David Oliver (producer)

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David Oliver (born February 6, 1880 in Galicia , Austria-Hungary ; † November 11, 1947 in London- Pancras, United Kingdom ) was an Austrian-born film producer for German silent films .

Life

David Oliver came from western Galicia and was of Jewish faith. In order to avoid the pogroms that flared up again and again in his homeland, he turned west and opened a cinema in Bremen in 1905 after he had recognized the business opportunities that this new form of entertainment offered him. Successful as a film salesman, he then built large cinema palaces in Hanover, Dresden, Halle and above all in Leipzig.

Ten years later he owned his own film company. When the war broke out in 1914, his company, Oliver-Film GmbH in Berlin, controlled around 25 percent of the German film market. Oliver also managed the Nordic Films Co., so he was head of the German distribution organization of Nordisk Film , which has been operating in Copenhagen since 1906 and for which top executives such as Urban Gad , Valdemar Psilander and Asta Nielsen worked.

The Berlin Oliver-Film GmbH produced feature films and documentaries. One of the stars was the Berlin actress Dorrit Weixler , with whom several films were made from 1915. The documentaries included images of nature and landscapes from the near and far, city portraits as well as general educational or popular educational character and war reports.

In the spring of 1915, Oliver bought Paul Davidson's entire chain of Union theaters. Together with Emil Georg von Stauß and Alexander Grau , he was one of the founding fathers of UFA in November 1917 , after Nordisk had teamed up with other German film companies and the Supreme Army Command under General Erich Ludendorff had given their blessing.

In the 1920s, he shifted the focus of his ventures from film production to the rental and theater business. In Berlin-Charlottenburg, he had the Capitol Theater built by Hans Poelzig with over 1,300 seats. It opened on December 20, 1925 with the film The Thief of Baghdad . In 1929 Oliver was involved in the construction of what was then the largest movie theater in Europe with 2,667 seats, the magnificent UFA-Palast in Hamburg.

After April 1, 1933, when the UFA dismissed all employees of Jewish descent, Oliver turned his back on Germany and emigrated to Spain. There he was able to found his own company again, Iberica Films, and produce a few films with it, but after the outbreak of the civil war in 1936 he had to flee again, this time to England. In London he helped Alexander Korda , who was himself an emigrant, to set up Denham Studios, which were the most modern studio facilities in the United Kingdom at the time. Until his death in November 1947 he was head of Denham Studios Laboratories there. Oliver was 67 years old.

His grandson Marc Oliver, born in 1966, is an actor and film producer in Canada. In 2013 he shot the documentary UFA MAN… The Story of Movie Pioneer David Oliver for HBO about the life and work of his grandfather.

Filmography

  • 1915: The love kitchen
  • 1915: The hunt for happiness
  • 1915: Karline
  • 1915: Just don't be superstitious
  • 1915: A roof tragedy
  • 1915: The master detective
  • 1915: Müller's doom
  • 1915: The sisters
  • 1915: a wise heart
  • 1915: By sovereignty
  • 1915: Dorrit's chauffeur
  • 1915: Bolle's cat
  • 1915: The love trial
  • 1915: the power of fate
  • 1915: Guido, the first
  • 1915: A monkey is wanted
  • 1915: His child from his first marriage
  • 1915: a pleasant guest
  • 1915: chocolate and love
  • 1915: Guido in paradise
  • 1915: Himmelpfort Monastery
  • 1915: The shadow on the window
  • 1915: Sin kills
  • 1915: The snake dancer
  • 1915: Through the Löcknitz area
  • 1915: Pictures from the Werbellinsee
  • 1916: Sabina
  • 1916: The mermaid queen
  • 1916: In the realm of the dwarfs
  • 1916: Quite papa
  • 1916: Garmisch-Partenkirchen
  • 1916: Angela's rent husband
  • 1916: Paulchen Semmelmann
  • 1916: Social Welfare Exhibition Brussels 1916
  • 1916: his weak hour
  • 1916: a fatal situation
  • 1916: Prince Bülow in Brunnen
  • 1916: a light girl
  • 1916: The education to become a model husband
  • 1916: In the battle for Verdun
  • 1916: Nottebohm's unsuccessful marriage
  • 1916: The sealed mayor
  • 1916: Templin in the Mark
  • 1916: an expensive dream
  • 1916: Florian's aunt
  • 1916: Waren at the Müritzsee
  • 1916: Frankenhausen am Kyffhäuser
  • 1916: How to Cure Your Husband
  • 1916: Freiburg on the Unstrut
  • 1916: Too much is unhealthy
  • 1916: Reindeer as thick as a stick
  • 1916: Thick stick - soft as noodle
  • 1916: Sleigh ride on the Hagenstraße from Schierke to Wernigerode
  • 1916: Schierke and the Bodetal
  • 1916: Winter in the Harz Mountains
  • 1916: The Caucasus
  • 1916: Guido and his children
  • 1916: Max as a youth guard
  • 1916: his secret
  • 1916: medical dogs
  • 1916: Around the Rasbek
  • 1916: Adam and Eve
  • 1916: The right of the firstborn
  • 1916: Eilenburg on the Mulde
  • 1916: Dorrit's marital happiness
  • 1916: The man without a head
  • 1916: Dorrit gets a job
  • 1916: The robbery of radium
  • 1916: Professor Erichson's rival
  • 1916: Maria
  • 1916: The Havel from Potsdam to Wannsee
  • 1916: Mausi
  • 1916: Cherry blossom in the Elbe Valley
  • 1916: The dog with the monocle
  • 1916: Flying shadows
  • 1916: Once and not again
  • 1916: Grimma in Saxony
  • 1916: The Stillungklamm waterfalls
  • 1916: A nice little plant
  • 1916: The disturbed wedding night
  • 1917: Modern German fire brigade
  • 1917: Little princess is supposed to get married
  • 1917: Hindenburg has a toothache
  • 1917: Baroness Chamberlain
  • 1917: The last one on the scene
  • 1917: Swiss cadets
  • 1917: The enemy of men
  • 1917: Bulli as a matchmaker
  • 1917: Athletic competitions of the 19th Army Corps
  • 1917: Scenes from the prison camp in Mannheim
  • 1917: A visit to the home for the blind
  • 1917: It was a bright and clear Sunday
  • 1917: The German Werk-Bund exhibition was opened in Bern on August 18, 1917
  • 1917: love and trumpet blowing
  • 1917: Paul and Teddy
  • 1917: Never live next door
  • 1917: Away with the shoes
  • 1917: Bathing at home
  • 1917: Little Lotte and gruff Fritz
  • 1917: boy or girl
  • 1917: Who is the master of the house?
  • 1917: A young person must be lucky
  • 1917: Uncle Doctor
  • 1917: The solar eclipse in Kalakaua
  • 1917: The Furnished Friends
  • 1917: Fantasy dances
  • 1917: The travel uncle
  • 1917: The Mr. Assessor
  • 1917: Dentist against his will
  • 1917: The annual celebration of the Turn und Taxis factory in Brussels
  • 1917: In the club hospital of the Red Cross of the Reich Insurance Institute for employees
  • 1917: Our heroes on the Somme
  • 1917: Cecilie Pit
  • 1917: Tuberculosis Care
  • 1917: Fiffi
  • 1917: The Pannwitz'sche open-air school in Hohenlychen
  • 1917: One hour in the consumer cooperative bakery in Berlin-Lichterfelde
  • 1917: In the paint factories Bayer and Co, Leverkusen near Cöln a. Rh.
  • 1917: Paulchen, the Moorish boy
  • 1917: Paulchen in love intoxication
  • 1917: His Highness' s laundress
  • 1917: The young lady from the cavalry
  • 1917: Wanted a man who is a man
  • 1917: Ball magic
  • 1917: Uncle's favorite
  • 1917: Episodes from the Summer Battle
  • 1917: A hunting trip to Berlin
  • 1917: Separation of property
  • 1917: The world famous Brunos
  • 1918: The shock killer
  • 1918: replacement
  • 1918: The night of August 24th
  • 1918: The Queen of One Night
  • 1918: She wins her husband
  • 1918: On carpenter's pony
  • 1918: The Steyrer Toni
  • 1918: The award-winning stork
  • 1918: Bad Elster, the pearl in Saxony
  • 1918: The darn similarity
  • 1918: Mady wants a monkey
  • 1918: Romeo and Juliet in the seaside resort
  • 1918: A game of chess
  • 1918: The inspector's wife
  • 1918: Cab No. 23
  • 1918: Stöpsch trip to India
  • 1918: Merseburg
  • 1918: Schnurps
  • 1918: Blind zeal
  • 1918: The seventh kiss
  • 1918: The tired Theodor
  • 1918: The will marriage
  • 1918: The fight with the dragon
  • 1918: Mädi's heart's wish (Mädi's Christmas wish)
  • 1918: Resemann's bridal trip
  • 1918: honeymooners
  • 1918: His own funeral
  • 1918: Paulchen Pechnelke
  • 1918: Paulchen's kiss of millions
  • 1918: The prosecutor's wife
  • 1918: stopper
  • 1918: Overnight visit on the summer night
  • 1918: Hearts sold
  • 1918: three crosses
  • 1918: Father against his will
  • 1918: Moritz Schnörche
  • 1918: The rival
  • 1918: Love, yes love
  • 1918: neighbors
  • 1918: How he cries and laughs
  • 1918: Court favor
  • 1919: A rendezvous
  • 1919: Otto Tastenschwinger's engagement
  • 1919: The misogynist
  • 1919: The infernal machine
  • 1919: The millionaire farmer
  • 1919: The uncle from back India
  • 1919: Two birds and one blow
  • 1919: Our little neighbor
  • 1919: Papa's affair
  • 1919: Divorce ruled out
  • 1919: When the groom with the bride
  • 1919: Bubi becomes engaged
  • 1919: A fix boy
  • 1919: How to Get a Bride
  • 1919: Othello in distress
  • 1919: An intimate supper
  • 1920: The right of the firstborn
  • 1920: In the realm of the dwarves
  • 1921: Tuberculosis Care
  • 1921: Dorittchen's pleasure trip

literature

  • Evelyn Hampicke: The Danish influence. David Oliver and Nordisk in Germany . In: A Second Life: German Cinema's First Decades , edited by Thomas Elsaesser, Michael Wedel, pp. 72–78. (English)
  • Jan-Christopher Horak : The lost career of David Oliver . UCLA Film and Television Archives, February 14, 2014 online at ucla.edu (English)
  • Michael Krejsa: John Heartfield. Documentation. Reactions to an unusual exhibition. Involved: John Heartfield, Klaus Honnef, Hans-Jürgen von Osterhausen, Petra Albrecht, Akademie der Künste (Berlin, Germany). Archive Foundation, Rhineland Regional Association. Verlag DuMont, 1994. ISBN 9783770133703 .
  • Irene Stratenwerth, Hermann Simon: Pioneers in Celluloid. Jews in the early film world . Accompanying volume to the exhibition of the same name in the Centrum Judaicum Berlin from February 2, 2004 to May 2004, foundation “New Synagogue Berlin-Centrum Judaicum”. Henschel, Berlin 2004. Here pp. 16, 22, 24 and 52
  • Cinema - the big dream business. This is how it was done at UFA… , 20-part article series in: Der Spiegel, No. 36 / 1950–01 / 1951.
  • Friedrich von Zglinicki: The way of the film. History of cinematography and its predecessors . Rembrandt Verlag, Berlin 1956.

Web links

Illustrations:

  • Picture by David Oliver (1907)
  • Picture by David Oliver (1918)
  • Picture by David Oliver, Chairman of Decla-Bioscop (1925)
  • Trademark of Oliver Film
  • Advertisement for Nordic Films Co. in Cinematograph No. 451, 1913
  • Picture from the production of the film Doña Francisquita (1935) in Spain: in white coats the production manager Edith Oliver and behind them director Hans Behrendt

References and comments

  1. ↑ Oliver ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on findmypast.co.uk @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / search.findmypast.co.uk
  2. ↑ Complete information from Horak 2014
  3. ↑ cf. Horak 2014, who gives February 6, 1880 as his birthday
  4. ↑ "The foyer and the cloakroom were elegantly furnished, the 1,000 seats were comfortably upholstered ..." Oliver described his establishment himself, cf. Stratenwerth-Simon p. 16 and note 13
  5. ↑ see Krejsa p. 30
  6. ↑ He was “an enterprising man”, claimed Der Spiegel 36/1950 in its article AT UFA MAN MADE IT SO ... of September 6, 1950: “David already owned a production company, Oliver-Film G. mb H ., but it didn't go well. The enterprising Pole was not exactly the right man for production and questions of cinematic taste. He spoke a thousand words in German. " (Note how effective the enemy images of the “Third Reich”, which had just ended, were still effective at that time. Cf. article Very intelligent, very well networked in: Der Spiegel from Saturday, September 22, 2012: “Der SPIEGEL der the late forties and fifties is miles away from the educational claims of later years ” ); Marc Oliver and Werner Dieter Thomas have handwritten letters from Oliver that prove the opposite; One of them is a poem in German that he wrote off the cuff to congratulate his son on passing his Abitur. All contracts known to him are also written exclusively in German. When he immigrated to England he was registered as an Austrian citizen.
  7. ↑ with an initial capital of 50,000 marks entered in the Berlin trade register under no. 13 732 on April 28, 1915, cf. Hampicke p. 73
  8. ↑ Share capital 1917/18 around 8 million crowns, cf. Zglinicki p. 397, Stratenwert-Simon p. 22: "David Oliver, up to now cinema operator in Bremen and East Germany, is the builder of a nested group that on the one hand sells Scandinavian and American films through the Nordic Films Co., on the other hand he works under the Title of his company Oliver Film with his own productions strictly patriotic on ... "
  9. ↑ the cinema bandmaster Alexander Schirmann dedicated the title song to his successful film Klovnen / The dancing gate on the sheet music expressly "Mr. General Director Oliver in adoration", cf. Fig. At Zglinicki in the picture section
  10. ↑ * March 27, 1892 Berlin; † November 30, 1916 Berlin, by suicide
  11. ↑ Dorritt's chauffeur  (1915), Dorrit got a position in life , Doritt's marriage happiness  (both 1916), Dorittchen's pleasure trip  (1921)
  12. ↑ Winter in the Harz Mountains 1916, Cherry Blossom in the Elbe Valley 1916, The Havel from Potsdam to Wannsee 1916
  13. ↑ The Caucasus 1916, The Solar Eclipse in Kalakaua 1917
  14. ↑ Grimma in Saxony 1916, Eilenburg an der Mulde 1916, Bad Elster, the pearl in Saxony 1918
  15. ^ Social Welfare Exhibition Brussels 1916, Modern German Fire Brigade 1916/17, Tuberculosis Welfare 1917 and 1921, One hour in the consumer cooperative bakery in Berlin-Lichterfelde 1917, In the paint factories Bayer and Co, Leverkusen near Cöln a. Rh. 1917
  16. ↑ Medical dogs 1916, In the fight for Verdun 1916, episodes from the summer battle 1917, In the club hospital of the Red Cross of the Reich Insurance Agency for employees 1917
  17. ↑ cf. Stratenwerth-Simon p. 52 and note 21
  18. ↑ cf. Horak 2014 and Zglinicki p. 387 ff.
  19. ↑ cf. Zglinicki p. 448, and Ufa-Mann 2012 : Built by David Oliver. Designed by Hans Poelzig , there is also a photo (inside) from 1926
  20. ^ A photo (outside and inside) in Kinowiki
  21. ↑ built by the architects Bloch & Hochfeld, opened on December 21, 1929, cf. Article at allekinos.com and pictures in Kinowiki (outside) and (inside)
  22. ↑ one of them was Doña Francisquita , shot in Spain by German exiles in 1934: the director was Hans Behrendt , who was murdered ten years later in Auschwitz. Hans Jacoby wrote the book , Heinrich Gärtner was in front of the camera . The music was from Jean Gilbert , d. i. Max Winterfeld; see. Imdb
  23. ↑ whose buildings were designed by the Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius and are now a listed building.
  24. ↑ cf. Profile Mark Oliver  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: linkedin.com@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / ca.linkedin.com  
personal data
SURNAME Oliver, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian-German film producer during the silent film era
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Galicia , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1947
Place of death London -Pancras, United Kingdom