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 Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

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 ...

. After studying literature and philosophy at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

, he worked as a journalist. From 1919 onward, he dedicated himself to work for the film industry as writer, director and producer. Czinner became engaged to actress Gilda Langer in early 1920. Shortly after their engagement Langer succumbed to the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case wa ...

and died on 31 January 1920. In 1924, he offered the leading role in his film ''Nju'' to

Elisabeth Bergner Elisabeth Bergner (22 August 1897 – 12 May 1986) was an Austrian-British actress. Primarily a stage actress, her career flourished in Berlin and Paris before she moved to London to work in films. Her signature role was Gemma Jones in '' Esca ...

. They became partners. Due to the persecution of Jews by the Nazi Party under

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

, the two, both Jewish, fled to Vienna and then London, where they were married. Despite Czinner's homosexuality, the union proved a happy and personally and professionally enriching one for both partners. 1934 saw the realisation of his film ''

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

'', with his wife playing the main role, though the film was not shown in Germany. They emigrated to the United States in 1940, working on Broadway. After the end of World War II, they returned to England, where Czinner successfully adapted numerous operas to film (e.g. ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; Köchel catalogue, K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The rake (stock character), Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Pon ...

'', '' Der Rosenkavalier'').

Death

Czinner died on 22 June 1972 in London, aged 82.

Selected filmography

* ''Inferno'' (1919) * '' Husbands or Lovers'' (1924) * '' Jealousy'' (1925) * '' The Fiddler of Florence'' (1926) * ''

Doña Juana Doña Juana ( es, Volcán Doña Juana) is a stratovolcano, located within the Doña Juana-Cascabel Volcanic Complex National Natural Park ( es, Parque Nacional Natural Complejo Volcánico Doña Juana-Cascabel) in Nariño, Colombia. With a ...

'' (1927) * '' Fräulein Else'' (1929) * '' The Way of Lost Souls'' (released in USA as ''The Woman He Scorned'') (1929) * '' Ariane'' (1931) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1932) * '' Ariane, Russian maid'' (1932) * ' (1932) * ''

'' (1934) * '' Escape Me Never'' (1935) * '' As You Like It'' (1936) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1937) * '' Stolen Life'' (1939) * ''

'', based on Mozart's opera. (1954) * '' The Bolshoi Ballet'' (1958) * '' The Royal Ballet'' (1959) * '' Der Rosenkavalier'', based on the opera by Richard Strauss (1962) * '' Romeo and Juliet'', ballet film starring

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

and Margot Fonteyn (1966)

References

External links

* * 1890 births 1972 deaths Austro-Hungarian people American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent University of Vienna alumni Hungarian expatriates in the United Kingdom Hungarian film directors American film directors American film producers German-language film directors Hungarian Jews Hungarian film producers Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian expatriates in Germany Hungarian expatriates in Austria {{US-film-producer-stub