Henry Cornelius (born Owen Henry Cornelius 18 August 1913 – 2 May 1958) was a South African-born

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 ...

, producer,

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 ...

and

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

. He directed five films between 1949 and 1958.

Biography

Born into a

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

family,Cornelius, Henry (1913-1958)
profile on

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and tele ...

Cornelius left his native South Africa to work under

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

in the Berlin theatrical world. After

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

came to power he went to Paris to produce and direct plays until he was selected by

René Clair René Clair (; 11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette (), was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. H ...

to be an English speaking assistant editor when Clair went to England to make '' The Ghost Goes West''. Cornelius stayed on with

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; ; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)

London Films London Films Productions is a British film and television production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda and from 1936 based at Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire, near London. The company's productions included '' The Private Li ...

to edit several of their classic films such as '' The Four Feathers'' and ''

The Lion Has Wings ''The Lion Has Wings'' is a 1939 British, black-and-white, documentary-style, propaganda film, propaganda war film that was directed by Adrian Brunel, Brian Desmond Hurst, Alexander Korda and Michael Powell. The film was produced by London Film ...

''. The start of World War II led him to return to South Africa to be Deputy Director of the South African Government Film unit where he produced and directed documentaries. When Cornelius returned to England in 1943, his friend Alberto Cavalcanti brought him to

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

. Cornelius became an associate producer and screenwriter of several Ealing classics such as ''

Hue and Cry In common law, a hue and cry is a process by which bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. History By the Statute of Winchester of 1285, 13 Edw. 1. St. 2. c. ...

'' and '' It Always Rains on Sunday''. He made his directing debut with ''

Passport to Pimlico ''Passport to Pimlico'' is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starring Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius and written by T. E. B. Clarke. The story concerns the unea ...

''. The film's success with both the public and the critics led him to ask for a pay rise which Ealing refused. He left Ealing to produce his own film '' The Galloping Major''. That film's failure led Cornelius to return to Ealing studios with the idea for ''

Genevieve Genevieve (; ; also called ''Genovefa'' and ''Genofeva''; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) was a consecrated virgin, and is one of the two patron saints of Paris in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is on 3 January. Rec ...

''. Ealing head

Michael Balcon Sir Michael Elias Balcon (19 May 1896 – 17 October 1977) was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in west London from 1938 to 1956. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British film ...

wasn’t keen on someone quitting Ealing returning to their fold, but recommended him and his film to be produced by the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

. Cornelius died whilst making '' Law and Disorder'', with the film finished by

Charles Crichton Charles Ainslie Crichton (6 August 1910 – 14 September 1999) was an English film director and film editor, editor. Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, he became best known for directing many comedies produced at Ealing Studios and had a 40-yea ...

Filmography

as Director * ''

'' (1949) * '' The Galloping Major'' (1951) * ''

'' (1953) * '' I Am a Camera'' (1955) * '' Next to No Time'' (1958) as Editor * '' The Ghost Goes West'' (1935, assistant editor) * '' Forget Me Not'' (1936) * '' Men Are Not Gods'' (1936) * '' The Drum'' (1938) * '' The Four Feathers'' (1939) * ''

'' (1939)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius, Henry 1913 births 1958 deaths South African film directors South African film editors South African Jews South African people of German-Jewish descent South African emigrants to the United Kingdom