Herbert Kline

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Herbert Kline (born March 13, 1909 in Chicago , Illinois , USA ; † February 5, 1999 in Los Angeles , California , USA) was an American journalist , film director , screenwriter and film producer .

Live and act

Herbert Kline was born in Chicago but grew up in Davenport , Iowa . His family belonged to the middle class and were of Jewish faith. At age 14, Kline began running away from home and traveling the United States, including New York City, Valley Forge, and Niagara Falls . With the Great Depression he developed an awareness of social grievances. He worked in Chicago as the editor of Left Front magazine , then moved to New York and became editor of the also left-wing New Theater magazine . He was also involved in the publication of the plays by Clifford Odets . He later joined the Photo League , a New York association of politically progressive photojournalists and documentarists.

During the Spanish Civil War , Kline went to Madrid. There he worked as a writer and spokesperson for a Republican radio station that he wanted to support in this way. During his stay, he met the Hungarian photographer Geza Karpathi , who suggested that he make a film about the war. Despite their inexperience with camera technology, they succeeded. Kline's first film Heart of Spain , produced by CBC Canada , was released in 1937 and is about a mother living in Madrid who meets a young soldier whose life she saved with a blood donation. The following year Kline made another film about the Spanish Civil War, Return to Life , with Henri Cartier-Bresson .

Kline traveled through Europe to places where he suspected new trouble spots, such as London, Czechoslovakia and Poland. During the Sudeten crisis , one of his most famous films was made, the documentary Crisis , which he made with Hanuš Burger and Alexander Hackenschmied . During the shooting, Kline posed as a sympathizer of the National Socialists in order to get to suitable locations such as rallies and parades. Crisis was named one of the ten best films of 1939 by the National Board of Review Awards .

In 1940 Kline's documentation Lights Out in Europe was made about the attack on Poland and the beginning of the Second World War. He worked again with cameraman Hackenschmied, and Douglas Slocombe was also involved as a photographer. The following year, Kline directed the docu-drama The Forgotten Village, based on a script by John Steinbeck . Steinbeck's text was spoken by actor Burgess Meredith , the film music is by Hanns Eisler . Hackenschmied was in turn a cameraman, as well as co-director and editor. The film thematizes the backward life - especially with regard to medical care - in a small farming village near Santiago, Mexico. It received a National Board of Review Award for " Best Documentary ".

In 1947 Kline made one of the first documentary films about victims of the Holocaust, My Father's House . It showed former prisoners trying to build a new life in Israel. Meyer Levin wrote the script for the film .

In the 1950s, Kline was as an avowed communist from the House Un-American Activities Committee to a blacklist set and got no work more in the film industry. It wasn't until 1970 that he made his comeback with Walls of Fire . The documentary portrays important representatives of muralism such as David Alfaro Siqueiros , José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera . It received an Oscar nomination for producer Gertrude Ross Marks and a Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary .

Kline's documentary The Challenge: a tribute to modern art (1974) portrayed important artists such as Marc Chagall , Henry Moore and Salvador Dali . Orson Welles acted as speaker. This penultimate film from Kline earned him an Oscar nomination.

Attempts Klines to gain a foothold as a director and screenwriter in the mainstream Hollywood business, largely failed. He celebrated his greatest successes with his documentaries. In his directorial work, he took the view that documentaries should be staged in a similar way to feature films.

In 1980 Kline went to London . There he wrote, among other things, the book New Theater and Film 1934 to 1937 . In 1992 he returned to Los Angeles.

Herbert Kline died in Los Angeles at the age of 89 after a long illness. He left a sister, as well as his ex-wife, curator Josine Ianco-Starrels, a daughter Elissa Kline and a son, Ethan Kline.

Web links

Awards (selection)

Filmography (selection)

  • 1937: Heart of Spain (short documentation)
  • 1938: Return to Life (documentary)
  • 1938: Love Is a Headache
  • 1939: Crisis (documentary)
  • 1939: Rehearsal for War
  • 1940: Lights Out in Europe (short documentary)
  • 1941: The Forgotten Village (documentary)
  • 1942: Five Were Chosen
  • 1943: Cinco fueron escogidos
  • 1944: Youth Runs Wild
  • 1946: A Boy, a Girl and a Dog
  • 1947: My Father's House
  • 1949: The Kid from Cleveland
  • 1949: Illegal Entry
  • 1952: The Fighter
  • 1952: Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (TV series, 3 episodes)
  • 1953: Pirates on board ( Prince of Pirates )
  • 1971: Walls of Fire (documentary)
  • 1977: The Challenge ... A Tribute to Modern Art (documentary)
  • 1981: Acting: Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio (documentary)

Publications

  • New Theater and Film 1934 to 1937: an anthology. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego 1985, ISBN 0-15-165457-3 .

literature

  • Douglas Bell: An oral history with Herbert Kline. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Oral History Program, Beverly Hills, 2006.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Tom Vallance: Obituary: Herbert Kline. In: The Independent February 18, 1999, accessed January 16, 2014.
  2. ↑ a b c Elaine Woo: Herbert Kline; Pioneering Documentary Filmmaker Obituary. In Los Angeles Times February 12, 1999, accessed January 16, 2014.
  3. ^ A b Herbert Kline, Filmmaker, 89; Recorded Crises in 30's Europe. in The New York Times February 17, 1999, accessed January 16, 2014.
  4. ^ 1939 Award Winners nationalboardofreview.org, accessed January 16, 2014.
  5. ^ 1941 Award Winners nationalboardofreview.org, accessed on January 16, 2014.
  6. ↑ Walls Of Fire hfpa.org, accessed on January 15, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Kline, Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Small, Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American journalist, film director, screenwriter and producer
DATE OF BIRTH March 13, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois , USA
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1999
Place of death Los Angeles , California , USA