Boris Ingster was a Russian-American screenwriter, film and television director, and producer (October 29, 1903, in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, then in the Russian Empire – August 2, 1978, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California) notable for his role in launching the

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

genre. In the 1930s he was a screenwriter on several films. He made his directorial debut in 1940 with the film noir movie '' Stranger on the Third Floor''. In the 1950s and 1960s he shifted much of his attention to producing television series in genres ranging from drama to

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

s and spy thrillers.

Early life and family

Boris Ingster is a literal

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

translation for Boris Jr. His real name and family name was Boris Mikhailovich Azarkh (). He was born on October 29, 1903, in Riga,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

), in the family of guild merchant Moses Ber-Itsikovich Azarh (1869, Velizh – 1941, Riga) and Miriam-Basi Leizerovna Gottlieb (1876, Moscow – 1941, Riga). His older brother was Alexei Mikhailovich Granovsky. In the 1920s, Alexei worked in theatre, founding the Moscow State Jewish Theatre (GOSET), which he also directed. In 1928, Alexei went on tour with the theater and stayed in Berlin, and then moved to Paris. Another brother was Leonid Mikhailovich Azarh (March 20, 1900, Riga – 1964, Paris), a French film editor and film editor, and participant in the Second World War; before emigration he served as the Commissar of the USSR. He also had a sister, Fanny Mikhailovna Pevzner.

Career

In the beginning of his career in Russia, Boris Ingster met

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein; (11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, film editor and film theorist. Considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, he was a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage. He is no ...

in 1922 in Moscow, when Ingster was an acting student and Eisenstein was a play director. Ingster saw him directing an Alexander Ostrovsky play with a bizarre, circus-like stage, complete with a tightrope, even though the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

was from a realistic genre. Ingster approached Eisenstein after the play to ask about the unusual re-casting of the setting.Ingster, Boris. ''Hollywood Quarterly'', Vol. 5 No. 4, Summer, 1951; (pp. 380-388) DOI: 10.2307/1209617 In the 1920s, Ingster emigrated to France, where in 1930 he was an assistant to Sergei Eisenstein on the set of the film '' Sentimental Romance'' (1930). He moved to the United States, where he began to work in film and television; he was a screenwriter on various films, including '' The Story of Alexander Graham Bell''. He directed his first film in 1940 with '' Stranger on the Third Floor'', on which he also was a writer. This film is now most commonly cited as the first "true"

.See, e.g., Ballinger and Graydon (2007), p. 19; Irwin (2006), p. 210; Lyons (2000), p. 36; Porfirio (1980), p. 269. (???) In 1943, he contributed screenwriting to the MGM propaganda film '' Song of Russia'', which led to controversy due to concerns it had a pro-Soviet bias. In 1947, he wrote and directed the comedy '' The Judge Steps Out''. By the 1950s, Ingster switched much of his attention to television work. He produced 25 episodes of the Western ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western television series that aired for eight seasons, first on the NBC television network (1957–1962) and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and reached the top of the ...

'' series, 18 episodes of the drama series '' The Roaring 20's'', 11 episodes of another Western, ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'', and 38 episodes of the spy-thriller series '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''.

Personal life

Boris married actress Leni Stengel in 1930, Wilma Ingster in 1938, Hungarian actress Zita Perczel in 1944 (they divorced in 1954), and Christiane Ingster-Oshay (nee Deleval, later Oshay) in 1955. With Christiane, he had a son, Michael in 1962.

Filmography

*'' The Last Days of Pompeii'' (1935), screenwriter *''

Dancing Pirate ''Dancing Pirate'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Lloyd Corrigan. It is the List of three-strip Technicolor films, third film shot in the Technicolor#Three strip Technicolor, three strip Technicolor process and the first music ...

'' (1936), screenwriter *'' Thin Ice'' (1937), screenwriter *'' I'll Give a Million'' (1938), screenwriter *'' Happy Landing'' (1938), screenwriter *'' Stranger on the Third Floor'' (1940), director *'' Paris Underground'' (1945), screenwriter *'' The Judge Steps Out'' (1948), director, screenwriter, screen story *'' Southside 1-1000'' (1950), director and screenwriter *'' Something for the Birds'' (1952), screenwriter *'' Abdulla the Great'' (1956), screenwriter *'' Guns of Diablo'' (1964), director and producer *'' The Spy in the Green Hat'' (1966), producer *'' One of Our Spies Is Missing'' (1966), producer *'' The Karate Killers'' (1967), producer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingster, Boris Russian film directors Russian film producers Russian screenwriters Film directors from Los Angeles Film producers from California American male screenwriters