Curt Alexander (1900-1945) was a German

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 ...

. He originally worked as a

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

before moving into film after the introduction of

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

. Following the rise of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

the

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 ...

Alexander emigrated to France working there and in Italy. He was a friend of fellow exile

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...

, making several films with him including ''

Everybody's Woman ''Everybody's Woman'' (Italian: ''La signora di tutti'') is a 1934 Italian drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Isa Miranda, Memo Benassi and Tatyana Pavlova. It is the only film Max Ophüls made in Italy. The film was a success and ...

''.Williams p.211 After the German invasion of France in 1940 he fled to the

Unoccupied Zone The ''zone libre'' (, ''free zone'') was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during World War II, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on 22 June 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered by ...

in the south of the country, working in 1942 on his final film ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' at the

Victorine Studios Victorine Studios (French: Studios de la Victorine) are a film studio in the French city of Nice. They are also known as the Nice Studios. Several small studios have also existed in the city. Originally built in 1921 in an attempt to create a Ho ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Drancy internment camp Drancy internment camp () was an assembly and detention camp for confining Jews who were later deported to the extermination camps during the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, German occupation of France duri ...

and the deported to

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flos ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, where he died in the

subcamp Subcamps were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main Nazi concentration camps, concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazis distinguished between the List of N ...

Gröditz Gröditz () is a town in the district Meißen (district), Meißen, in Saxony, Germany. The town is located 12 km northeast of Riesa, and 7 km southwest of Elsterwerda. Geography Gröditz is located on a 100 meter high plains that o ...

Selected filmography

* ''

Who Takes Love Seriously? ''Who Takes Love Seriously?'' () is a 1931 German romantic comedy film directed by Erich Engel and starring Max Hansen, Jenny Jugo, and Otto Wallburg. It was shot at the Marienfelde Studios of Terra Film in Berlin and on location in the city. T ...

'' (1931) * ''

The Bartered Bride ''The Bartered Bride'' (, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It ...

'' (1932) * ''

The Leap into the Void ''The Leap into the Void'' (German: ''Der Sprung ins Nichts'') is a 1932 American drama film directed by Leo Mittler and starring Cilly Feindt, Aribert Mog and Sigurd Lohde.Horak p.113 It was made at the Joinville Studios in Paris as the German ...

'' (1932) * ''

Five from the Jazz Band ''Five from the Jazz Band'' () is a 1932 German musical comedy film directed by Erich Engel and starring Jenny Jugo, Rolf von Goth, and Fritz Klippel. It is based on a 1927 play of the same name by Felix Jackson, and was produced by the German ...

'' (1932) * ''

A City Upside Down ''A City Upside Down'' () is a 1933 German comedy film directed by Gustaf Gründgens and starring S.Z. Sakall, Jenny Jugo and Hermann Thimig. It is based on the 1836 play ''The Government Inspector'' by Nikolai Gogol. A separate Czech adaptati ...

'' (1933) * '' Liebelei'' (1933) * '' Toto'' (1933) * ''

'' (1934) * '' The Tender Enemy'' (1936) * '' The Make Believe Pirates'' (1937) * '' Tomb of the Angels'' (1937) * ''

Boefje '' Boefje'' (, "rascal") is a 1939 Dutch children's comedic melodrama directed by Detlef Sierck. The film is based on a classic 1903 Dutch children's book of the same name, written by journalist Marie Joseph Brusse. Plot summary Jan Grovers and ...

'' (1939) * ''

There's No Tomorrow "There's No Tomorrow", written by Al Hoffman, Leo Corday and Leon Carr, is one of two popular songs based on the Italian song, "'O sole mio" (music by Eduardo di Capua). (The other was " It's Now or Never", popularized by Elvis Presley.) The ...

'' (1939) * ''

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

'' (1940) * ''

Threats A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation fo ...

'' (1940) * ''

'' (1944)

References

Bibliography

* Waldman, Harry. ''Nazi Films in America, 1933-1942''. McFarland, 2008. * Williams, Alan L. ''Republic of Images: A History of French Filmmaking''. Harvard University Press, 1992.

External links

* 1900 births 1945 deaths German screenwriters French screenwriters 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights German dramatists and playwrights Writers from Berlin People who emigrated to escape Nazism German Jews German emigrants to France People who died in Flossenbürg concentration camp {{Germany-film-bio-stub