Curtis Bernhardt (15 April 1899 – 22 February 1981) was a Jewish

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, pr ...

born in

Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had about 82,000 inhabitants . A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe. It wa ...

, under the name Kurt Bernhardt. He trained as an actor in Germany, and performed on the stage, before starting as a film director in 1924, with '' Nameless Heroes''. Other films include '' A Stolen Life'' (1946) and '' Sirocco'' (1951). Bernhardt made films in Germany from 1925 until 1933, when he was forced to flee the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

— who briefly had him arrested — because he was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. Bernhardt directed films in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

before moving on to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

to work for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

in 1940. He produced and directed his last Hollywood picture, ''

Kisses for My President ''Kisses for My President'' is a 1964 comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Fred MacMurray and Polly Bergen. Leslie McCloud (Bergen) makes history when she is elected the first female president of the United States. However, her h ...

'' (1964), about the nation's first female Chief Executive starring

Polly Bergen Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan in '' The Helen ...

and

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

. He is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, near his wife, Pearl Argyle Wellman Bernhardt.

Filmography

*'' Nameless Heroes'' (short) (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1924)Ashkenazi, Ofer (2012).
Weimar Film and Modern Jewish Identity
'. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 135, 223. *'' Torments of the Night'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1926) *'' Orphan of Lowood'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1926) *'' Children's Souls Accuse You'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1927) *'' The Girl with the Five Zeros'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1927) *'' The Prince of Rogues'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1928) *'' The Last Fort'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1929) *'' The Woman One Longs For'' aka The Woman Men Yearn For (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1929) * '' The Last Company'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1930) *' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1930) * '' The Man Who Murdered'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1931) * '' The Rebel'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1932) * '' The Tunnel'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1933) *'' Le tunnel'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1933) * ''

Gold in the Street ''Gold in the Street'' (French: ''L'Or dans la rue'' ) is a 1934 French comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt, written by Henry Koster and Henri Decoin, and starring Danielle Darrieux.The A to Z of French Cinema p.119 The film's sets were desi ...

'' (1934) *'' The Beloved Vagabond'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1936) * '' Chaste Susanne'' (1937) * ''

The Girl in the Taxi ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1937) *'' Le vagabond bien-aimé'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1937) * ''

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1938) *'' My Love Came Back'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1940) *'' Lady with Red Hair'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1940) *'' Night in December'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1941) *''

Million Dollar Baby ''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay written by Paul Haggis, based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...

'' (1941) *'' Juke Girl'' (1942) *'' Happy Go Lucky'' (1943) *'' Conflict'' ( 1945) *'' My Reputation'' (

1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...

) *'' Devotion'' (

) *'' A Stolen Life'' (1946) *''

High Wall ''High Wall'' is a 1947 American film noir starring Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter and Herbert Marshall. It was directed by Curtis Bernhardt from a screenplay by Sydney Boehm and Lester Cole, based on a play by Alan R. Clark and Bradbury Foote. P ...

'' (

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

) *'' Possessed'' (1947) *'' Sirocco'' (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

) *'' Payment on Demand'' (1951) *'' The Blue Veil'' (1951) *''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt ...

'' ( 1952) *''

Miss Sadie Thompson ''Miss Sadie Thompson'' is a 1953 3-D American musical romantic drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Rita Hayworth, José Ferrer, and Aldo Ray. The film was released by Columbia Pictures. The film is based on W. Somerset Maugha ...

'' (

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

) *''

Beau Brummell George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an important figure in Regency England and, for many years, the arbiter of men's fashion. At one time, he was a close friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, but ...

'' (

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

) *'' Interrupted Melody'' (

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

) *'' Gaby'' (

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

) *''

Stefanie in Rio ''Stefanie in Rio'' is a 1960 West German romantic comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Carlos Thompson, Sabine Sinjen and Andréa Parisy.Bock & Bergfelder p.41 It is a sequel to the 1958 film '' Stefanie''. It was shot at the Sp ...

'' (1960) *'' Damon and Pythias'' (

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

) *''

'' (1964)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhardt, Curtis Film directors from Rhineland-Palatinate German theatre directors Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States 1899 births 1981 deaths People from Rhenish Hesse Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) People from Worms, Germany