Leo de Laforgue

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Leo de Laforgue (born February 9, 1902 in Grumbach , Prussia ; † May 27, 1980 ) was a German screenwriter , film director , cameraman, editor, producer and production manager.

Life

Leo de Laforgue came from an old Rhenish family of officials and officers. He was born in 1902 in Grumbach, which at that time belonged to the Prussian Rhine District. After finishing school he went to the Reichsmarine as an engineering candidate . He passed his state engineering examination at the mechanical engineering school on Ubierring in Cologne. He specialized in the construction of aircraft engines . He soon lost interest in aviation and initially studied psychology and art history . The next thing that appealed to him was to become a stage architect , which is why he studied film and theater studies at the Cologne Drama School . At the same time, he made self-taught oil paintings and had his first exhibition at the Kölnischer Kunstverein .

He moved to Berlin, wrote art and war novels and worked as a set designer for Max Reinhardt at the theater and at UFA as a film assistant. In 1936 he was part of Leni Riefenstahl's camera team that documented the Olympic Games . He was unable to undertake a well-founded artistic training at the art academy because he had to provide for a living and therefore gave priority to film work, which in 1937 expanded to include independent directing and script drafting. He continued to paint as a hobby, but in 1938 he was able to win an order for the production of 50 oil paintings for the Italian embassy in Berlin .

During the Second World War he was a war correspondent in the Navy . He received several awards, including the Iron Cross I and II Class, the Wound Badge , the Mine Combat Badge and the Destroyer War Badge . After 1945 he worked as a freelance painter. On the other hand, he worked as a filmmaker, whereby his Berlin documentaries , which also contain his pre-war recordings , are of contemporary historical importance. Artistically, however, de Laforgue could not come close to his declared role models Walter Ruttmann and Leni Riefenstahl. Around 100 films had been made by his death in 1980.

Filmography (selection)

Director

  • 1938: big city types
  • 1939: Sun over the Spessart - Aschaffenburg and its surroundings
  • 1943: Everyday life between the mining towers
  • 1941: Symphony of a cosmopolitan city
  • 1952: Bank robbery on Wittenbergplatz
  • 1958: canals
  • 1964: Gigant Berlin

Screenwriter

camera operator

Novels

  • 1930: SMS A naval war novel . Dom-Verlag, Berlin.
  • 1931: Hell in the brain. The novel by the demonic and brilliant painter Vincent van Gogh . Dom-Verlag, Berlin.
  • 1933: Fire on the Skagerrak. A German naval war novel . Dom-Verlag, Berlin.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d OBS: Big City Secret. In: tagesspiegel.de. February 5, 2002, accessed July 14, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Redaktionsbüro Harenberg: Knaurs Prominentenlexikon 1980. The personal data of celebrities from politics, economy, culture and society . With over 400 photos. Droemer Knaur, Munich / Zurich 1979, ISBN 3-426-07604-7 , Laforgue, de, Leo, p. 258 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Leo de Laforgue. In: karl-horst-hartmann.de. Karl Horst Hartmann, accessed on July 14, 2018 .
  4. ^ Zeughaus Kino. Berlin. Document. "One film - two versions". In: dhm.de. Deutsches Historisches Museum, February 23, 2014, accessed on July 14, 2018 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Leo de Laforgue
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German film director, screenwriter, cameraman, editor, producer and production manager
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Grumbach
DATE OF DEATH May 27, 1980