Ernst Hugo Correll

Ernst Hugo Correll (born June 9, 1882 in Neubreisach , Alsace , † September 3, 1942 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen ) was a German film producer.

Life and work

After attending the humanistic grammar school in Schlettstadt and Mannheim , Ernst Hugo Correll completed his military service and graduated as a lieutenant . He then worked at the Ministry of Justice and Culture in Alsace-Lorraine and finally became a public prosecutor. In the First World War he fought as a first lieutenant in the Landwehr on the western front , was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class and dismissed as a cavalry officer .

Together with the Italian actor Luciano Albertini , Correll founded the Berlin Albertini-Film GmbH in 1919 and also took a stake in Capitol-Film GmbH, which merged with Phoebus-Film AG at this time . Phoebus, Correll's sole director from June 1926, developed under his management into one of the leading companies in the industry. At the same time Correll tried to bring together the producers with the aim of increasing the quality of the productions; in the newly founded Association of Film Industries e. V. he took over the position of the first chairman. Later he was also a member of the SPIO board . As one of the first German film managers, he went on study trips to Hollywood between 1922 and 1927 , but also to Italy, France, England and Scandinavia. In August 1927, Phoebus fell into disrepute when, in the wake of the so-called Lohmann Affair, it became known through press reports that the company, which had meanwhile been weakened by inflation, had been supported for years by loans from the Reich government to finance secret armaments projects.

This had no long-term consequences for Correll. In February 1928 he was brought into the management of UFA in order, as production director, to help with the restructuring that was overdue after the takeover by the Hugenberg Group. The great success that Ufa had in switching to the sound film (1929/30) was not least thanks to Correll. In 1931, the only film Correll was to produce himself was made: the patriotic soldier film Yorck .

After the National Socialist accession to government, Correll remained in all offices. On April 17, 1934, he was appointed a member of the Academy for German Law by the Reich Justice Commissioner, and in 1938 he received a teaching position at the newly founded German Film Academy Babelsberg . At the same time, however, the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda also took precautions to reduce Correll's influence within Ufa. Since May 1937, an “art committee” set up and controlled by Joseph Goebbels was responsible for Ufa’s program planning, and after Correll also refused to join the NSDAP , he was dismissed in February 1939 as a member of the board and production manager. He died of a cardiac embolism three years later.

Ernst Hugo Correll was married to Lena Bürkmann since 1907. Her son Hans became a lawyer, her daughter Margarete an opera and chamber singer. His grave can be found in the Garmisch cemetery in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

literature

• Hans-Michael Bock , Michael Töteberg (Hrsg.): The Ufa book. Art and crises, stars and directors, business and politics, Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt am Main 1992, pp. 328–331. (Chapter affairs, intrigues, politics. Ernst Hugo Correll personnel file. )
• CineGraph . Lexicon for German-language films. Lg. 19, 1992. Edition Text + Criticism, Munich.
• Klaus Kreimeier : The Ufa Story. History of a film company. Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1992.
• Robert Volz: Reich manual of the German society . The handbook of personalities in words and pictures. Volume 1: A-K. German business publisher, Berlin 1930, DNB 453960286 .

Web links

• Ernst Hugo Correll in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Ernst Hugo Correll at filmportal.de