Allan Gray
Allan Gray (born as Josef Zmigrod on February 23, 1902 in Tarnau , Austria-Hungary ; died on September 10, 1973 in Amersham , Great Britain ) was an Austro-British composer .
Life
Gray learned in Berlin during the 1920s with Arnold Schönberg , among others . He chose his stage name as a tribute to Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray . He composed for Max Reinhardt's theater productions, wrote for a large number of musical revues and radio comedies. As the composer of Trude Hesterberg's Wilder Bühne and the cabaret Die Rampe , he set texts by Erich Kästner , Kurt Tucholsky , Joachim Ringelnatz , Marcellus Schiffer and wrote chansons for Werner Finck's cabaret Die Katakombe . He started working for film in the early thirties.
Gray left Germany after the National Socialist seizure of power and settled in Amersham, England. He composed the incidental music for three Shakespeare productions at the Arts Theater London. In 1940/41 he was interned on the Isle of Man . Gray worked for London Films and later for producers, directors and screenwriters Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger . In total, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) lists almost 50 films with his music, including such well-known films as Emil und die Detektiven (as Allan Gray), Berlin - Alexanderplatz (both 1931) and African Queen (1951).
His best-known composition is the song Flieger, greet me the sun with the text by Walter Reisch , which Hans Albers did not record on July 7, 1932 for the film FP1 answers . The song has since been played by many other singers and music groups, including in the 1980s by the band Extrabreit and by Scooter in the title I'm Your Pusher .
Filmography (selection)
- 1931: Berlin - Alexanderplatz - Director: Phil Jutzi
- 1931: Emil and the detectives - Director: Gerhard Lamprecht
- 1932: The Countess of Monte Christo
- 1932: Man without a Name - Director: Gustav Ucicky
- 1932: FP1 doesn't answer - Director: Karl Hartl
- 1933: Burning Secret - Director: Robert Siodmak
- 1938: Kate Plus Ten
- 1939: Without a Tomorrow (Sans lendemain)
- 1943: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp) - Director: Michael Powell , Emeric Pressburger
- 1944: A Canterbury Tale - Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
- 1945: I know where I'm going (I Know Where I'm Going) - Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
- 1946: Errtum im Jenseits (A Matter of Life and Death) - Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
- 1951: African Queen (The African Queen) - Directed by John Huston
- 1955: As long as there are pretty girls - Director: Arthur Maria Rabenalt
literature
- Kay Less : 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 214 f.
Web links
- Allan Gray in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Works by and about Allan Gray in the catalog of the German National Library
- Allan Gray at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Frank Arnau: Universal Filmlexikon 1932 , page 271, Universal Filmlexikon GmbH, Berlin
- ↑ Jutta Raab Hansen: Musicians persecuted by the Nazis in England , from Bockel Verlag, Hamburg 1996
- ↑ Jutta Raab Hansen: Musicians persecuted by the Nazis in England . von Bockel Verlag, Hamburg 1996
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gray, Allan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Zmigrod, Josef (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian-born composer in Germany and Great Britain |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 23, 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tarnau , Austria-Hungary |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 10, 1973 |
| Place of death | Amersham , UK |