Mime Misu (21 January 1888 – 1953)"Mime Misu"
KinoTV.com. Accessed 21 February 2016. (born Mișu Rosescu) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n ballet dancer, pantomime artist, film actor and director. In 1912 he wrote and directed the first feature film about the sinking of the , ''

In Nacht und Eis ''In Nacht und Eis'' (English: "In Night and Ice"), also called ''Der Untergang der Titanic'' ("The Sinking of the ''Titanic''") and ''Shipwrecked in Icebergs'' in the US, is a 1912 German silent adventure-disaster drama film about the sinking ...

'', released in August 1912 four months after the disaster.

Early acting life

Mime MisuHis name is pronounced 'Meema Mischu' in Romanian. was born in the market town of

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

, into a family of artistes. He was the nephew of the 'world famous' Rahel. He was on the stage from an early age in ballet and pantomime, and he displayed enough talent to be given a free place at Bucharest Art Academy. During his studies he was assigned to the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

, and after graduating with honors he successfully played in provincial theatres in Romania. In 1900 he performed at the 1900 World Fair in Paris, and then took his own productions to Berlin, Vienna, Budapest and London.

Film director

Misu worked for the film production companies

Lux The lux (symbol: lx) is the unit of illuminance, or luminous flux per unit area, in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to one lumen per square metre. In photometry, this is used as a measure of the irradiance, as perceived by ...

and

Pathé Frères Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

in Paris before signing up with

Continental-Kunstfilm 123 Chauseestraße, Berlin, Continental-Kunstfilm's first studioThe inscription ERBAUT MDCCCXCVI (built 1906) appears on the building. Remarkably it survived World War II, and ended up on the Berlin border crossing after 1961. Chauseestraße f ...

of Berlin in 1912 where he wrote and directed three films: ''Das Gespenst von Clyde'', ''

'', and '' Das Mirakel''. Misu made one more film in Germany, ''Der Excentric-Club'' for Projektions-AG Union (PAGU).The producer wa
Paul Davidson
who also produced the film of the Karl Vollmoeller/

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 ...

pantomime ''Eine venezianische Nacht'' (1914); Paul Leni's ''Dornröschen'' (1917); Paul Wegener's ''Der Rattenfänger von Hameln'' (1918) (must find?);

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 ...

's ''Madame DuBarry'' (1919) with

Emil Jannings Emil Jannings (born Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz; 23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a Swiss-born German actor who was popular in Hollywood films in the 1920s. He was the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for starring in '' ...

and

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienn ...

, and '' Der Golem, wie er in der Welt kam'' (1920). An article in the Berlin journal ''Licht-Bild-Bühne'' in 1914 called him the 'Napoleon of film' (German: 'Napoleon der Filmkunst'), referring to his various technological advances. When Emil Schunemann (the cameraman for ''In Nacht und Eis'' and ''Das Mirakel'') called him a barber in his memoirs, he wasn't being particularly complimentary. Misu went to the USA but only made one known film with his Misu-Film Co., ''The Money God''. In 1915 he directed ''Ontmaskerd'' ('Unmasked') in the Netherlands under his real name, Misu Rosescu. Like ''

'', this film also contains a scene of a ship sinking. Misu travelled to the US every year from 1915 to 1917.Misu's transatlantic voyages: * Arrived in the US on 27 October 1915 aboard the Frederik VIII from Copenhagen
Ellis Island records
(Free registration required) * 4 April 1916 arrived from Rotterdam married to Bertha Rosescu, a Romanian of German ancestry. * 1 February 1917 on the Noordam from Rotterdam
Ellis Island records
His Berlin address in 1915 was Nachodstraße 25, Berlin-Wilmersdorf. In 1920/21 Misugraph-Film G.m.b.H., had its offices at Martin-Luther-Straße 28, Berlin, according to the Reichs-Kino-Adressbuch. In 1921 Misu seems to have misrepresented himself as to his level of involvement at

Famous Players Lasky Famous may refer to: Companies * Famous Brands, a South African restaurant franchisor * Famous Footwear, an American retail store chain * Famous Music, the music publishing division of Paramount Pictures * Famous Studios, the animation division ...

, and to have caused some considerable offence. This led to an exchange of letters in the Berlin film journal ''Film-Kurier''. Information about his later career and death is uncertain.

Selected filmography

He directed at least six films: * ''Das Gespenst von Clyde'' (1912) *''

'' (1912)Registered with Berlin censor 6 July 1912, fp Berlin 17 August 1912. (and also possibly played the part of the radio operator) * '' Das Mirakel'' (1912), later ''Das Marienwunder: eine alte Legende''''Das Marienwunder'' censorship *Polizei, Berlin: Verbot (No. 13.1) *Polizei, Berlin: Jugendverbot (No. 13.23) *Polizei, München: Verbot (No. 2752, 2753, 2754, 2755) *Polizei, München: Verbot (No. 13899, 13900, 13901, 13902) *Polizei, München: Jugendfrei (No. 36063, 36064, 36065, 36066) * ''Der Excentric-Club'' (1913/14) * ''The Money God'' (1914) * ''Ontmaskerd'' (1915)

References

; Notes ; Citations ; Sources * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Misu, Mime 1888 births 1953 deaths People from Botoșani Romanian film directors Romanian male film actors Romanian male silent film actors Romanian male ballet dancers Romanian expatriates in Germany Impostors