Aleksander Hertz (director)

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Aleksander Hertz

Aleksander Hertz (* 1879 in Warsaw , Russian Empire ; † January 26, 1928 in Warsaw, Poland ) was a Polish film director , founder of a film company and film producer of Jewish origin, one of the most important pioneers of Polish cinematography .

Life

Hertz grave in Warsaw

Hertz worked at Bank Dyskontowy until 1908 . In the first decade he began to be interested in cinematography. In 1909 he founded his own cinema with Sfinks at Warsaw Marszałkowska Street 116 (later moved to the Galeria Luxenburga on Sentorska Street); Hertz used the same name ( Warszawskie Towarzystwo Udziałowe Sfinks ) two years later (1911) for the establishment of the first Polish film production company . Another Hertz company dealt with film distribution.

The heyday of Hertzen's film activity was during the First World War under German military rule over the Polish heartland and Warsaw. During these years, from 1915 to 1918, Hertz began directing and producing numerous films. In 1915, "Sfinks" merged with a rival company called Kosmofilm , the old name was retained and Hertz became the company's manager. A total of 172 films are said to have been made by Sfinks under his aegis, most of these films he is also likely to have directed, although, as was quite common in Polish films at the time, the name of the director was rarely given.

Hertz is considered to be the discoverer and supporter of the future film stars Pola Negri and Lya Mara , who emigrated to the German Empire in 1917 in order to flourish their film careers there.

Filmography (selection)

as a director and / or producer

  • 1912: Spodnie jaśnie pana
  • 1913: Wykolejeni
  • 1915: Szpieg
  • 1916: Bestia (also screenplay)
  • 1917: Arabella
  • 1918: Książę Józef Poniatowski
  • 1918: Mężczyzna
  • 1919: Dla szczęścia
  • 1919: Krysta
  • 1927: Ziemia obiecana

literature

  • Jerzy Toeplitz : History of the Film, Volume 1 1895-1928. East Berlin 1972. p. 104

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Encyclopedia Powszechna PWN . 22nd edition. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 1992, ISBN 83-01-10416-3 , Hertz Aleksander, p. 295 (Polish).
  2. ↑ Aleksander Hertz . FilmPolski.pl. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  3. ^ Cinema . YIVO Institute for Jewish Research . Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  4. ^ A b Marian Fuks: "Sfinks", czyli Hertz . FilmPolski.pl. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  5. ^ Jewish cinemas in Warsaw during the inter-war period. The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
  6. ↑ according to Toeplitz: Geschichte des Films, p. 104.
personal data
SURNAME Hertz, Aleksander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish film director and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsaw , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH January 26, 1928
Place of death Warsaw , Poland