Max Haufler

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Max Haufler (born June 4, 1910 in Basel , † June 25, 1965 in Zurich ) was a Swiss actor and painter. In addition to Emil Hegetschweiler , Heinrich Gretler , Alfred Rasser , Schaggi Streuli and Ruedi Walter , he was one of the great German-speaking Swiss folk actors of his time. Like Sigfrit Steiner , he also made a name for himself as a film director and screenwriter . Before starting his film career, he was a painter .

Career

Haufler was a son of the Swiss glass painter Fritz Haufler and the Italian Anna Artaria. After his parents divorced, he grew up with his mother and siblings in the neighborhood of Hermann Hesse in Monte Verità and Agnuzzo in Ticino. He only went to school as a teenager. Melancholy, he wanted to kill himself at the age of 12. At 17 he taught himself to paint and at the same time took lessons from Paul Camenisch . In 1928 he exhibited his pictures for the first time and became friends with Coghuf . As a plein air painter , he traveled to Europe, but got through life more badly than well, so that he had to earn a living with additional odd jobs. Back in Basel, Haufler became a member of the expressionist movement Rot-Blau in 1934 and of Gruppe 33 , to which his uncle, the architect Paul Artaria , also belonged. After a stay in Paris in 1935 at Amédée Ozenfant's academy , he turned to cabaret and performed in the Basel cabaret Resslirytti.

His enthusiasm as a filmmaker awoke in 1936. His goal was to produce high quality films in Switzerland. His first directorial work was Farinet for Clarté-Film AG. After their bankruptcy, he directed for the Gloria film Emil, me mues halt rede mitenand! (1941) and people passing by ... (1942). Although the films received critical acclaim, they did not meet the financial expectations of the donors. Thanks to Heinrich Fueter , he was able to continue shooting advertising and commissioned films for the Swiss company Condor Films AG .

For Gloria film emerged We are building (1943), the image-giving liquid (1944), Rieter factory film (1945) and the law of the street (1946) and for the Condor Films Venetian Rhapsody (1949), The production of Maggi products (1950 ), A Generation (1954) and Most Modern Surveying Instruments (1955). His last directorial work with a fictional plot was the advertising film Der Geist von Allenwil (1951). His chronic depression, the cost overruns and his difficult character prevented further work as a director. Already during the war and after 1955 he tried in vain to realize further film projects. Between 1960 and 1965 he tried to film the novel Der Stumme by Otto F. Walter . As assistant director he was in Wilder Urlaub (1943), After the storm , It happened in broad daylight , The cheese dairy in the joy of driving , The devil has a good laugh and the shadows are active longer . For What ish because i mym harem going on? (1936/1937), which was only premiered in 1983, was the first to write a script. In addition to the scripts of his own films, he was also involved in the scripts of Heidi and Peter , HD Läppli and Der Teufel hat gut lachen . He was responsible for the dialogue in Children of the Mountains and The Shadows Are Longer .

After Max Haufler had not received any directing orders for feature films from 1942, he had to devote himself more to acting, which he hated. He took orders for the radio and intensified his activities on the stage. He belonged to the Cabaret Fédéral (1949–1951), played at the Schauspielhaus Zürich (1951–1957) and made guest appearances at the Landestheater Darmstadt (1957–1959). He played his first film role in S'Vreneli on Lake Thun . In Steibruch he delivered his first brilliant role as a neglected drifter. Similar roles followed. Despite or because of these outsider roles, he became extremely popular in Swiss dialect films. He took on one of the three main roles in Behind the Seven Rails and in the sequel The Devil Has Good Laughing . He has also appeared in commercials like Mitenand gahts better (1949) and Family M Junior (1953). Known as a character actor beyond national borders, he received television roles and foreign film companies signed him. At White Cradle Inn he played for the first time in an English language film, some of which was shot in Gstaad . Producer Günther Stapenhorst advised him to jump to Hollywood in the 1940s , which he did not do until the 1960s. He returned from Hollywood in 1964 after turning down an offer from 20th Century Fox .

Max Haufler was married to Lotte Kohn from Hamburg since 1931. Their children are Janet (* 1931) and Yvar (* 1934). He later married Walburga Gmür (1951). This marriage ended in divorce in 1964. Haufler was prone to deep depression all his life, after all he committed suicide in his Zurich apartment in 1965. His grave is in the Rehalp cemetery in Zurich (FG 86027). With the film Max Haufler, der Mute (1983) by Richard Dindo , in which his daughter Janet played the leading role, and thanks to a traveling exhibition, his work penetrated the public consciousness again.

Filmography (selection)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Movie poster for people passing by ... Retrieved June 18, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Swiss pioneers in business and technology: Heinrich Fueter. Vol. 95, ISBN 978-3-909059-56-0 , p. 58.
personal data
SURNAME Haufler, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter, actor, screenwriter and film director
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1965
Place of death Zurich