Lothar Mendes
Lothar Mendes (born May 19, 1894 in Berlin , † February 25, 1974 in London ) was a German film director and screenwriter .
Life
He attended the Sophiengymnasium in Berlin (with his future colleague Ernst Lubitsch ) and made his debut as an actor at the age of 17. A year later, Mendes appeared on stages in Bremen , Hanover and Vienna . He was active in the theaters of Carl Meinhard and Rudolf Bernauer in Berlin.
After the First World War, Mendes made contact with film. He began as a screenwriter and was able to direct his first film with leading actor and producer Michael Bohnen for the 1921 Ring film, The Secret of Santa Maria .
After further films in which well-known actors such as Lya de Putti , Paul Wegener , Lil Dagover and Conrad Veidt participated, he accepted an offer from Paramount in 1926 and went to Hollywood , where he directed, among other things, Four Springs .
In 1934 he made his debut in Great Britain with a film version of Lion Feuchtwanger's Jud Suss . Because of its philo-Semitic orientation, the film was only shown in Austria and not in National Socialist Germany. Alexander Korda then engaged Mendes for the fantasy production The Man Who Wanted to Change the World . His last British directorial work, Moonlight Sonate, around the Polish pianist and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski , also attracted attention.
Mendes then returned to the United States and shot a few more films there. He was briefly married to actress Eva May and from 1926 to 1928 to actress Dorothy Mackaill .
Filmography (as a director)
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literature
- Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 5: L - N. Rudolf Lettinger - Lloyd Nolan. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , pp. 389-390.
Web links
- Lothar Mendes in the Internet Movie Database (English)
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Mendes, Lothar |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German film director |
DATE OF BIRTH | May 19, 1894 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
DATE OF DEATH | February 25, 1974 |
Place of death | London |