Charles Vidor (born Károly Vidor; July 27, 1899June 4, 1959) was a Hungarian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. Among his film successes are ''The Bridge'' (1929), '' Double Door ''(1934), '' The Tuttles of Tahiti'' (1942), '' The Desperadoes'' (1943), ''

Cover Girl A cover girl is a woman whose photograph is used for the front cover of magazines. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a person making a single, casual appearance on the cover of a magaz ...

'' (1944), '' Together Again'' (1944), '' A Song to Remember'' (1945), '' Over 21'' (1945), '' Gilda'' (1946), '' The Loves of Carmen'' (1948), '' Rhapsody'' (1954), '' Love Me or Leave Me'' (1955), '' The Swan'' (1956), '' The Joker Is Wild'' (1957), and ''

A Farewell to Arms ''A Farewell to Arms'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, set during the Italian campaign of World War I. First published in 1929, it is a first-person account of an American, Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant () in the a ...

'' (1957).

Life and career

Born Károly Vidor in

Budapest, Hungary Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, he served in the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

during World War I. He first came to prominence during the final years of the

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

era, working with Alex Korda among others. Contrary to common belief, he was not related to fellow director

King Vidor King Wallis Vidor ( ; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...

(1894–1982).

Early Hollywood career

In 1922, Vidor emigrated to the United States. He worked as a basso for the English Grand Opera Company. He was a chorus boy in ''Love Song'' and worked on Hudson Bay as a longshoreman. Vidor went to Hollywood where he worked as Korda's assistant. He attracted acclaim for a low budget short he made in his spare time with his own money, ''The Bridge'' (1929). This led to a contract at

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

to work in the editorial department. He did some uncredited directing on MGM's ''

The Mask of Fu Manchu ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code film directed by Charles Brabin. Written by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allan Woolf and John Willard (playwright), John Willard, it was based on the List of works by Sax Rohmer, 1 ...

'' (1932). His first credited feature as director was '' Sensation Hunters'' (1933) for

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

. Vidor followed it with '' Double Door'' (1934) at Paramount.

RKO

Vidor accepted a contract to work at

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

. While there he directed '' Strangers All'' (1935), '' His Family Tree'' (1935), '' The Arizonian'' (1935), and '' Muss 'Em Up'' (1936).

Paramount

Vidor went back to Paramount where he directed '' A Doctor's Diary'' (1937), '' The Great Gambini'' (1937), and '' She's No Lady'' (1937).

Columbia Pictures

Vidor signed with Columbia Pictures where he directed '' Romance of the Redwoods'' (1939), '' Blind Alley'' (1939) and '' Those High Grey Walls'' (1939). These were lower budgeted productions but they were well received. "I enjoyed those little pictures", he said later.

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...

got Vidor in to do some second unit work on '' Mr Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939), which was running behind schedule. Vidor directed the scenes in Smith's home town. "I had more money to spend than I was ever given to make a feature picture", he later said. Vidor was loaned out to Edward Small to direct '' My Son, My Son!'' (1940). Back at Columbia, he began to be assigned to more prestigious films like '' The Lady in Question'' (1940). He took over from

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fra ...

on '' They Dare Not Love'' (1941) and did '' Ladies in Retirement'' (1941). Vidor was loaned to Paramount to direct '' New York Town'' (1941) and RKO for '' The Tuttles of Tahiti'' (1942). Back at Columbia, Vidor directed the studio's first Technicolor movie, '' The Desperadoes'' (1943). He followed it with the

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and Pin-up model, pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of ...

–

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

musical, ''

'' (1944) which was a huge success. On June 11, 1944 Vidor signed a seven-year contract with Columbia. Vidor did '' Together Again'' (1944) then made a biopic of Chopin, '' A Song to Remember'' (1945), which was another big hit, and made a star of

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited ap ...

. After '' Over 21'' (1946) with

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during Classical Hollywood cinema, the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she perf ...

, Vidor directed another classic film with '' Gilda'' (1946) starring Hayworth and

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006), known as Glenn Ford, was a Canadian-born American actor. He was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of th ...

Clashes with Harry Cohn

Vidor was Columbia's leading director but he was fighting with head of production

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...

– for instance, Cohn wanted Vidor to direct '' Johnny O'Clock'' but Vidor refused. He started directing '' The Guilt of Janet Ames'' (1947), but fought with Cohn and was replaced during filming by Henry Levin. In 1946 Vidor sued Columbia, seeking to be released from his contract and $78,000 in damages. The case went to trial, where Vidor argued that he had been treated badly by Cohn, who swore at him. (Cohn admitted the swearing but said this was his way of expressing himself.) He also said Cohn would not loan him $25,000 to buy a new house and that Cohn made him cry twice by yelling at him. The judge ruled against Vidor, ordering him back to work. Vidor began directing Ford and William Holden in '' The Man from Colorado'' (1949) but clashed with Cohn once more over the shooting schedule and was fired during filming for being too slow, being replaced by Levin. The matter settled and Vidor was reunited with Hayworth and Ford for the expensive '' The Loves of Carmen'' (1948). Columbia exercised their option under Vidor's contract. In 1948 Vidor announced he had purchased rights to ''Sirocco'', a French Foreign Legion tale based on the novel ''Coup de Grace'' he wanted to make with Rita Hayworth and Humphrey Bogart. He was also preparing to do the film version of '' Born Yesterday'' and did a few days uncredited work on '' Under Cover Man''. In August 1949 Vidor was assigned the musical ''

The Petty Girl ''The Petty Girl'' (1950), known in the UK as ''Girl of the Year'', is a musical romantic comedy Technicolor film starring Robert Cummings and Joan Caulfield. Cummings portrays painter George Petty who falls for Victoria Braymore (Caulfield), ...

'' (1950). He refused to do it, Columbia put him on suspension, and Vidor told Columbia that he considered his contract with them at an end. (He was replaced on ''The Petty Girl'' by Levin). In September Columbia sued Vidor to stop him walking out on the contract. In October 1949 Vidor bought himself out of his contract for $75,000 at $15,000 a year for five years.

Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1884Mayer maintained that he was born in Minsk on July 4, 1885. According to Scott Eyman, the reasons may have been: * Mayer's father gave different dates for his birthplace at different times, so ...

had acted as intermediary "for the good of the industry". Vidor's career had two years to run, at $3,000 a week then $3,500 a week.

MGM

In December 1949 Vidor signed a contract with MGM to direct ''The Running of the Tide'' which was never made. Vidor was one of several directors on MGM's ''

It's a Big Country ''It's a Big Country: An American Anthology'' is a 1951 American anthology film consisting of eight segments by seven directors: Richard Thorpe, John Sturges, Charles Vidor, Don Weis, Clarence Brown, William A. Wellman and Don Hartman. Plot ...

'' (1951). Vidor went to Paramount with a project he had developed himself, '' Thunder in the East'' (filmed 1951, released 1952), which starred

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...

. Sam Goldwyn used him on ''

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

'' (1952) which was a huge success. After filming Vidor optioned the novel ''SPQR'' and announced he would film it independently but it was not made. At MGM Vidor did a musical with

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

, '' Rhapsody'' (1954) and a biopic of

Ruth Etting Ruth Etting (November 23, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American singer and actress during the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film. Known as "America's sweetheart of song", her signature tu ...

, '' Love Me or Leave Me'' (1955), a big success. Vidor directed

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...

's last movie, '' The Swan'' (1956). In 1956 he announced he had formed his own company, Aurora, to make ''The Life of Nijinsky''.

Final years

Vidor went into partnership with

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

and Joe E. Lewis to make a biopic of the latter, '' The Joker Is Wild'' (1957). Sinatra and Vidor were going to reunite on '' Kings Go Forth'' but then

David O. Selznick David O. Selznick (born David Selznick; May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca (1940 film), Rebecca'' (1 ...

hired Vidor to make the troubled ''

'' (1957), replacing

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

. Vidor's last film was an attempt to repeat the success of ''A Song to Remember'', another biopic of a composer, in this case

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

: ''

Song Without End ''Song Without End'', subtitled ''The Story of Franz Liszt'', is a 1960 biographical film romance about Franz Liszt made by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by Charles Vidor, who died during the shooting of the film and was replaced by George ...

'' (1960) (originally titled ''A Magic Flame''). He died of a heart attack three weeks into filming.

Personal life

He was married four times: * Frances Varone 1924–1931 * the actress Karen Morley 1932–1943 (separated 1940) * the actress Evelyn Keyes 1944–1945 * Doris Warner, daughter of Warner Bros. President Harry Warner, 1945–1959 (until his death) He had three sons – Quentin, Brian and Michael.

Death

Charles Vidor died at the age of 59 in

Vienna, Austria 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. ...

, from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, reportedly ''

in flagrante delicto ''In flagrante delicto'' (Latin for "in blazing offence"), sometimes simply ''in flagrante'' ("in blazing"), is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught ...

'' with a bit player from the film he was directing at the time. He was in the midst of making ''

'', and was replaced as director by

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor ( ; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO Pictures, RKO when David O. Selzn ...

. He was entombed at Home of Peace Cemetery in the same mausoleum as Harry Warner.

Recognition

Vidor has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 6676 Hollywood Boulevard for his contribution to motion pictures.

Filmography

* ''The Bridge'' (1929 short) * ''

'' (1932) (uncredited) * '' Sensation Hunters'' (1933) * '' Double Door'' (1934) * '' Strangers All'' (1935) * '' The Arizonian'' (1935) * '' His Family Tree'' (1935) * '' Muss 'em Up'' (1936) * '' Sinister House'' (1936) * '' A Doctor's Diary'' (1937) * '' The Great Gambini'' (1937) * '' She's No Lady'' (1937) * '' Romance of the Redwoods'' (1939) * '' Blind Alley'' (1939) * '' Those High Grey Walls'' (1939) * '' My Son, My Son!'' (1940) * '' The Lady in Question'' (1940) * '' They Dare Not Love'' (1941) (uncredited co-director) * '' Ladies in Retirement'' (1941) * '' New York Town'' (1941) * '' The Tuttles of Tahiti'' (1942) * '' The Desperadoes'' (1943) * ''

'' (1944) * '' Together Again'' (1944) * '' A Song to Remember'' (1945) * '' Over 21'' (1945) * '' Gilda'' (1946) * '' The Loves of Carmen'' (1948) * '' The Man from Colorado'' (1949) * ''

'' (1951) * ''

'' (1952) * '' Thunder in the East'' (1952) * '' Rhapsody'' (1954) * '' Love Me or Leave Me'' (1955) * '' The Swan'' (1956) * '' The Joker Is Wild'' (1957) * ''

'' (1957) * ''

'' (1960)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vidor, Charles 1899 births 1959 deaths Film people from Budapest Hungarian emigrants to the United States Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Burials at Home of Peace Cemetery Warner family