Josef Than

Josef Than (born July 26, 1903 in Vienna , Austria-Hungary , † December 2, 1985 in Los Angeles , United States ) was an Austrian screenwriter and film producer .

Live and act

Born in Vienna, after completing a university degree ( doctorate ), he came to German film as a screenwriter at the age of 23 (“ The sweet girl ”). Initially, in 1926/27, Than worked regularly with his colleague Ludwig von Wohl , often on Manfred Noa's productions . Than later also cooperated with colleague Jane Beß . Until 1933, Than, often in collaboration with his colleague Johannes Brandt , mainly supplied scripts for a series of mostly lightweight sound films, which were only given anonymous after the Nazis came to power .

Than had founded the production company ABC-Film in 1931 and was also active as a production manager during this time. Because of his Jewish faith, Than was no longer given the opportunity to work as a writer for the film from 1933 onwards. His collaboration on the film “ Heimkehr ins Glück ”, produced in 1933, was not mentioned. He then returned with his wife, the (Catholic) actress Grit Haid , to their hometown of Vienna in 1934, where they re-founded ABC-Film. He also took part - unnamed - in manuscripts for two Austrian cinema productions by Erich Engels (" Hohe Schule " and " Nur ein Komödiant "). Until spring 1938 he and his wife traveled all over Europe, following Grit Haid's stage engagements. After her death in a plane crash near the Black Forest and as a result of the annexation of Austria, Josef Than moved to Paris . There he wrote, together with the director Abel Gance , the script for the film " Paradis perdu " in 1939 , a production by Gance.

When the war broke out, Than was drafted into the French labor service. When he got two wounded French soldiers out of the German lines by bicycle during the advance of the Wehrmacht in June 1940, Than was awarded the Croix de guerre . After the German occupation of the country, Than had to go into hiding, in the summer of 1941 he managed to escape to the USA via Seville . There he first joined the California State Guard. In Hollywood in 1943 Than created a treatment and drafted several story templates. In 1945 he was nominated for an Oscar for the template for “ None Shall Escape ” (1943) . From 1945 Than was also able to write scripts ( Deceptive Passion ) again, later mostly without naming names in the opening credits (as in Gene Kelly's The Pirate ).

At the beginning of the 1950s, Than, a US citizen since 1946, returned to Europe and settled in Neuilly-sur-Seine . In 1954, with his colleague Jacques Companéez , he wrote the screenplay for the German production “ Meine Sister und Ich ” and for the German-French co-production “ Zwischenlandung in Paris ”. In the German version of this film, in which Heinz Rühmann participated, he also directed the dialogue. In the 1960s, Joseph Than returned to Los Angeles and created minimal script contributions for television series such as Tennis Rackets and Cannons and Hawaii Five-Zero .

Than was married to Marina Novikova, 13 years his junior, for the second time. She outlived him by eight and a quarter years.

Filmography

as a screenwriter unless otherwise stated

• 1926: The sweet girl
• 1926: crook in tails
• 1926: In camera
• 1927: The eighteen year olds
• 1927: The splendor and misery of the courtesans
• 1928: The President
• 1928: A girl with a temper
• 1928: Playing with love
• 1931: The maneuvering time is nice (also production)
• 1931: The daredevil (also production manager)
• 1932: Under a false flag
• 1932: Prince Seppl
• 1932: The two from the Süddexpress
• 1933: Three Kaiserjäger (production manager only)
• 1933: Returning to happiness (unnamed)
• 1934: High School (also co-production)
• 1935: ... just a comedian (also production)
• 1946: Deceptive passion (Deception)
• 1947: The Pirate (anonymous)
• 1949: So Young So Bad
• 1951: The Last Half Hour: The Mayerling Story
• 1954: my sister and me
• 1954: Stopover in Paris (Escale à Orly)

literature

• Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 499.

Web links

• Josef Than in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Josef Than at filmportal.de