John Korty

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John Korty (born June 22, 1936 in Lafayette , Indiana ) is an American film director , screenwriter and cameraman ; at the same time a "principled filmmaker who works outside and inside the mainstream, always looking for projects that underline his humanist convictions," as film critic Leonard Maltin once wrote.

Live and act

Korty, who started making amateur films at the age of 16, graduated from Antioch College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1959 . During this time he earned extra income with the production of animated advertising films. Then Korty started his professional career as a short film director, his production Breaking the Habit earned him his first Oscar nomination. Since the mid-1960s, John Korty has directed, initially only sporadically, full-length, inexpensive films for television and cinema, which, however, received little attention until the early 1970s. At that time, Korty had his own small production facility in Stinson Beach, Northern California (north of San Francisco ), which a little later also inspired directing newcomers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas to set up their own small production companies in the area. Korty later moved his company to Point Reyes, further north. In order to be able to do his work as an independent filmmaker, Korty had to take on other film jobs at times; For example, in 1972 he worked as a cameraman for the political drama Bill McKay - The Candidate with Robert Redford in the title role.

Korty's big screen activities are quite eclectic in nature and have had a strong mainstream character since the mid-1970s. In 1976, Korty shot the critically disastrous, nonconformist love story " Love and Other Crimes " with Jack Lemmon in the lead role, two years later the dull " Love Story " sequel " Oliver's Story " with Ryan O'Neal , which did not was able to approach the success of the original from 1970.

In contrast, John Korty showed great artistic ambitions in a number of television films. He made an interesting debut that was well received by the critics with the 1971 science fiction film The People . In 1973, with the black saga Die Geschichte der Jane Pittman (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman) , Korty wrote an opulent chronicle of the seemingly endless suffering of a simple black woman, which reflected the fate of black America from the Civil War (1861-65) to the Kennedy era ( 1960–63) retold. For the title role, Korty, who was awarded an Emmy for this directorial achievement , won the actress Cicely Tyson , who almost a quarter of a century later won another title role, this time in Korty's variation of the Dickens Christmas classic ' Scrooge ', Ms Scrooge - A Wonderful Angel ( 1997), should embody.

With the blind and adoption drama Blinde Sehnsucht , which was also shot for television , the director landed another notable hit in 1987, as did his 1976 film Farewell to Manzanar about a hitherto little known, dark chapter of American history, the illegal internment of US citizens of Japanese origin After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the critics attested considerable merits. After the commercial failure of the animated film Twice Upon a Time , John Korty turned almost exclusively to directing very commercial entertainment films for television. His late oeuvre is mostly about dramas and melodramas. Korty remained active as a director until the end of the 20th century.

In the spring of 1978 John Korty won an Oscar for his feature-length documentary Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? to receive. Korty, who also Einspieler for the popular television series for preschoolers, Sesame Street has (Sesame Street) is prepared, his own production company led Korty Films Inc., most recently in California Mill Valley was home.

Filmography

  • 1960: The Language of Faces
  • 1964: Breaking the Habit
  • 1966: The Crazy-Quilt
  • 1967: Funnyman
  • 1969: Imogen Cunningham: Photographer
  • 1969: Riverrun
  • 1971: The People
  • 1972: Bill McKay - The Candidate (camera only)
  • 1972: Go Ask Alice
  • 1973: Class of '63
  • 1973: Dangerous Silence (Silence)
  • 1973: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
  • 1974: The Music School
  • 1976: Farewell to Manzanar
  • 1976: Love and Other Crimes (Alex and the Gypsy)
  • 1977: Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?
  • 1977: Forever
  • 1978: Oliver's Story
  • 1980: Miracles in San Francisco (A Christmas Without Snow)
  • 1983: Twice Upon a Time
  • 1983: The Haunting Passion
  • 1983: Ewoks - The Caravan of the Brave
  • 1983: Second Sight (Second Sight: A Love Story)
  • 1986: A Deadly Business
  • 1986: last rest
  • 1987: Business in Life (Baby Girl Scott)
  • 1987: Blinde Sehnsucht (Eye on the Sparrow)
  • 1988: Winnie
  • 1990: Terry's Promise (A Son's Promise)
  • 1990: Longing Without Borders (Long Road Home)
  • 1991: Blind Hatred (Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story)
  • 1992: Blood on Silky Skin (Deadly Matrimony)
  • 1993: They / They Watch
  • 1994: The Shackles of the Past (Getting Out)
  • 1995: My Father's Eyes (Redwood Curtain)
  • 1997: Ms Scrooge - A Wonderful Angel (Ms Scrooge)
  • 1998: The Oklahoma City Bomb (Oklahoma City: A Survivor's Story)
  • 1999: A Gift of Love: The Daniel Huffman Story
  • 2009: Miracle in a Box: A Piano Reborn

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maltin ( Memento from May 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Korty, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American director, cameraman and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH June 22, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Lafayette , Indiana