Géza von Radványi (born Géza Grosschmid; 26 September 1907 – 27 November 1986) was a Hungarian film director,

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, producer and writer.

Biography

Born Géza Grosschmid, he took the name Radványi from his paternal grandmother. His brother was the writer

Sándor Márai (; Archaic English name: Alexander Márai; 11 April 1900 – 21 February 1989) was a Hungarian people, Hungarian writer, poet, and journalist. Biography Márai was born on 11 April 1900 in the city of Košice, Kassa, Kingdom of Hungary, Hun ...

. Géza von Radványi made his debut in journalism before moving to cinema in 1941. He aimed to create a popular cinema in the 1950s and 1960s that would rival Hollywood studios, due to European coproductions. He began at the end of the 1940s, with '' Somewhere in Europe'' and '' Women Without Names'', neorealist dramas with no concession to the ravages of war and the postwar period. During the 1950s, Radványi changed his style: '' L'Étrange Désir de monsieur Bard'', with Michel Simon and Geneviève Page (1953), and, above all, the success of his remake of '' Mädchen in Uniform'' with Lilli Palmer and the young rising star

Romy Schneider Rosemarie Magdalena Albach (23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982), known professionally as Romy Schneider (), was a German and French actress. She is regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time and became a cult figure due to ...

(1958). He also made in the same decade ', a thriller based on a script by Boileau and Narcejac, with

Lino Ventura Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura (14 July 1919 – 22 October 1987), known as Lino Ventura, was an Italian-born actor and philanthropist, who lived and worked for most of his life in France. He was considered one of the greatest leading men ...

and Laurent Terzieff, as well as a slapstick comedy, '' An Angel on Wheels'' with

and

Henri Vidal Henri Vidal (26 November 1919 – 10 December 1959) was a French film actor. Film career Henri Lucien Raymond VidalSource Les Gens du cinéma/ref> was first noticed after he won the "Apollo of 1939" contest in Paris. He was spotted by Édith ...

(1959). During the 1960s, he became both more ambitious and more bankable, making 70 mm coproductions like ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'' with

Mylène Demongeot Mylène Demongeot (; born Marie-Hélène Demongeot ; 29 September 1935 – 1 December 2022) was a French film, television and theatre actress and author with a career spanning seven decades and more than 100 credits in French language, French, ...

and Herbert Lom (1965), and '' Der Kongreß amüsiert sich'' with Lilli Palmer, Curd Jürgens, Paul Meurisse and Françoise Arnoul (1966), both of which were rather unsuccessful. In contrast, he surprisingly wrote the script for the successful film produced by Louis de Funès, '' L'homme orchestre'', directed by

Serge Korber Serge Korber (1 February 1936 – 23 January 2022) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 40 films between 1962 and 2007. Successful as the director of comedies starring Louis de Funès in ''L'homme orchestre'' and '' ...

(1970). His 1961 film '' Das Riesenrad'' was entered into the

2nd Moscow International Film Festival The 2nd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 9 to 23 July 1961. The Grand Prix was shared between the Japanese film '' The Naked Island'' directed by Kaneto Shindo and the Soviet film '' Clear Skies'' directed by Grigori Chukhrai. ...

. His 1965 film ''

'' was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival. Géza von Radványi ended his career with a modest production made in his home country, ''Circus Maximus'' (1980).

Selected filmography

* '' Closed Court'' (1940) * ''

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

'' (1940) * '' Castle in Transylvania'' (1940) * '' Europe Doesn't Answer'' (1941) * '' Yellow Hell'' (1942) * '' The Talking Robe'' (1942) * '' A Woman Looks Back'' (1942) * '' Somewhere in Europe'' (1947), with Artúr Somlay and Miklós Gábor * '' Women Without Names'' (1950), with Simone Simon and Françoise Rosay * '' L'Étrange Désir de monsieur Bard'' (1953), with Michel Simon and Geneviève Page * '' A Girl Without Boundaries'' (1955), with Sonja Ziemann and

Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitsky; , 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a French actor of Russian Chinese origin. He had a lengthy career in French and German cinema, appearing in over 200 film and television roles over 50 year ...

* '' Ingrid'' (1955), with Johanna Matz and Paul Hubschmid * ' (1957), with Karlheinz Böhm * '' The Doctor of Stalingrad'' (1958), with O. E. Hasse, Eva Bartok, Hannes Messemer and

Mario Adorf Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, am ...

* '' Mädchen in Uniform'' (1958), with

and Lilli Palmer * ' (1959), with

, Laurent Terzieff, Hannes Messemer, Eva Bartok and Gert Fröbe * '' An Angel on Wheels'' (1959), with

and

* ' (1960), with Wolfgang Lukschy and Hans Christian Blech * ' (1961), with Elke Sommer and Karin Baal * '' Das Riesenrad'' (1961), with Maria Schell and O. W. Fischer * ' (1961), with O. W. Fischer, Jean Richard, Eva Bartok and

Senta Berger Senta Verhoeven (née Berger; ''Austrian German:'' , ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film, and television; her awards include three Bambi (prize), Bambi Awards, t ...

* ' (1961), with O. W. Fischer, Jean Richard, Eva Bartok and

* ''

'' (1965), with John Kitzmiller,

, Juliette Gréco, Herbert Lom and O. W. Fischer * ' (1966), with Curd Jürgens, Lilli Palmer, Hannes Messemer, Paul Meurisse and Françoise Arnoul * ''Circus Maximus'' (1980), with Ági Margittay and Antal Páger

Bibliography

He published many crime novels under the pseudonym Géza Radvany : * ''16 Heures au Paradis'', novel, Éditions de Trévise, Paris, 1974. * ''Troubles'', novel, Éditions de Trévise, Paris, 1975. * ''Les Otages de la nuit'', novel, Éditions de Trévise, Paris, 1976. * ''Chantage sur canapé'', novel, Éditions de Trévise, Paris, 1978. * ''Drames de dames'', novel, Éditions de Trévise, Paris, 1980.

Notes

René Barjavel René Barjavel (24 January 1911 – 24 November 1985) was a French author, journalist and critic who may have been the first to think of the grandfather paradox in time travel. He was born in Nyons, a town in the Drôme department in southeas ...

:Extract of the fourth cover page of the novel ''Les Otages de la nuit''. .

References

Article on Somewhere in Europe

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Radvanyi, Geza von 1907 births 1986 deaths German-language film directors Hungarian film directors Hungarian cinematographers Hungarian film producers Hungarian-German people Writers from Košice