Henry Blanke (December 30, 1901 – May 28, 1981) was a German-born film producer who also worked as an assistant director, supervisor, writer, and production manager. He was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...

for '' The Nun’s Story'' (1959).

Biography

He was born Heinz Blanke in

Steglitz Steglitz () is a boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in Southwestern Berlin, the capital of Germany. is derived from the Slavic languages, Slavic name for the European goldfinch, similar to the German . ...

, Berlin, Germany, the son of painter Wilhelm Blanke. He began his career as a film cutter in 1920. Blanke became an assistant to

Ernst Lubitsch Ernst Lubitsch (; ; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; a ...

and moved to Hollywood with him to make films with

Warner Bros. 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 ...

including '' The Marriage Circle'' (1924). He produced nine films in his native Germany before emigrating to Hollywood. After Lubitsch left, Blanke stayed on as an assistant director. He returned to Germany to be the production manager of

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

's 1927 film ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'' and then Warners re-hired him and put him in charge of German co-productions. He eventually became a power at Warner's becoming production supervisor and working at the studio for over 25 years. When Hal B. Wallis became production chief after Darryl F. Zanuck left in 1933, Blanke and Sam Bischoff were the main producers at the studio. In 1945, Blanke signed a 15-year contract with the studio and by 1953, was one of only three producers left, along with Bischoff and David Weisbart. Among his Hollywood producing credits are: '' Of Human Bondage'' (1946), '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (1948) and ''

The Fountainhead ''The Fountainhead'' is a 1943 novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, her first major literary success. The novel's protagonist, Howard Roark, is an intransigent young architect who battles against conventional standards and refuses to com ...

'' (1949). When the announced production of '' The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937) came under fire from Georg Gyssling, the

Nazi German 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 ...

consul to the United States (due to its portrayal of

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...

, who was of Jewish descent), Blanke lied to him, telling him the Dreyfus affair was only a small part of the film. The

Online Archive of California In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

has a transcript of his oral recollections.

Partial filmography

:''As producer unless otherwise indicated.'' * '' Dearie'' (1927) (assistant director to

Archie Mayo Archibald L. Mayo (January 29, 1891 – December 4, 1968) was a film director, screenwriter and actor. Early years The son of a tailor, Mayo was born in New York City. After attending the city's public schools, he studied at Columbia Unive ...

) * ''

Brass Knuckles Brass knuckles (also referred to as brass knucks, knuckledusters, iron fist and paperweight, among other names) are a melee weapon used primarily in Hand to hand combat, hand-to-hand combat. They are fitted and designed to be worn around the kn ...

'' (1927) (assistant to

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage, and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director, he made films in numerous genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, and c ...

) * '' My Sister and I'' (1929) * '' The Dance Goes On'' (1930) * '' You'll Be in My Heart'' (1930) * '' The Sacred Flame'' (1931) * '' Mystery of the Wax Museum'' (1933) (uncredited) * '' Goodbye Again'' (1933) (uncredited) * '' Bureau of Missing Persons'' (1933) (uncredited) * '' Convention City'' (1933) * '' Easy to Love'' (1934) (uncredited) * '' Fashions of 1934'' (1934) (uncredited) * '' Fog Over Frisco'' (1934) (uncredited supervising producer) * '' Dr. Monica'' (1934) (uncredited) * '' I Am a Thief'' (1934) (uncredited) * '' The Girl from 10th Avenue'' (1934) (uncredited) * '' The Case of the Lucky Legs'' (1935) (uncredited) * ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' (uncredited) * '' The Green Pastures'' (1935) (supervising producer) * ''

Anthony Adverse ''Anthony Adverse'' is a 1936 American epic historical drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland. The screenplay by Sheridan Gibney draws elements of its plot from eight of the nine books in Hervey ...

'' (1936) (uncredited supervising producer) * '' The Case of the Velvet Claws'' (1936) (uncredited) * '' The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937) (uncredited associate producer) * '' White Banners'' (1938) (uncredited associate producer) * ''

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

'' (1938) (uncredited associate producer) * ''

The Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a 1938 American Epic film, epic swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and written by Norman Reilly Ra ...

'' (1938) (uncredited associate producer) * '' Four Daughters'' (1938) (uncredited associate producer) * '' Juarez'' (1939) (associate producer) * '' Daughters Courageous'' (1939) (associate producer) * '' The Old Maid'' (1939) (associate producer) * '' We Are Not Alone'' (1939) (associate producer) * '' Saturday's Children'' (1940) (associate producer) * '' The Sea Hawk'' (1940) (associate producer) * '' A Dispatch from Reuter's'' (1940) (associate producer) * '' Four Mothers'' (1940) (associate producer) * '' The Sea Wolf'' (1941) (associate producer) * '' The Great Lie'' (1941) (associate producer) * '' The Maltese Falcon'' (1941) (associate producer) * ''

Blues in the Night "Blues in the Night" is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun wi ...

'' (1941) (associate producer) * '' The Gay Sisters'' (1942) * ''

Edge of Darkness ''Edge of Darkness'' is a British television drama serial produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six 50 to 55-minute episodes in late 1985. A mixture of crime drama and pol ...

'' (1943) * '' The Constant Nymph'' (1943) * '' Old Acquaintance'' (1943) * '' The Mask of Dimitrios'' (1944) * '' Roughly Speaking'' (1945) * '' My Reputation'' (1946) * '' Of Human Bondage'' (1946) * ''

Deception Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Tort of ...

'' (1946) * '' Cry Wolf'' (1947) * '' Deep Valley'' (1947) * '' Escape Me Never'' (1947) * '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (1948) * '' Winter Meeting'' (1948) * '' The Woman in White'' (1948) * '' June Bride'' (1948) * ''

'' (1949) * '' Beyond the Forest'' (1949) * '' Bright Leaf'' (1950) * '' Lightning Strikes Twice'' (1951) * '' Goodbye, My Fancy'' (1951) * '' Tomorrow Is Another Day'' (1951) * '' Come Fill the Cup'' (1951) * '' Room for One More'' (1952) * ''

The Iron Mistress ''The Iron Mistress'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Alan Ladd and Virginia Mayo. It ends with Bowie's marriage to Ursula de Veramendi and does not deal with his death at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. ...

'' (1952) * '' She's Back on Broadway'' (1953) * '' So This Is Love'' (1953) * '' So Big'' (1953) * '' Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954) * '' Lucky Me'' (1954) * ''

King Richard and the Crusaders ''King Richard and the Crusaders'' is a 1954 American historical drama based on Sir Walter Scott's '' The Talisman'' made by Warner Bros. The film stars Rex Harrison, Virginia Mayo, George Sanders and Laurence Harvey, with Robert Douglas, Mich ...

'' (1954) * '' Young at Heart'' (1954) * '' The McConnell Story'' (1955) * '' Sincerely Yours'' (1956) * ''

Serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...

'' (1956) * '' Too Much, Too Soon'' (1958) * '' Westbound'' (1959) * ''

The Nun's Story ''The Nun's Story'' is a 1956 novel by Kathryn Hulme. It was a Book of the Month selection and reached No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Premise The lead character of the book, Sister Luk ...

'' (1959) * '' The Miracle'' (1959) * '' Ice Palace'' (1960) * '' Cash McCall'' (1960) * '' The Sins of Rachel Cade'' (1961) * '' Hell Is for Heroes'' (1962)

References

External links

*
Article about Blanke
purportedly by

Douglas Gomery Douglas Gomery is Resident Scholar at the Broadcasting Archives at the University of Maryland and Professor Emeritus at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, College Park. He holds a doct ...

at filmreference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanke, Henry 1901 births 1981 deaths Film producers from Los Angeles Film people from Berlin 20th-century American businesspeople Warner Bros. people People from Steglitz-Zehlendorf German emigrants to the United States