Ernst Hugo Correll (9 June 1882 – 13 September 1942) was a German film producer active during the

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

and early

Nazi era 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 ...

s. Born in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, recently incorporated into the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, he worked as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

before service in the

First World War 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 ...

. He fought on the Western Front and was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

. Postwar he founded a

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 ...

-based film production company with the Italian-born actor Luciano Albertini, which was subsequently taken over by the larger

Phoebus Film Phoebus Film or Phoebus-Film was a German film production and film distribution, distribution company active during the silent era. It was one of the medium-sized firms established during the early boom years of the Weimar Republic. It had a distri ...

. Correll became head of production at Phoebus, building it into one of the more successful companies of the era, until 1927 when he had to resign following the Lohmann Affair. The following year he was appointed to a similar role at UFA, the largest German studio of the era. The former production chief

Erich Pommer Erich Pommer (20 July 1889 – 8 May 1966) was a German-born film producer and executive. Pommer was perhaps the most powerful person in the German and European film industries in the 1920s and early 1930s. As producer, Erich Pommer was involved ...

worked under him as a leading producer until 1933.Hardt p.211-12 Other heads of production units included

Bruno Duday Bruno Duday (14 March 1880 – 31 January 1946) was a German film producer. After military service during the First World War Duday worked for many years at Germany's largest studio UFA where he oversaw several films of the Swedish star Zarah Le ...

and

Gunther Stapenhorst Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther () or Gunnar (), was a historical King of the Burgundians in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they crossed the Rhine ...

. When Pommer and other

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 ...

filmmakers left Germany following 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 ...

's takeover, Correll remained at UFA. Although he had incurred the dislike of the new

Minister of Propaganda A ministry of propaganda also known as agency, bureau or department of propaganda is the part of a government charged with generating and distributing propaganda. Though governments routinely engage in propaganda, ministries or departments with t ...

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

, he was protected for a number of years by Ludwig Klitsch. However, in 1939 he was dismissed because he refused to join the Nazi Party. He retired and died three years later in southern

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 ...

. The stone cross on his grave has been sculpted by

Otto Hitzberger Otto Kaspar Hitzberger (October 2, 1878 in Munich – July 22, 1964 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen) was a German sculptor. Hitzberger was the son of the photographer Josef Hitzberger and his wife Anna. In 1883, the family moved to Partenkirchen. Fr ...

, an artist classified as degenerate art by the Nazi regime.

In popular culture

In 2016, Correll was played by David Novotný in '' The Devil's Mistress'' (''Lída Baarová'') by

Filip Renč Filip Renč (born 17 August 1965) is a Czech film director, screenwriter, and actor. Biograph Filip Renč was born in Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Repub ...

, a dramatization of Lida Baarová's life, a mistress of

References

Bibliography

* Hardt, Ursula. ''From Caligari to California: Erich Pommer's life in the International Film Wars''. Berghahn Books, 1996. * Kester, Bernadette. ''Film Front Weimar: Representations of the First World War in German films of the Weimar Period (1919-1933)''. Amsterdam University Press, 2003. * Kreimeier, Klaus. ''The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945''. University of California Press, 1999.

External links

* 1882 births 1942 deaths German film producers People from Alsace People from Haut-Rhin German Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914) {{Germany-film-bio-stub