Ivar Kreuger was a Swedish civil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. In 1908, he co-founded the construction company Kreuger & Toll Byggnads AB, which specialized in new building techniques. By aggressive investments and innovative financial instruments, he built a global match and financial empire. Between the two world wars, he negotiated match monopolies with European, Central American and South American governments, and finally controlled between two thirds and three quarters of worldwide match production, becoming known as the "Match King".
Lili Damita was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937.
Ferenc Molnár, often anglicized as Franz Molnar, was a Hungarian-born author, stage director, dramatist, and poet, widely regarded as Hungary's most celebrated and controversial playwright. His primary aim through his writing was to entertain by transforming his personal experiences into literary works of art. He never connected to any one literary movement. However, he did utilize the precepts of naturalism, Neo-Romanticism, Expressionism, and Freudian psychoanalytic theories, but only as long as they suited his desires. "By fusing the realistic narrative and stage tradition of Hungary with Western influences into a cosmopolitan amalgam, Molnár emerged as a versatile artist whose style was uniquely his own."
This Is the Night is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle, and starring Lili Damita, Charles Ruggles, Roland Young, Thelma Todd, and Cary Grant in his film debut. It was made by Paramount Pictures.
Three on a match is a purported superstition among soldiers during the Crimean War to World War II. The superstition goes that if three soldiers lit their cigarettes from the same match, one of the three would be killed or that the man who was third on the match would be shot. Since then, it has been considered bad luck for three people to share a light from the same match. This superstition has become part of popular Western culture in films, novels and other art forms.
The Mummy's Hand is a 1940 American horror film directed by Christy Cabanne and produced by Ben Pivar for Universal Studios. Shot in black-and-white, the film is about the ancient Egyptian mummy of Kharis, who is kept alive with a brew of tana leaves by The High Priest and his successor Andoheb. Meanwhile, archeologists Steve Banning and Babe Jenson persuade magician Solvani to finance an expedition in search of the tomb of Princess Ananka. They are joined by Solvani's daughter Marta, and followed by Andoheb who is also the professor of Egyptology at the Cairo Museum. Kharis is ordered to kill off expedition members Dr. Petrie and Ali, while Andoheb becomes attracted to Marta who he plans to kidnap and make immortal.
Fighting Caravans is a 1931 American pre-Code Western film directed by Otto Brower and David Burton and starring Gary Cooper, Lili Damita, and Ernest Torrence. Based on the 1929 novel Fighting Caravans by Zane Grey, the film is about a young frontier scout who helps guide a freight wagon train across the country, fighting off Indians and evil traders, while his two crusty companions try to save him from falling in love. Although billed as being based on the Zane Grey novel, the stories have little in common. The film was actually written by Agnes Brand Leahy, Edward E. Paramore, Jr., and Keene Thompson.
Kreuger & Toll was a construction and holding company founded on May 18, 1908, by two Swedish engineers, Ivar Kreuger and Paul Toll, with Henrik Kreüger working as a consultant and chief engineer.
The Bachelor Father is a 1931 American pre-Code MGM comedy drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Marion Davies and featuring Ralph Forbes, C. Aubrey Smith, Ray Milland and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. It was based on a same-titled play by Edward Childs Carpenter, with Smith re-creating his role from the Broadway production. The plot centers around a stuffy British nobleman whose three grown children suddenly arrive at his estate and decide to move in with him.
Paul Sequens Esaias Toll was a Swedish construction engineer and co-founder, together with Ivar Kreuger, of the construction company Kreuger & Toll.
Henrik Kreüger (1882–1953) was born in Kalmar, Sweden, and obtained his M.Sc. in civil engineering in 1904 at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
The Cock-Eyed World is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy feature film. One of the earliest "talkies", it was a sequel to What Price Glory? (1926), it was directed and written by Raoul Walsh and based on the Flagg and Quirt story by Maxwell Anderson, Tom Barry, Wilson Mizner, and Laurence Stallings. Fox Film Corporation released the film at the Roxy in New York on August 3, 1929.
The Kreuger family in Sweden originated from Johan Kröger from Germany, who immigrated to Kalmar in 1710. He started a bakery in Kalmar in 1710 and married Helena Schultz.
Friends and Lovers is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film released by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Victor Schertzinger, and starring Adolphe Menjou, Lili Damita, Laurence Olivier, Erich von Stroheim, and Hugh Herbert.
Brewster's Millions is a 1935 British musical comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Jack Buchanan, Lili Damita and Nancy O'Neil. It is based on the 1902 novel and subsequent 1906 play, with the action relocated from the United States to Britain.
Sverrir Gudnason is a Swedish actor of Icelandic origin.
Let Us Be Gay is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film produced and distributed by MGM. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard and stars Norma Shearer. It was based on and filmed concurrently with the 1929 play by Rachel Crothers which starred Tallulah Bankhead and ran for 128 performances at London's Lyric Theater. Critics generally preferred Tallulah's rendition to Shearer's.
The German Zündwaren monopoly began in 1930 when Germany's Reichstag passed a bill named Zündwarenmonopolgesetz, which allowed the Deutsche Zündwaren-Monopolgesellschaft exclusive rights to distribute safety matches within the borders of the German Empire. The only brands the Deutsche Zündwaren-Monopolgesellschaft could distribute were Welthölzer and Haushaltsware. Local German manufacturers obtained licenses to produce preassigned volumes to sell domestically and were not allowed to export these matches or to establish new firms.
Torsten Kreuger was a Swedish engineer, industrialist, newspaper owner and banker.
The Song to Her is a 1934 Swedish comedy film directed by Ivar Johansson and starring Martin Öhman, Sickan Carlsson and Åke Jensen. It marked the film debut of Kristina Söderbaum, who went on to be a star of German cinema in the Nazi era. It was also the first screen appearance of Norwegian actress Greta Gynt who went on to star in British films. The film was made at the Råsunda Studios in Stockholm and on location around the city including at the Royal Swedish Opera. The film's sets were designed by the art director Arne Åkermark.
