Max Mellin

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Max Mellin (born January 30, 1904 in Berlin ; † March 17, 1977 in Mühldorf am Inn ) was a German film architect with a long career in top-class cinema productions.

Live and act

Mellin had completed an apprenticeship with an interior designer from 1917 to 1919. On March 1, 1920, he began a twelve-month practical apprenticeship with the Berlin court furniture manufacturer Carl Müller & Co., another apprenticeship took place from 1923 to New Year's Eve 1924 at the Berlin furniture store Redelsheimer, where he was responsible for inspecting construction sites and paying wages.

At the beginning of 1925 Mellin made his film debut; his work until 1930 was almost exclusively an assistant architect and second architect for chief production designers such as Robert Neppach and Erich Kettelhut . From 1928 he was in the service of the UFA .

In 1930 Mellin received his first mention as co-chief architect for the German version of an Italian film ( Il canzone dell'amore ). In 1933 Mellin, at the side of Kettelhut, his mentor for the past five years, finally became chief architect. The duo Kettelhut / Mellin separated at the end of 1935. Mellin then initially designed the sets for UFA films alone, including a few top productions such as Marika Rökk's One Night in May , but also for works by Terra .

From 1939 to the end of 1943, the year in which Mellin revived the Hamburg amusement milieu on St. Pauli in the Terra Atelier in the Hans Albers film classic Große Freiheit No. 7 , Mellin built the sets for Helmut Käutner's productions several times . From 1941 the young architect Gerhard Ladner was placed at his side.

After the end of the war, Mellin bridged the filmless period for two years with drafts for stage shows staged by Fritz Odemar in which German singers, actresses and dancers like Margot Hielscher performed in front of GIs . The first film activity after 1945 arose in 1947 with the US production Berlin-Express , which was partly in the western zones and whose German buildings Mellin designed. A year later, Mellin also worked again for domestic production companies, initially for Heinz Rühmanns Comedia. Mellin's tasks in the 50s and early 60s comprised above all buildings for home and war films, mass entertainment without major demands.

In the course of the 1960s there were also orders from television. For example, Mellin designed the decorations for the ZDF crime series Das Kriminalmuseum . Most recently he was also busy designing the film structures for two sadistic horror films by producer, actor and director Adrian Hoven . At this point in time (beginning of the 1970s) Max Mellin was considered to be the last still active chief architect from Germany's early talkies.

Mellin, who owned domiciles in Munich and Ringsee , retired to Mühldorf after retiring from work, where he died on the night of March 17, 1977.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

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 , p. 385.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mellin, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German film architect
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1977
Place of death Mühldorf am Inn