Carl Mayer (20 November 1894 – 1 July 1944) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. Mayer wrote or co-wrote the screenplays to ''

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' () is a 1920 German silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. The quintessential work of early German Expressionist cinema, it tells the story of an insane hypno ...

'' (1920), '' The Haunted Castle'' (1921), '' Der Letzte Mann'' (1924), ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy (or more specifically, a farce) by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theat ...

'' (1926), '' Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'' (1927), and ''

4 Devils ''4 Devils'' (also known as ''Four Devils'') is a lost 1928 American Synchronized sound drama film directed by German director F. W. Murnau and starring Janet Gaynor. While the 1928 version of the film had no audible dialog, it was released w ...

'' (1928), most of them being films directed by

F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era. An e ...

. Mayer was a fundamental figure in the dramatic and narrative establishment of both

German expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

cinema and ''

Kammerspielfilm ''Kammerspielfilm'' is a type of German film that offers an intimate, cinematic portrait of lower middle class life. History The name derives from a theater, the '' Kammerspiele'', opened in 1906 by a major stage director Max Reinhardt to stage ...

''.

Early life and career

Born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family, Mayer was the son of a stock speculator who committed suicide, forcing the young Carl to leave school at 15, and go to work as a secretary. Mayer moved from native

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

and then

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he worked as a dramatist. The events of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

turned him into a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

. In 1917, Mayer went to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he worked at the small

Residenztheater The Residence Theatre (in German: Residenztheater) or New Residence Theatre (Neues Residenztheater) of the Residence in Munich was built from 1950 to 1951 by Karl Hocheder. The renovation of 1981 by Alexander von Branca removed the decoration wh ...

. He befriended

Gilda Langer Gilda Langer (born Hermengild Langer; 16 May 1896 – 31 January 1920) was a German stage and film actress whose career began in the mid-1910s and lasted until her death in 1920. She appeared both on stage and in silent films; however, all films ...

, a leading actress of the theater and fell in love with her. He wrote the script for ''Dr. Caligari'' (1920) with

Hans Janowitz Hans Janowitz (2 December 1890 – 25 May 1954) was a German author. Janowitz was an officer in World War I, but returned from it as a pacifist. Shortly after the war ended, he met the similarly minded Carl Mayer in Berlin, who suggested he work ...

, and planned to have Langer star in the film. However, Langer became engaged to director

Paul Czinner 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, Austria-Hungary. After studying literature and philosophy at the Universi ...

, then Langer died unexpectedly early in 1920. (The role went to actress

Lil Dagover Lil Dagover (; born Marie Antonia Siegelinde Martha Seubert; 30 September 1887 – 23 January 1980) was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar ...

instead.) Mayer paid for Langer's tombstone and had notes from Wagner's ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'' engraved on it. ''Kabinett'' led to Mayer working with many leading directors in Germany. He worked with F. W. Murnau on ''Der Letzte Mann'' (1924, known as ''The Last Laugh'' in the English-speaking world) in Germany, and he also wrote the scenario for Murnau's ''Sunrise'' (1927), made during Murnau's stay in

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) * Hollywood ...

. Mayer also co-wrote '' Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis'' (1927) with

Karl Freund Karl W. Freund, A.S.C. (; January 16, 1890 – May 3, 1969) was a German Bohemian and American cinematographer and film director. He is best known for photographing ''Metropolis'' (1927), ''Dracula'' (1931), and television's ''I Love Lucy'' (1 ...

and

Walter Ruttmann Walter Ruttmann (28 December 1887 – 15 July 1941) was a German cinematographer and film director, an important German abstract experimental film maker, along with Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling and Oskar Fischinger. He is best known for dir ...

. Being Jewish as well as a

, Mayer thought it best to leave Germany when the Nazis came to power. In 1933, shortly after working with

Béla Balázs Béla Balázs (; 4 August 1884 – 17 May 1949), born Herbert Béla Bauer, was a Hungarian film critic, aesthetician, writer and poet of Jewish heritage. He was a proponent of formalist film theory. Career Balázs was the son of Simon Bauer a ...

on the script for ''

Das Blaue Licht ''The Blue Light'' () is a black-and-white 1932 film directed by Leni Riefenstahl and written by Béla Balázs with uncredited scripting by Carl Mayer. In Riefenstahl's film version, the witch, Junta, played by Riefenstahl, is intended to be a ...

'' (1932), directed by

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, Film editing, editor, photographer, and actress. She is considered one of the most controversial ...

, he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to escape the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

regime. In London, he worked as an adviser to the British film industry, and became friends with British film figures such as director and film writer

Paul Rotha Paul Rotha (3 June 1907 – 7 March 1984) was an English documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. Early life and education He was born Paul Thompson in London, and educated at Highgate School and at the Slade School of Fine Art. Care ...

Death

In 1942, Mayer was diagnosed with cancer. Near the end of his life, he wanted to make a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

on London, but due to anti-German sentiment and difficult economic conditions, he was unable to find a producer. His illness was treated somewhat ineptly due to war conditions and he died at the age of 49 on 1 July 1944, poor and almost forgotten. He was buried in the eastern section of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

, south of the entrance, facing the grave of

William Friese-Greene William Friese-Greene (born William Edward Green, 7 September 1855 – 5 May 1921) was a prolific English inventor and professional photographer. He was known as a pioneer in the field of motion pictures, having devised a series of cameras bet ...

, in

. His epitaph reads "Pioneer in the art of the cinema. Erected by his friends and fellow workers". The city of

has named a prize after him.

Selected filmography

* '' The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari'' (1920) * '' Scherben'' (1921) * '' Nights of Terror'' (1921) * '' Hintertreppe'' (1921) * ''

Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to gover ...

'' (1921) * ''

The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning ''The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning'' () is a 1923 German silent fantasy film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Werner Krauss, Lia Eibenschütz, and Ossip Runitsch. A doll maker in Kiangning (modern Nanjing), China crafts a puppet which he is c ...

'' (1923) * '' Earth Spirit'' (1923) * ''

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

'' (1924) * '' The Last Laugh'' (1924) * , ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

'' (1927) * '' Fräulein Else'' (1929) * ''

The Man Who Murdered ''The Man Who Murdered'' () is a 1931 German crime drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Conrad Veidt, Trude von Molo and Heinrich George. It is adapted from the 1906 novel ''L'homme qui assassina'' by Claude Farrère. The film's ...

'' (1931) * ''

Ariane Ariane may refer to: *Ariana (name), also Ariane, Arianne Arts * ''Ariane'' (Martinů), an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, first performed 1961 * ''Ariane'' (Massenet), an opera by Jules Massenet, first performed 1906 * ''Ariane'' (film), a 1931 ...

'' (1931) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1932) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1937) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1953)

References

External links

*
Carl Mayer at Film ReferenceCarl Mayer at Criterion Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Carl 1894 births 1944 deaths Film people from Graz British male screenwriters Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom German screenwriters German male screenwriters Burials at Highgate Cemetery Austrian pacifists Jewish Austrian writers Jewish pacifists 20th-century British screenwriters Deaths from cancer in England