Lothar Mendes | |
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 From a 1926 magazine | |
| Born | 19 May 1894 |
| Died | 25 February 1974 |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1918 – 1946 |
Lothar Mendes (19 May 1894 – 24 February 1974) was a German-born screenwriter and film director. [1] His two best known films are Jew Süss (1934) and The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936), both productions for British studios.
Born in Berlin, Mendes began his career as an actor in Vienna and Berlin in Max Reinhardt's company. After directing his first two films in Berlin, he settled in the United States in the early 1920s and remained there until 1933, directing more than a dozen features, mostly frothy comedies, while under contract to Paramount. His films included the last silent film made in the USA, The Four Feathers (1929), and the murder mystery Payment Deferred (1933) starring British actor Charles Laughton.
After Adolf Hitler came to power, Mendes, who was Jewish, traveled to Britain to work at Gaumont-British Pictures, directing films with Michael Balcon producing. Under that banner, he directed Jew Süss (1934) [2] starring Conrad Veidt, who had also emigrated from Germany. (Mendes' Jew Suss should not be confused with the later Nazi film of the same title released in 1940 which is a virulently antisemitic film.) Mendes' 1934 film version of Feuchtwanger's novel received strong notices at the time, and was considered an important and early film in exposing the origins of the antisemitism of the new Nazi government; in particular, it was praised by Albert Einstein and the Jewish American leader, Rabbi Stephen Wise, though the film itself did not attract an audience in Depression-era America. [3]
Mendes best-known film, The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936), is based on the H.G. Wells short story was made for Alexander Korda's London Films, for which Wells co-wrote the adaptation. It features Roland Young and Ralph Richardson,. His last British film was Moonlight Sonata aka The Charmer and starred the piano legend Paderewski as himself; it contains rare performance footage of the legendary pianist.
After returning to Hollywood in the late 1930s, he directed five more studio films. Mendes co-directed the pro-British International Squadron (1941), starring Ronald Reagan; this was one of several films on the Eagle Squadron of American pilots who volunteered to fly in the Battle of Britain before the US entered the war. [4] His last feature films were based on patriotic World War II themes with such stars as Rosalind Russell as a Navy reconnaissance pilot who must fly one more mission before getting married in Flight for Freedom (1943) and Edward G Robinson as a man who may or may not have married a spy in Tampico (1944).
"A competent, dependable director," commented film historian Larry Langman, "he never achieved the critical success in America that came to some of his compatriots." [5]
Mendes' first wife was the actress Eva May, daughter of Mia May and Joe May. From 1926 to 1928, Mendes was married to the British-born silent film actress Dorothy Mackaill. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1935, he married Countess Marguerite de Bosdari (better known as Babe Plunket-Greene), former wife of Count Anthony de Bosdari and of David Plunket Greene. [6]
Mendes retired from films in 1946 and returned to London, where he remained until his death on 24 February 1974 at age 79. He was then living at 54, Embassy House, West End Lane, London NW6. [7]
Charles Laughton was a British-American actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death.
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian–born British film director, producer, and screenwriter, who founded his own film production studios and film distribution company.
Lion Feuchtwanger was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht.
Hans Walter Conrad Veidt was an actor. He attracted early attention for his roles in the films Different from the Others (1919), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Man Who Laughs (1928). After a successful career in German silent films, where he was one of the best-paid stars of UFA, Veidt and his new Jewish wife Ilona Prager left Germany in 1933 after the Nazis came to power. The couple settled in Britain, where he took citizenship in 1939. Veidt subsequently appeared in many British films, including The Thief of Bagdad (1940). After immigrating to the United States around 1941, he was cast as Major Strasser in Casablanca (1942), his last film role to be released during his lifetime.
Veit Harlan was a German film director and actor. Harlan reached the highpoint of his career as a director in the Nazi era; most notably his antisemitic film Jud Süß (1940) makes him controversial. While viewed critically for his ideologies, a number of critics consider him a capable director on the grounds of such work as Opfergang (1944).
Wesley Ruggles was an American film director.
Charles Alfred Selwyn Bennett was an English playwright, screenwriter and director probably best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock.
Alfred Junge was a German-born production designer who spent a large part of his career working in the British film industry.
The Man Who Could Work Miracles is a 1937 British fantasy comedy film directed by Lothar Mendes and produced by Alexander Korda. The film stars Roland Young with a cast of supporting players including Sir Ralph Richardson. Possibly the best-known of Mendes' 20 films, it is an expanded version of H. G. Wells's 1898 short story of the same name. Wells worked on the adaptation, revising the plot to reflect his socialist frustrations with the British upper class and the growing threats of communism and fascism in Europe.
John Loder was established as a British film actor in Germany and Britain before migrating to the United States in 1928 for work in the new talkies. He worked in Hollywood for two periods, becoming an American citizen in 1947. After living also in Argentina, he became a naturalized British (Argentinian?) citizen in 1959.
Bernard Knowles was an English film director, producer, cinematographer and screenwriter. Born in Manchester, Knowles worked with Alfred Hitchcock on numerous occasions before the director emigrated to Hollywood.
Sidney Bracey was an Australian-born American actor. After a stage career in Australia, on Broadway and in Britain, he performed in more than 320 films between 1909 and 1942.
Jud Süß is a 1940 Nazi German historical drama/propaganda film produced by Terra Film at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. Considered one of the most antisemitic films of all time, the film was directed by Veit Harlan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger. It stars Ferdinand Marian and Kristina Söderbaum with Werner Krauss and Heinrich George in key supporting roles.
Jew Süss is a 1934 British historical romantic drama film based on Lion Feuchtwanger's 1925 novel Jud Süß, about Joseph Süß Oppenheimer. Directed by Lothar Mendes, the film stars German actor Conrad Veidt in the role of Oppenheimer. The screenplay was written by Dorothy Farnum and Arthur Rawlinson.
Julius Hagen (1884–1940) was a German-born British film producer who produced more than a hundred films in Britain.
Anne Grey was an English actress, who appeared in 44 films between 1928 and 1939, including some Hollywood films during the late 1930s. She was educated at Lausanne and King's College London.
Walter Percy Day O.B.E. (1878–1965) was a British painter best remembered for his work as a matte artist and special effects technician in the film industry. Professional names include W. Percy Day; Percy Day; "Pop" or "Poppa" Day, owing to his collaboration with sons Arthur George Day (1909–1952) draughtsman, Thomas Sydney Day (1912–1985), stills photographer and cameraman, and stepson, Peter Ellenshaw, who also worked in this field.
Babe Plunket Greene, birth registered as Enid Margot Bendir, was one of the 1920s English socialites known as the "Bright Young Things". She also used the surname of her mother's first husband, McGusty, and the first name "Marguerite".
Ben Lewis (1894–1970) was an American film editor who worked in Hollywood for several decades. He was employed by MGM for many years, beginning his career with them in the silent era. An early credit was for Quality Street (1927) starring Marion Davies.
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