Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian–born British film director, producer and screenwriter, who founded his own film production studios and film distribution company.
Merle Oberon was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). After her success in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), she travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel Goldwyn. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Dark Angel (1935). Oberon hid her mixed heritage out of fear of discrimination and the impact it would have had on her career.
The Dark Angel is a 1935 film that tells the story of three childhood friends, Kitty, Alan, and Gerald who come of age in England during the First World War. The script was written by Lillian Hellman and Mordaunt Shairp, adapted from the play by Guy Bolton. It was directed by Sidney Franklin, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, and released by United Artists. A silent film version of the same play, also produced by Goldwyn, was released in 1925 and is now a lost film.
The Divorce of Lady X is a 1938 British Technicolor romantic comedy film produced by London Films; it stars Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Binnie Barnes. It was directed by Tim Whelan and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Ian Dalrymple and Arthur Wimperis, adapted by Lajos Bíró from the play Counsel's Opinion by Gilbert Wakefield. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and Lionel Salter and the cinematography by Harry Stradling.
Robert Wolders was a Dutch television actor known for his role in the US television series Laredo and appearing in series such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Bewitched and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He was married to Merle Oberon, and was the longtime partner of Audrey Hepburn.
Perfect Strangers, is a 1945 British drama film made by London Films. It stars Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr as a married couple whose relationship is shaken by their service in the Second World War. The supporting cast includes Glynis Johns, Ann Todd and Roland Culver. It was produced and directed by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Clemence Dane and Anthony Pelissier based on a story by Clemence Dane. Dane won the Academy Award for Best Story. The music score was by Clifton Parker and the cinematography by Georges Périnal.
Wuthering Heights is a 1939 American romantic period drama film directed by William Wyler, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven, and based on the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The film depicts only 16 of the novel's 34 chapters, eliminating the second generation of characters. The novel was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston (uncredited). The supporting cast features Flora Robson and Geraldine Fitzgerald.
Lydia is a 1941 drama film, directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Merle Oberon as Lydia MacMillan, a woman whose life is seen from her spoiled, immature youth through bitter and resentful middle years, until at last she is old and accepting. The supporting cast features Joseph Cotten, Edna May Oliver and George Reeves. The picture is a remake of Duvivier's Un carnet de bal (1937), which starred Marie Bell as the leading character.
I, Claudius is an unfinished 1937 film adaptation of the novels I, Claudius (1934) and Claudius the God (1935) by Robert Graves. Produced by Alexander Korda, the film was directed by Josef von Sternberg, with Charles Laughton in the title role. The production was dogged by adverse circumstances, culminating in a car accident involving co-star Merle Oberon that caused filming to be ended before completion. Footage from the production was incorporated into a 1965 documentary on the making of the film The Epic That Never Was.
The Lodger is a 1944 American horror film about Jack the Ripper, based on the 1913 novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It stars Merle Oberon, George Sanders, and Laird Cregar, features Sir Cedric Hardwicke, and was directed by John Brahm from a screenplay by Barré Lyndon.
'Til We Meet Again is a 1940 romance film directed by Edmund Goulding and Anatole Litvak and starring Merle Oberon and George Brent as two doomed, star-crossed lovers. It is a remake of the 1932 film One Way Passage and itself was remade into the 1954 Mexican 3-D film El valor de vivir.
Beloved Enemy is a 1936 American drama film directed by H.C. Potter and starring Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, and David Niven. It was loosely based on the life of Michael Collins.
Strange Evidence is a 1933 British crime film directed by Robert Milton, produced by Alexander Korda and written by Lajos Bíró and Miles Malleson. Starring Leslie Banks, George Curzon, Carol Goodner and Frank Vosper, it is a film made by Alexander Korda's London Film Productions at British and Dominions Imperial Studios, Elstree, with art direction by R.Holmes Paul.
Over the Moon is a 1939 British Technicolor comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Merle Oberon, Rex Harrison, Ursula Jeans and Herbert Lomas.
Temptation is a 1946 American film noir thriller film directed by Irving Pichel and starring Merle Oberon, George Brent, Charles Korvin and Paul Lukas. The film was based on Robert Smythe Hichens's 1909 novel Bella Donna. Other film adaptations of the novel were produced in 1915, 1923 and 1934.
Night in Paradise is a 1946 American Technicolor fantasy comedy film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Merle Oberon, Gale Sondergaard and Turhan Bey. It was produced by Walter Wanger for distribution by Universal Pictures.
Affectionately Yours is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Merle Oberon, Dennis Morgan, and Rita Hayworth.
24 Hours of a Woman's Life, also known as Affair in Monte Carlo, is a 1952 British romantic drama film directed by Victor Saville and starring Merle Oberon, Richard Todd and Leo Genn. It is loosely based on the novella by Stefan Zweig. Produced by ABPC, it was shot at the company's Elstree Studios and on location in Monaco. The film's sets were designed by the art director Terence Verity.
This Love of Ours is a 1945 American drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Merle Oberon, Claude Rains, Charles Korvin and Carl Esmond. The film's composer, Hans J. Salter, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1946. This drama from Universal Pictures was later remade as Never Say Goodbye (1956) and the French television film Comme avant, mieux qu'avant (1972).
