Jack Levin

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Jack Levin , actually John Douglas Le Vien (* 17th July 1914 in New York City , United States ; † 9. November 1999 in London , United Kingdom ) was an American documentary - and movie - producer .

Live and act

John "Jack" Le Vien began his film career in the last few years before the outbreak of World War II as a reporter for the Pathé News ( weekly newsreel ), before he was drafted into military service between 1941 and 1946. He then returned to Pathé, where he was promoted to General Manager and Vice President. Levin remained a man of cinematic information, from 1956 to 1959 he even headed the American Newsreel Association. Eventually, Jack Levin served as chief production officer for Hearst Metrotone News.

His many years of experience as a newsreel and World War II veteran found expression in a series of documentary films that Levin made since the early 1960s, mostly in collaboration with Anglo-American television stations such as ABC and BBC . In them he portrayed central historical personalities of world events of the 20th century such as Winston Churchill (inter alia The Valiant Years, The Finest Hours ), King Edward VIII ( A King's Story ) and Adolf Hitler ( Black Fox ). In particular, his Churchill portraits were sometimes extremely patriotic and uncritical. For The Finest Hours and A King's Story , there were 1,965 respectively in 1968 Oscar nominations in the category Best Documentary .

In 1971 Levin produced a very striking feature film called England Made Me , which contrasted the supposedly British fair play with an equally supposed German meanness, greed, corruption and opportunism. The film did not reach cinemas until 1973 and was never shown in Germany despite a prominent cast ( Peter Finch , Michael York ). In 1974 another Churchill portrait was made for television, this time in feature film form. Richard Burton played the Prime Minister here. His last film production (1979) also dealt with the war premiere, this time regarding Churchill's relationship with his and the US generals from 1940 to 1945.

His fascination for Churchill in particular, but also the British royals, found expression in four books that Jack Le Vien wrote and which served as the basis for some of his films: The Valiant Years, The Finest Hours, The Duchess of Windsor and Churchill and the Generals .

Filmography (selection)

Documentaries unless otherwise noted

  • 1960: Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years
  • 1962: Black Fox: The True Story of Adolf Hitler
  • 1964: Hours of Glory - Winston Churchill's Life and Work
  • 1964: The Other World of Winston Churchill
  • 1965: A King's Story
  • 1971: England Made Me (feature film, WP: 1973)
  • 1974: The Gathering Storm (TV feature film)
  • 1979: Churchill and the Generals (TV feature film)

literature

  • International Motion Picture Almanac 1991, Quigley Publishing Company, New York 1991, p. 193

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Levin, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Le Vien, John Douglas (real name); Le Vien, Jack
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film producer
DATE OF BIRTH July 17, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 9, 1999
Place of death London , UK