers

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 ...

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 ...

, and

G.W. Pabst Georg Wilhelm Pabst (25 August 1885 – 29 May 1967) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He started as an actor and theater director, before becoming one of the most influential German-language filmmakers during the Weimar Republic. ...

. A native of

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

, Jessner was a touring actor in his youth and turned to directing in 1911. He was director of the Berlin State Theater from 1919 to 1925 and was known for bare stages in which flights of steps served as different spaces for scenes and directing actors to act in an oversimplified, unnatural manner. ''

'' (

for ''Backstairs''), Jessner's first film (co-directed with Paul Leni), exemplified Jessner's use of heavily stylized staircases. These staircases would become regular fixtures in later German films, nicknamed "Jessnertreppe" in Jessner's honor, and would be used to full effect in the 1926 German Expressionist film '' Faust'', directed by

. As a Jew and a

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, he was forced to emigrate 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 territorie ...

in 1933, after

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

came to power in Germany. He worked in

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

anonymously in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

until his death.

Filmography

*''

'' (1921; directed with Paul Leni) *'' Earth Spirit'' (1923) *'' Mary Stuart'' (1927; directed with

Friedrich Feher Friedrich Feher (born Friedrich Weiß, 16 March 1889 – 30 September 1950) was an Austrian actor and film director. He first entered the film business in 1913, starting out as an actor but quickly gravitated toward directing. He is perhaps bes ...

) *''Children of the Fog'' (1935)

External links

*
Leopold Jessner Collection
at the Leo Baeck Institute, NY
Leopold Jessner: German Theatre and Jewish Identity
by Anat Feinberg, in the Leo Baeck Institute Year Book (London), vol. XLVIII (2003), 110–133. 1878 births 1945 deaths German film people German theatre directors Mass media people from Königsberg People from the Province of Prussia Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Jessner family {{Germany-film-bio-stub

Filmography

See also

External links