Gustav Machatý (9 May 1901 – 13 December 1963) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed films in Czechoslovakia, USA and Germany including '' Erotikon'' and '' Ecstasy''.

Life

He was born Augustín Otokar Jan Machatý in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. His father was a real estate investor. Machatý didn't finish high school and started to work in movies as a teenager. He worked as a cinema pianist, actor, screenwriter, producer and art director. He directed his first film ''Teddy by kouřil'' in 1919. In 1920 he left to USA, worked for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

and came back in 1922. In 1926 he finally managed to secure funds for his movie ''

The Kreutzer Sonata ''The Kreutzer Sonata'' (russian: Крейцерова соната, ) is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, named after Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata. The novella was published in 1889, and was promptly censored by the Russian authorities. The work is a ...

''. The film was a success and led to Machatý getting offers to direct. His next movie '' Schweik in Civilian Life'' was not successful. Machatý spent two years studying foreign movies and entered the period in which made the best movies of his career. In 1929 he made an symbolist drama '' Erotikon'', in 1931 a social drama '' From Saturday to Sunday'' and an adaptation of Karel Poláček's novel '' Načeradec, král kibiců'' and in 1933 his best known film '' Ecstasy''. Ecstasy was screened in

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

and made both Machatý and its lead actress

Hedy Lamarr Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actress ...

internationally famous. They both received offer to work for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

. After making '' Nocturno'' in Germany and ''

Ballerine Ballet flats are women's shoes for everyday wear which are similar to/inspired by a women's ballet shoes, with a very thin heel or the appearance of no heel at all. The style sometimes features a ribbon-like binding around the low tops of the sli ...

'' in Italy he decided to accept the offer and traveled to the US. However his American career was filled only by low-level contract work for the studio and MGM producers didn't have any interest in his ideas. From 1940 to 1943 he worked for

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

directing only camera test footage with starting actors. In 1945 he managed to direct ''

Jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgus ...

'' for a smaller production company Republic Pictures. After suicide of his wife Maria Ray (1904–1951) he returned to Europe and settled in Munich, West Germany. He directed his last movie in 1955 and later worked as a professor at Deutsches Institut für Film und Fernsehen in Münich. He died in Münich in 1963.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Machaty, Gustav 1901 births 1963 deaths Film directors from Prague People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czechoslovak film directors Czech screenwriters Male screenwriters Czech male film actors Czech male silent film actors German-language film directors 20th-century Czech male actors 20th-century screenwriters