Karl William Marcus (formerly Söderström) (12 January 1917

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 ...

– 10 October 1989

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

) was a Finnish-British film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer who used the stage name William Markus.

Family

Marcus was born in

, England, to a Finnish father, Captain, Lieutenant Commander Karl Ilmari Söderström and an English mother May Isabel Blance Cope.William Markus
at Elonet His mother languages were English, Finnish, and Swedish. He had a dual citizenship in Finland and

the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. His acting career started in 1944, and he changed his surname from Söderström to Marcus.

Career

''Traveler's Oases'' (1953) is a short film directed and starred by Marcus. The story tells of a Finnish family, which lives in

the United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguou ...

. The family visits famous Finnish cities and landmarks. Marcus was a pioneer in the Finnish film industry because he introduced

British humour British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. Common themes include sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, banter, insult humour, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the Social str ...

in his films for the Finnish audiences. ''Autuas Eversti'' (''The Blessed Colonel'', 1958) was censored because the Colonel came to life and rose from the coffin. The coffin scene was too much for Finnish officials at the Finnish Board of Film Classification. Eventually, the film was released from censorhip after removing unwanted scenes. The increasing amount of censorship in the Finnish film industry affected Markus' other film, ''Verta käsissämme'' (''Blood on our Hands'') in 1958. The film was censored four times. It is assumed that the Finnish Board of Film Classification tried to censor the entire film because the film showed Finnish war prisoners in a Soviet concentration camp. Finland's foreign policy was heading towards

Finlandization Finlandization () is the process by which one powerful country makes a smaller neighboring country refrain from opposing the former's foreign policy rules, while allowing it to keep its nominal independence and its own political system. The term ...

Public outrage and pressure released the film from censorship. Marcus acted in the British film, ''The Wooden Horse'' in 1950. The film was the third most popular film at the British box office in 1950. He acted in 14 films between 1944 and 1957. He was a writer in six productions. He directed 13 films between 1953 and 1965. Marcus was a film director at

Suomen Filmiteollisuus Suomen Filmiteollisuus (SF), lit. ''Finland's Film Industry'', is a Finland, Finnish film production company founded by Erkki Karu in 1933 after financial problems with Suomi-Filmi. The CEO, director, producer and writer Toivo Särkkä, T.J. Sär ...

. His film ''

Miriam Miriam (, lit. ‘rebellion’) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Torah refers to her as "Miria ...

'' was entered into the

8th Berlin International Film Festival The 8th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 27 June to 8 July 1958 with the Zoo Palast as the main venue. The festival was opened by then West Berlin's newly elected mayor Willy Brandt. The Golden Bear was awarded to '' Wi ...

as an Official Selection.

Anneli Sauli Anneli Sauli (born Anneli Helena Savolainen; 6 August 1932 Pyhäjoki, Finland – 15 March 2022 Helsinki, Finland) was a renowned Finnish actress whose career spanned nearly seven decades and included more than 40 films, as well as significant w ...

Elina Pohjanpää Armi Elina Annikki Pohjanpää (8 April 1933, in Helsinki – 13 January 1996) was a Finnish actress. Her theatrical career lasted for 40 years, and in addition, she appeared in several Finnish films by directors such as Ilmari Unho, Aarne Tarkas ...

Tauno Palo Tauno Valdemar Palo (born Tauno Brännäs; 25 October 1908 – 24 May 1982) was a Finnish actor and singer in what some consider the golden age of Cinema of Finland, Finnish cinema. In ''Guide to the Cinema of Sweden and Finland'' Peter von Bagh ...

Olavi Virta Olavi Virta (originally until 1926 Oskari Olavi Ilmén; 27 February 1915 – 14 July 1972) was a Finnish singer, acclaimed during his time as the "King" of Finnish tango. Between 1939 and 1966 he recorded almost 600 songs, many of which are ...

Pentti Siimes Pentti Kalevi Siimes (10 September 1929 – 27 October 2016) was a Finnish actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1946 and 2008. Siimes starred in the film ''Miriam'', which was entered into the 8th Berlin In ...

, Jussi Jurkka, and

Åke Lindman Åke Leonard Lindman (born Åke Leonard Järvinen; born 11 January 1928 – 3 March 2009) was a Finnish director and actor. In his youth Lindman was a football player, playing as a defender for the Finland national team during the 1952 Summer ...

performed in his films. He founded Tuotanto William Marcus & Co, which he owned between 1959 and 1989. The production company produced films and advertisements for Finnish and foreign companies.

Director

* ''Den heliga ilskan'' 1965 * ''Karl'' 1963 * ''Det förrädiska hjärtat'' 1963 * ''Ett fat amontillado'' 1963 * ''Lumisten metsien tyttö - Girl of the Snowy Forests'' 1960 * ''Verta käsissämme - Blood on our Hands'' 1958 * ''Autuas eversti - The Blessed Colonel'' 1958 * ''Miriam'' 1957 * ''Rakas varkaani - My Dear Robber'' 1957 * ''Neiti talonmies - Miss Janitor'' 1955 * ''Rakkaus kahleissa - Love in Chains'' 1955 * ''Taikayö - Magical Night'' 1954 * ''Matkailijan keitaita - Traveler's Oases'' 1953

Writer

* ''Det förrädiska hjärtat'' 1963 * ''Ett fat amontillado'' 1963 * ''Autuas eversti - The Blessed Colonel'' 1958 * ''Miriam'' 1957 * ''Neiti talonmies - Miss Janitor'' 1955 * ''Matkailijan keitaita - Traveler's Oases'' 1953

Actor

* ''Rakas varkaani - My Dear Robber'' 1957 * ''Matkailijan keitaita Traveler's Oases'' 1953 * ''Forsfararna'' 1953 * ''On lautalla pienoinen huvila - Small Villa on the Ferry'' 1952 * ''Suomalaistyttöjä Tukholmassa - Finnish Girls in Stockholm'' 1952 * ''Neljä rakkautta - Four Loves'' 1951 * ''Kenraalin morsian - General's Bride'' 1951 * ''Vain laulajapoikia - Just Singer Boys'' 1951 * ''The Wooden Horse'' - 1950 * ''Hornankoski'' 1949 * ''Hormoonit valloillaan - Hormones in Full Swing'' 1948 * ''Maaret - tunturien tyttö - Maaret - the Girl of the Fells'' 1947 * ''Tuhottu nuoruus - Destroyed Youth'' 1947 * ''Dynamiittityttö - Dynamite Girl'' 1944

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Markus, William 1917 births 1989 deaths Film people from Liverpool Finnish film directors Finnish male film actors British emigrants to Finland 20th-century Finnish male actors 20th-century Finnish screenwriters Male actors from Liverpool English emigrants to Finland Finnish people of British descent