Joseph Janni

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Joseph Janni (born May 21, 1916 in Milan , Lombardy , Italy ; † May 29, 1994 in London , England ; actually Giuseppe Ralph Janni ) was a British film producer and screenwriter of Italian origin.

biography

Joseph Janni was the only child of Rudi Janni, a native of Myanmar , and Natalia Janni, a Jew from Milan, and grew up in Italy at the time when Benito Mussolini came to power. After graduating from high school, Janni attended the Polytechnic University of Milan , as his professional goal was to become a production engineer . Later he switched to that of civil engineering .

As a student, Janni showed a growing interest in film and was a member of a student group that produced amateur films. Renato Castellani , Luigi Comencini and Nino Rota were among his friends at that time, who later also gained a foothold in film and television .

The Italian Ministry of Education organized an annual contest to promote young cultural talent. One section of that contest was "film". Without money or sponsors, but with the help of Comencini and Rota, Janni E Arrivato quel Signore ( Eng : a gentleman has arrived) produced. The film, which was presented at the contest in Venice in 1939 , was a success, as it won the Scudetto D'Oro , a Golden Shield. But the joy was short-lived, as Janni was stripped of the award when it turned out that he was “ half-Jewish ”. Even when Janni finished his engineering studies in 1939, he was not allowed to get a diploma because the Italian race laws , which were established under Benito Mussolini , forbade Jews from this honor.

When the situation for the Janni family became increasingly inhuman, they left Italy for England in late summer 1939 and settled in Manchester . A few days later, on September 1, 1939, the Second World War broke out.

Janni, now 23 years old, began to write humorous skits and satirical treatises against fascism and National Socialism , and worked for the British Ministry of Information. Through a friend of his grandfather's he got a job with film producer John Sutro and got his first insight as a producer.

But Janni also had to endure hostility in England. When the Allies also declared war on Italy, Janni was interned as a foreign enemy in an internment camp on the Isle of Man and was not released until December 1940, thanks in part to the intervention of Sutro.

Back in London , Janni began as Sutro's assistant and was involved in the production of a feature film for the first time in 1941 at 49th Parallel . After a few more films in which Janni was not mentioned in the credits because he often only acted as a production assistant, he founded his own production company, Vic Films , in 1948 . With her he produced The Glass Mountain , his first feature film , in 1949 . He also wrote the script.

Janni produced a total of 21 films and in 1966 for Darling for the Oscar in the category Best Picture nomination.

He retired into private life in 1979 and died of natural causes eight days after his 78th birthday.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Janni, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Janni, Giuseppe Ralph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British film producer and screenwriter of Italian origin
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan , Lombardy , Italy
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1994
Place of death London , England