Henry Blanke
Henry Blanke (born December 30, 1901 in Steglitz near Berlin , Germany ; † May 28, 1981 in Los Angeles , California , USA ; actually: Ernst Heinrich Blanke ) was an American film producer , film director and screenwriter of German origin.
biography
Henry Blanke, the son of the German painter Wilhelm Blanke , began his career around 1920 as a production assistant at Universum Film AG ( UFA ) and rose to become director Ernst Lubitsch's personal assistant just a few months later . When Lubitsch accepted a film offer from Hollywood in 1922, Blanke accompanied him and remained his assistant in the years that followed. From 1924 both artists were under contract at Warner Bros. Studios. The collaboration between Lubitsch and the studio management turned out to be so difficult that the director switched to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1926. Blanke stayed with Warner Bros. and rose quickly in the studio hierarchy due to his economical way of working and his good English and German language skills.
In the following years Blanke commuted between Berlin and Hollywood and worked in various functions, such as in 1927 as assistant to Fritz Lang in his production Metropolis . From approx. 1928 to approx. 1930 he acted as head of the German branch of Warner Bros. in Berlin and then returned to Hollywood to oversee the production of German-language versions there (shortly after the introduction of talkies).
Henry Blanke stayed with Warner Bros. for the next three decades, working as an associate producer in the Burbank studios . A large number of the most important Warner Bros. films of the so-called Golden Era were made under his supervision - with stars such as Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and many more.
A film produced by Blanke was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category eight times . Nevertheless, he only managed to claim the gold statue for the film The Life of Emile Zola for himself in 1938 .
In 1961 Blanke retired into private life, about which nothing is known. He died of a stroke a few months before his 80th birthday .
Filmography (selection)
- 1934: Love without thread and thread ( Fashions of 1934 )
- 1935: A Midsummer Night's Dream ( A Midsummer Night's Dream )
- 1935: Louis Pasteur ( The Story of Louis Pasteur )
- 1936: The White Angel
- 1936: The Petrified Forest ( The Petrified Forest )
- 1938: Robin Hood, King of the Vagabonds ( The Adventures of Robin Hood )
- 1941: The Great Lie ( The Great Lie )
- 1941: The Maltese Falcon ( The Maltese Falcon )
- 1941: The Sea Wolf ( The Sea Wolf )
- 1943: Rebellion in Trollness ( Edge of Darkness )
- 1943: Liebesleid ( The Constant Nymph )
- 1943: Linked in friendship ( Old Acquaintance )
- 1944 The Mask of Dimitrios ( The Mask of Dimitrios )
- 1945: A woman with enterprising spirit ( Roughly Speaking )
- 1946: Deceptive passion ( Deception )
- 1948: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ( The Treasure of the Sierra Madre )
- 1949: Beyond the Forest ( Beyond the Forest )
- 1954: The Talisman ( King Richard and the Crusaders )
- 1959: The Madonna with the Two Faces ( The Miracle )
- 1961: The bite the dust ( Hell Is for Heroes )
Awards
Oscar / Best Picture
- 1937: Louis Pasteur (N)
- 1937: Anthony Adverse (N)
- 1938: The life of Emile Zola (G)
- 1939: The Adventures of Robin Hood (N)
- 1939: Four Daughters (N)
- 1939: Jezebel (N)
- 1949: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (N)
- 1960: The Nun's Story (N)
Web links
- Henry Blanke in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Birth certificate StA Steglitz No. 1/1902 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blanke, Henry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Blanke, Heinz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American film producer, film director and screenwriter of German origin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 30, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Steglitz , Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 28, 1981 |
| Place of death | Los Angeles , California , USA |