Curtis Bernhardt (15 April 1899 – 22 February 1981) was a German

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 ...

born in

Worms, Germany Worms (; ) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main. It had about 84,646 inhabitants . A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern ...

, under the name Kurt Bernhardt.

Career

He trained as an actor in Germany, and performed on the stage, before starting as a film director in 1924, with '' Nameless Heroes''. Other films include '' A Stolen Life'' (1946) and ''

Sirocco Sirocco ( ) or scirocco is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season. Names ''Sirocco'' derives from '' šurūq'' (), verbal noun o ...

'' (1951). Bernhardt made films in Germany from 1925 until 1933, when he was forced to flee the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

— which briefly had him arrested — because he was

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 ...

. Bernhardt directed films in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

before moving on to

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 ...

to work for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

in 1940. He produced and directed his last Hollywood picture, '' Kisses for My President'' (1964), about the nation's first female Chief Executive starring

Polly Bergen Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer, and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan (singer), Helen ...

and

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

. He is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, near his wife,

Pearl Argyle Pearl Argyle (born Pearl Wellman; 7 November 1910 – 29 January 1947) was a South African ballet dancer and actress. She appeared in leading roles with English ballet companies in the 1930s and later performed in stage musicals and in films. ...

Wellman Bernhardt.

Filmography

*'' Nameless Heroes'' (short) (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1924)Ashkenazi, Ofer (2012).
Weimar Film and Modern Jewish Identity
'. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 135, 223. *'' Torments of the Night'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1926) *'' Orphan of Lowood'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1926) *''

Children's Souls Accuse You ''Children's Souls Accuse You'' (German: ''Kinderseelen klagen euch an'') is a 1927 German silent drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Albert Steinrück, Nathalie Lissenko and Walter Rilla. It was made with an anti-abortion th ...

'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1927) *''

The Girl with the Five Zeros ''The Girl with the Five Zeros'' (German: ''Das Mädchen mit den fünf Nullen'') is a 1927 German silent comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt.Bock & Bergfelder p.41 It was shot at the Grunewald Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were design ...

'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1927) *''

The Prince of Rogues ''The Prince of Rogues'' () is a 1928 German silent drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Hans Stüwe, Lissy Arna and Albert Steinrück. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin. The film's art direction was by He ...

'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1928) *'' The Last Fort'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1929) *'' The Woman One Longs For'' aka The Woman Men Yearn For (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1929) * '' The Last Company'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1930) *' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1930) * ''

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 ...

'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1931) * '' The Rebel'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1932) * '' The Tunnel'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1933) *'' Le tunnel'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1933) * '' Gold in the Street'' (1934) *'' The Beloved Vagabond'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1936) * '' Chaste Susanne'' (1937) * '' The Girl in the Taxi'' (1937) *'' Le vagabond bien-aimé'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1937) * '' Crossroads'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1938) *'' Night in December'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1940) *''

My Love Came Back ''My Love Came Back'' is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Olivia de Havilland, Jeffrey Lynn, Eddie Albert, and Jane Wyman. Based on the 1935 Austrian film ''Episode'' written and directed by Walter R ...

'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1940) *'' Lady with Red Hair'' (as Kurt Bernhardt) (1940) *''

Million Dollar Baby ''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by Paul Haggis. It is based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...

'' (1941) *'' Juke Girl'' (1942) *'' Happy Go Lucky'' (1943) *'' Conflict'' (

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

) *'' My Reputation'' (

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

) *'' Devotion'' (

) *'' A Stolen Life'' (1946) *'' High Wall'' (

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

) *''

Possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

'' (1947) *'' The Doctor and the Girl'' (1949) *''

'' (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

) *''

Payment on Demand ''Payment on Demand'' is a 1951 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Bette Davis and Barry Sullivan (actor), Barry Sullivan. The screenplay by Bernhardt and Bruce Manning chronicles a marriage ...

'' (1951) *'' The Blue Veil'' (1951) *''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'' (

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

) *'' Miss Sadie Thompson'' (

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

) *''

Beau Brummell George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an important figure in Regency England, and for many years he was the arbiter of British men's fashion. At one time, he was a close friend of the Prince Regent, the future King ...

'' (

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

) *'' Interrupted Melody'' ( 1955) *'' Gaby'' (

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

) *'' Stefanie in Rio'' (1960) *''

Damon and Pythias The story of Damon (; , gen. Δάμωνος) and Pythias (; or ; or Phintias, ) is a legend in Greek historic writings illustrating the Pythagorean ideal of friendship. Pythias is accused of and charged with plotting against the tyrannical Dion ...

'' (

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

) *'' Kisses for My President'' (1964)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhardt, Curtis Film directors from Rhineland-Palatinate German theatre directors Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States 1899 births 1981 deaths People from Rhenish Hesse Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) People from Worms, Germany German silent film directors