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66-451: His primary aim through his writing was to entertain by transforming his personal experiences into literary works of art. While he never connected to any one literary movement, he did use the precepts of naturalism , neo-romanticism , expressionism , and Freudian psychoanalytic theories, so long as they suited his desires. According to Clara Györgyey, “By fusing the realistic narrative and stage tradition of Hungary with Western influences into

132-406: A book and find out anything you want to know. Curtiz never gave second-hand treatment to an assignment once it was accepted. He went ahead and graced plot and character with fluid camera movement, exquisite lighting, and a lightning-fast pace. Even if a script was truly poor and the leading players were real amateurs, Curtiz glossed over inadequacies so well that an audience often failed to recognize

198-563: A chance and produce their own costume drama. Until then, it was a genre in which Warners' had assumed they could never succeed, owing to its higher production budgets during the years of the Great Depression . However, in March 1935, Warners announced it would produce Captain Blood (1935), a swashbuckler action drama based on the novel by Rafael Sabatini , and directed by Curtiz. It would star

264-495: A cosmopolitan amalgam, Molnár emerged as a versatile artist whose style was uniquely his own." As a novelist, Molnár is perhaps remembered best for The Paul Street Boys , the story of two rival gangs of youths in Budapest. It has been translated into 42 languages and adapted for the stage and film. It has been considered a masterpiece by many. However, it was as a playwright that he made his most significant contribution and how he

330-556: A deep depression after Irén cut off their affair and returned to her family. He resorted to drinking heavily as a result, and in 1911 attempted suicide. He was rehabilitated in Austria and continued writing during this dark time. Between 1910 and 1914, five volumes of his collected essays, plus his translations of over 30 French plays, were published. "Molnár's long and turbulent life was one of hard and incessant work. For over 50 years, he transposed his inner conflict in his literary work; writing

396-571: A film by Fritz Lang featuring Charles Boyer (Paris, 1934) and then the Broadway stage musical, Carousel (1945; film 1956) by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . Molnár continued to dramatize the complexities of his affair with Irén through his plays, The Guardsman (1910) and The Wolf (1912); The Guardsman served as the basis for the 1931 film of the same name, starring American power couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne . Molnár fell into

462-416: A foreigner, could make American films, he told them, "human beings are the same all over the world. Human emotions are international." He treated his first films in the U.S. as learning experiences: The only things that are different in different parts of the world are customs ... But those customs are easy to find out if you can read and investigate. Downtown there is a fine public library. There you can open

528-467: A journalist. However, his primary focus was the court trials for Vészi's Budapesti Napló ( "Budapest Daily"), a newspaper then edited and published by József Vészi , a Jewish intellectual who dominated Hungarian political journalism. Molnár's first wife was one of Vészi's daughters, Margit Vészi. Molnár served as a proud and jingoistic supporter of the Austro-Hungarian Empire while working as

594-535: A lasting effect on Molnár. Upon her death, he wrote Companion in Exile , his most tragic work, recalling his friend's sacrifices and their time together. Molnár donated all his manuscripts and bound scrapbooks containing articles about him, prepared by Wanda Bartha, to the New York Public Library . Molnár's first marriage to Margit Vészi ended in divorce in 1910. In 1922 he married the actor Sári Fedák , after

660-733: A massive heart attack , forcing him to suspend work for almost a year. To celebrate the end of World War II , Molnár wrote and published Isten veled szivem (God Be With You My Heart) and the English Edition of The Captain of St Margaret's. After the war, Molnár became outraged and depressed after learning of the fate of his Jewish friends and colleagues during the Holocaust in Hungary , and his personality changed. He became apathetic, morose, and misanthropic. In 1947, Molnár's secretary and devoted companion Wanda Bartha died by suicide . This event had

726-505: A place he had never been about American underworld figures he had never met. To gain some direct experience about the subject, Curtiz convinced the Los Angeles sheriff to let him spend a week in jail. "When I came out, I knew what I needed for the picture." Curtiz firmly believed that investigating the background of every story should be done first and done thoroughly before starting a film. He said that whenever someone asked him how he,

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792-472: A range of dramatic and theatrical strategies. Interest in naturalism especially flourished with the French playwrights of the time, but the most successful example is Strindberg's play Miss Julie , which was written with the intention to abide by both his own particular version of naturalism, and also the version described by the French novelist and literary theoretician, Emile Zola . Zola's term for naturalism

858-628: A sequence shot from the perspective of a bullet in motion. The film was the first of eight Curtiz films to have Dolores Costello as its star. Warner Bros. had Curtiz direct three other mediocre stories to be sure he could take on larger projects, during which time he was able to familiarize himself with their methods and work with the technicians, including cameramen, whom he would use in subsequent productions. As biographer James C. Robertson explains, "In each case, Curtiz strove valiantly, but unsuccessfully to revitalize unconvincing scripts through spectacular camera work and strong central performances,

924-524: A shallow substance until it was hungry for another film a half-hour later. – Author William Meyer Although the language barrier made communicating with the casts and crews a hardship, he continued to invest time in preparation. Before he directed his first Western, for example, he spent three weeks reading about the histories of Texas and the lives of its important men. He found it necessary to continue such intensive studying of American culture and habits in preparation for most other film genres. But he

990-562: A significant amount of money. Lili attended his funeral with a few close friends. In the name of all women Molnár had loved, Darvas bid him farewell with a quotation: "Liliom, sleep my boy, sleep!" [REDACTED] Media related to Ferenc Molnár at Wikimedia Commons Naturalism (theatre) Naturalism is a movement in European drama and theatre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It refers to theatre that attempts to create an illusion of reality through

1056-532: A similar epic that had been planned, Noah's Ark (1928). By the time Curtiz accepted Warner's offer, he was already a prolific director, having made 64 films in countries including Hungary, Austria, and Denmark. Curtiz arrived in the United States in the summer of 1926, and began directing at Warner Bros. under the anglicised name Michael Curtiz. During what became a 28-year period at Warner Bros., he directed 86 films, including his best work. Although he

1122-648: A six-year relationship. The couple divorced in 1925, after "he had accused her of intimacy with 42 gentlemen, and she had replied in kind with a list of 142 ladies". Molnár married the actor Lili Darvas shortly after divorcing Fedák in 1925. They were active both in Vienna, where Darvas acted as part of Max Reinhardt 's theatrical troupe at the Theater in der Josefstadt from 1925 until the Anschluss in 1938, when they were forced to flee. Molnár and Darvas had long been fixtures on

1188-506: A spoiled rich child, and were published as a collection of short dialogues. His personal life formed the basis for many of his works. After separating from his first wife, he became involved with the famous Hungarian actress Irén Szécsi, who was then married to a wealthy manufacturer. Their affair influenced some of his more critically successful works. In 1907, Molnár wrote Az ördög (The Devil) for Irén, in which he challenged her to leave her husband. It brought Molnár international fame and

1254-478: A then unknown extra, Errol Flynn , alongside the little-known Olivia de Havilland . The film was a major success with positive critical reviews. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture , and though not nominated, Curtiz received the second-highest number of votes for Best Director , solely from write-in votes. It also made stars of both Flynn and de Havilland, and it elevated Curtiz to being

1320-528: A unique visual style which was strongly influenced by German Expressionism , with high crane shots and unusual camera angles. The film also showed that Curtiz was fond of including romantic melodrama "against events of vast historical importance, for driving his characters to crises and forcing them to make moral decisions," according to Rosenzweig. He offered Curtiz a contract to be a director at his new film studio in Hollywood, Warner Bros. , where he would direct

1386-450: A war correspondent during World War I. His war reports were so positive that he was decorated by the Habsburg emperor but criticized by some pacifist peers. He would later write Reflections of a War Correspondent , describing his experiences. In 1901, Molnár published his first full-length novel Az éhes város ("The Hungry City"). This novel made Molnár's name familiar throughout Hungary. It

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1452-473: A while, but then returned to join another group of travelling players for a few more years. They played Ibsen and Shakespeare in various languages, depending on what country they were in. They performed throughout Europe, including France, Hungary, Italy, and Germany, and he eventually learned five languages. He had various responsibilities: We had to do everything—make bill posters, print programmes, set scenery, mend wardrobe, sometimes even arrange chairs in

1518-458: A year. I never turned down a single story. That was my schooling. I worked hard on every one of them. That is how you learn. – Michael Curtiz Learning English quickly was an immediate hurdle, however, since he had no free time. When Jack Warner gave him the film to direct, Curtiz recalls, "I could not speak one word of English." It was a romantic story about jail life and gangsters in Chicago,

1584-412: Is la nouvelle formule . The three primary principles of naturalism ( faire vrai, faire grand and faire simple ) are first, that the play should be realistic, and the result of a careful study of human behaviour and psychology. The characters should be flesh and blood; their motivations and actions should be grounded in their heredity and environment. The presentation of a naturalistic play, in terms of

1650-849: Is best known internationally. For Györgyey, "In his graceful, whimsical, sophisticated drawing-room comedies, he provided a felicitous synthesis of naturalism and fantasy, realism and romanticism , cynicism, and sentimentality, the profane and the sublime." Of his many plays, The Devil , Liliom , The Swan , The Guardsman , and The Play's the Thing endure as classics. His influences included luminaries such as Oscar Wilde , George Bernard Shaw , and Gerhart Hauptmann . Molnár's plays continue to be performed world-wide. His national and international fame has inspired many Hungarian playwrights, including Elemér Boross, László Fodor , Lajos Bíró , László Bús-Fekete  [ de ] , Ernő Vajda , Attila Orbók, and Imre Földes, among others. He immigrated to

1716-653: The aristocrats of classical drama but also bourgeois and working-class protagonists) and social conflicts; and a style of acting that attempts to recreate the impression of reality. Naturalism was first advocated explicitly by Émile Zola in his 1880 essay entitled Naturalism on the Stage . Naturalistic writers were influenced by the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin . They believed that one's heredity and social environment determine one's character. Whereas realism seeks only to describe subjects as they really are, naturalism also attempts to determine "scientifically"

1782-412: The 1930s, Curtiz directed at least four films each year. The most obvious aspect of Curtiz's directorial signature is his expressionistic visual style, and its most obvious feature is its unusual camera angles and carefully detailed, crowded, complex compositions, full of mirrors and reflections, smoke and fog, and physical objects, furniture, foliage, bars, and windows, that stand between the camera and

1848-535: The Army (1943), and White Christmas (1954), and he made comedies, with Life with Father (1947) and We're No Angels (1955). Curtiz was born Manó Kaminer to a Jewish family in Budapest in 1886, where his father was a carpenter and his mother an opera singer. In 1905, he Magyarised his name to Mihály Kertész. Curtiz had a lower middle class upbringing. He recalled during an interview that his family's home

1914-532: The Red Sea. Shot in Vienna with a cast of 5,000, it had for its theme the love story of an Israelite maiden and an Egyptian prince. Paramount Pictures in the U.S. bought the rights to the film to compete with Cecil B. DeMille 's The Ten Commandments . However, The Moon of Israel caught the attention of Jack and Harry Warner , and Harry went to Europe in 1926 just to meet Curtiz and watch him work as director. The Warners were impressed that Curtiz had developed

1980-480: The United States to escape the persecution of Hungarian Jews during World War II and later adopted American citizenship. He died in New York City. Ferenc Molnár was born in Budapest on January 12, 1878, to Dr. Mór Neumann, a prosperous and well-regarded gastroenterologist, and Jozefa Wallfisch, both of German-Jewish heritage. The home in which he lived was opulent but gloomy. Even though he was born into wealth, "It

2046-529: The army for a year, before he was wounded fighting on the Russian front. Curtiz wrote of that period: The intoxicating joy of life was interrupted, the world had gone mad ... We were taught to kill. I was drafted into the Emperor's Army ... After that, many things happened: destruction, thousands forever silenced, crippled or sent to anonymous graves. Then came the collapse [of Austria-Hungary]. Fate had spared me. He

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2112-492: The auditoriums. Sometimes we travelled in trains, sometimes in stage coaches, sometimes on horseback. Sometimes we played in town halls, sometimes in little restaurants with no scenery at all. Sometimes we gave shows out of doors. Those strolling actors were the kindest-hearted people I have ever known. They would do anything for each other. He worked as Mihály Kertész at the National Hungarian Theater in 1912. and

2178-424: The biblical flood, and the other a World War I-era romance. It was the first epic film attempted by Warner Bros., and in handing production over to Curtiz, they were hoping to assure its success. The climactic flood sequence was considered "spectacular" at the time, observed historian Richard Schickel , while biographer James C. Robertson said it was "one of the most spectacular incidents in film history." Its cast

2244-439: The career of Lucy Doraine , who went on to become an international star, along with that of Lili Damita , who later married Errol Flynn . I was laid in the aisles by Curtiz's camera work ... [by] shots and angles that were pure genius. – Jack L. Warner , after watching Moon of Israel The Moon of Israel (1924) was a spectacle of the enslavement of the children of Israel and their miraculous deliverance by way of

2310-400: The cellar of his family home when he was 8 years old, where he and five of his friends re-enacted plays. They set up the stage, with scenery and props, and Curtiz directed them. After he graduated from college at age 19, he took a job as an actor with a travelling theatre company, where he began working as one their travelling players . From that job, he became a pantomimist with a circus for

2376-685: The count's film studio, Sascha Films . Curtiz later wrote that at Sascha, he "learned the basic laws of film art, which, in those days, had progressed further in Vienna than anywhere else." Among the films he directed were Biblical epics such as Sodom und Gomorrha (1922) and Die Sklavenkönigin (1924) (titled Moon of Israel in the U.S.). He also made Red Heels (1925) and The Golden Butterfly (1926), and once directed 14-year-old Greta Garbo in Sweden. During this period, he tended to specialize in directing two kinds of films, either sophisticated light comedies or historical spectaculars. He launched

2442-399: The dark harshness of life, including poverty, racism, sex, prejudice, disease, prostitution, and filth. As a result, Naturalistic writers were frequently criticized for being too blunt. Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( / k ɜːr ˈ t iː z / ; born Manó Kaminer ; from 1905 Mihály Kertész ; Hungarian : Kertész Mihály ; December 24, 1886 – April 10, 1962)

2508-433: The determining role of the environment on character, and as motivation for behavior. Naturalism emphasizes everyday speech forms; plausibility in the writing (no ghosts, spirits or gods intervening in the human action); a choice of subjects that are contemporary and reasonable (no exotic, otherworldly or fantastic locales, nor historical or mythic time-periods); an extension of the social range of characters portrayed (not only

2574-476: The end of the war, in 1919, the new communist government nationalized the film industry, so he decided to return to Vienna to direct films there. Curtiz briefly worked at UFA GmbH , a German film company, where he learned to direct large groups of costumed extras, along with using complicated plots, rapid pacing, and romantic themes. His career truly started due to his work for Count Alexander Kolowrat (known as Sascha), with whom he made at least 21 films for

2640-403: The fastest-growing movie studio. He directed 102 films during his Hollywood career, mostly at Warners, where he directed ten actors to Oscar nominations. James Cagney and Joan Crawford won their only Academy Awards under Curtiz's direction. He put Doris Day and John Garfield on screen for the first time, and he made stars of Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland , and Bette Davis . He himself

2706-456: The film and was impressed enough by Tracy's acting that he hired him on to MGM's roster of stars. Curtiz's American career did not really take off until 1935. In the early 1930s, Warner Bros. was struggling to compete with the larger MGM, which was releasing costume dramas such as Queen Christina (1933) with Greta Garbo , Treasure Island (1934) with Wallace Beery , and The Count of Monte Cristo (1934). Warner Bros. decided to take

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2772-658: The human characters and seem to surround and entrap them. – Biographer Sidney Rosenzweig Although unusual projects for Warner Bros., Curtiz directed two horror films for the studio, Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), both in early Technicolor , with numerous atmospheric scenes filmed on the studio's back lot. Another breakthrough film was 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), starring then little-known actors Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis in one of their earliest films. MGM head Louis B. Mayer saw

2838-571: The human-interest aspect of every story, stating that the "human and fundamental problems of real people" were the basis of all good drama. The death of 25 horses in The Charge of the Light Brigade under Curtiz's direction led to a near-violent confrontation between Curtiz and star Errol Flynn , which led to the U.S. Congress and the ASPCA to enact legislation and policy to prevent cruelty to animals on

2904-632: The most noteworthy features of all those films." On a visit to Hollywood in 1927, Ilya Tolstoy , Leo Tolstoy 's son, who had been a friend of Curtiz in Europe, wanted him to direct several films based on his father's novels. He chose Curtiz because he already knew the locale and its people. During this period, Warner Bros. began experimenting with talking films. They assigned two part-talking pictures for Curtiz to direct: Tenderloin (1928) and Noah's Ark (1928), both of which also starred Costello. Noah's Ark included two parallel stories, one recounting

2970-473: The most profitable film that year, also winning three Academy Awards and being nominated for Best Picture. It is in Rotten Tomatoes ' list of Top 100 Movies. That being their third Curtiz film together, Flynn and de Havilland continued to star in other hugely successful films under his direction, including The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), also co-starring Bette Davis. Davis starred in

3036-468: The sets of movies. Curtiz helped popularize the classic swashbuckler , with films such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). He directed many other dramas which are considered classics: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Sea Wolf (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Mildred Pierce (1945). He directed leading musicals, including Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), This Is

3102-426: The setting and performances, should be realistic and not flamboyant or theatrical. The single setting of Miss Julie , for example, is a kitchen. Second, the conflicts in the play should be issues of meaningful, life-altering significance — not small or petty. And third, the play should be simple — not cluttered with complicated sub-plots or lengthy expositions. Darwinism pervades naturalistic plays, especially in

3168-411: The short novella Magdolna during this time. He also traveled to Paris to see some of the chic new plays. "The fashionable boulevard comedies of Bernstein , Bataille , Capus , and others left a deep impression on him and later greatly influenced his dramatic style." In 1896, he abandoned a legal career to pursue a full-time career as a journalist. He covered a variety of topics during his time as

3234-591: The studio's leading director. Curtiz continued the successful genre of adventure films starring Flynn (often with de Havilland) that included The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), a depiction of the British Light Brigade during the Crimean War . The film, another Oscar winner, was a greater success at the box-office than Captain Blood . It was followed by The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, co-directed with William Keighley whom Curtiz replaced),

3300-555: The theatrical scene in New York, where Liliom had become a hit. They arrived in New York in 1940. He and Darvas later separated amicably, but remained married and friends until Molnár's death in 1952. Molnár died of cancer, aged 74, at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on April 1, 1952. Because of his superstitious fear that creating a will would hasten his death, Molnár left behind several manuscripts, unfinished work, and

3366-417: The underlying forces (i.e. the environment or heredity) influencing the actions of its subjects. Naturalistic works are opposed to romanticism , in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment. They often include uncouth or sordid subject matter; for example, Émile Zola 's works had a frankness about sexuality along with a pervasive pessimism. Naturalistic works exposed

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3432-589: Was A Kék Barlang (Blue Cave), a controversial play written, directed, and staged in the basement of a friend's house. Upon completing secondary school, Molnár studied law at the University of Budapest in 1895. Shortly after, he was sent to Geneva by his father to continue his studies at the Swiss University. While living in Geneva, he began to write frequently, often sending his work to various papers. Molnár also wrote

3498-471: Was "a relentless exposé of the evil effect of money, viewed by a young, idealistic newspaperman." The year following the release of Az éhes város, Molnár began writing for the theatre, the medium through which he became known internationally. His journalistic work influenced his early works as a playwright. Molnár's first play, A doktor úr (The Lawyer), and the play that followed, Józsi , are both comedies that essentially dramatized newspaper sketches about

3564-543: Was 20 years of age. In 1887, Molnár entered the Református Gimnázium, a secondary school (high school) located in Miskolc , Hungary, where he was inspired to learn foreign languages and where his talent as a writer began to emerge. At fourteen, he started a periodical, Haladás ("Progress"), which sold only four copies, and a secondary publication, É letképek ("Panorama"), selling only 20 copies. His first dramatic work

3630-457: Was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silent era and numerous others during Hollywood's Golden Age , when the studio system was prevalent. Curtiz was already a well-known director in Europe when Warner Bros. invited him to Hollywood in 1926, when he was 39 years of age. He had already directed 64 films in Europe, and soon helped Warner Bros. become

3696-461: Was a cramped apartment, where he had to share a small room with his two brothers and a sister. "Many times, we are hungry," he added. After graduating from high school, he studied at Markoszy University , followed by the Royal Academy of Theater and Art, in Budapest, before beginning his career. Curtiz became attracted to the theater when he was a child in Hungary. He built a little theatre in

3762-866: Was a member of the Hungarian fencing team at the Olympic Games in Stockholm. Kertész directed Hungary's first feature film, Today and Tomorrow ( Ma és holnap , 1912), in which he also had a leading role. He followed that with another film, The Last Bohemian ( Az utolsó bohém , also 1912). Curtiz began living in various cities in Europe to work on silent films in 1913. He first went to study at Nordisk studio in Denmark , which led to work as an actor and assistant director to August Blom on Denmark's first multireel feature film, Atlantis (1913). After World War I began in 1914, he returned to Hungary, where he served in

3828-408: Was an experienced filmmaker, now aged 38, Warners assigned him to direct a number of average-quality films to break him in, the first being The Third Degree (1926). Curtiz's unique camerawork technique was used throughout, visible in dramatic camera angles, in a style which one critic assumed other directors would likely envy. When I first came here I was called on to direct six or seven pictures

3894-491: Was assigned to make fund-raising documentaries for the Red Cross in Hungary. In 1917, he was made director of production at Phoenix Films, the leading studio in Budapest, where he remained until he left Hungary. However, none of the films he directed there survive intact, and most are completely lost. By 1918, he had become one of Hungary's most important directors, having by then directed about 45 films. However, following

3960-734: Was brought to the screen in 1956 with Grace Kelly and Louis Jourdan , and Egy, Ketto, Haro , which Billy Wilder turned into One, Two, Three , starring James Cagney and Horst Buchholz , in 1961. His novel The Paul Street Boys has been filmed repeatedly in English , Italian and Hungarian. That novel has also been widely popular in translation and made part of grade school curricula in Croatia , Serbia and Poland . On January 12, 1940, Molnár relocated to America and spent his last 12 years living in Room 835 at New York 's Plaza Hotel . In 1943, he suffered

4026-534: Was his oxygen, elixir, and self-therapy," wrote monographist and fellow Hungarian emigré Clara (Klára) Györgyey. As a further example, while writing The Devil in 1907, Molnár also wrote three books, including his juvenile novel, A Pál-utcai Fiúk (The Paul Street Boys) . Molnár's later plays, such as The Swan (1920), and The Play's the Thing (1924), continued to receive a wide audience and favorable reviews. More than 100 movies and television productions have been made out of his works, including The Swan , which

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4092-521: Was made up of over 10,000 extras. However, the reissue of the film in 1957 cut an hour off the original time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The story was an adaptation written by Bess Meredyth , who married Curtiz a few years later. The critical success of these films by Curtiz contributed to Warner Bros' becoming the fastest-growing studio in Hollywood. In 1930, Curtiz directed Mammy (1930), Al Jolson 's fourth film after being in Hollywood's first true talking picture , The Jazz Singer (1927). During

4158-497: Was nominated five times, and won twice, once for Best Short Subject for Sons of Liberty and once as Best Director for Casablanca . Curtiz was among those who introduced to Hollywood a visual style using artistic lighting, extensive and fluid camera movement, high crane shots, and unusual camera angles. He was versatile, and could handle any film genre: melodrama, comedy, love story, film noir , musical, war story, Western , horror, or historical epic. He always paid attention to

4224-399: Was not a friendly atmosphere for the lively and precocious Ferenc, who constantly had to be warned to keep quiet." Just a year before his birth, his parents' firstborn son and Molnár's brother, László, died. His mother was frail and frequently bedridden. Illness spread throughout the rooms of his house, and young Ferenc was constantly being told to keep quiet. His mother died in 1898 when Ferenc

4290-546: Was performed all over Europe and New York. Hungarian-born American director Michael Curtiz later adapted The Devil into a film; three years later, James Young directed an English-language version. He wrote Liliom , in 1909; he allegedly sought to regain favor with his wife Margit by portraying her in the role of Juli. The play was initially a failure when presented in Budapest," but became his best-known play when produced on Broadway in 1920 and elsewhere outside Hungary. It acquired even more widespread fame when adapted into

4356-549: Was quite satisfied being in Hollywood: It is splendid to work here in this country. One has everything at hand to work with. The director does not have to worry about anything except his ideas. He can concentrate on those with no worry about his production otherwise. The Third Degree (1926), available at the Library of Congress , made good use of Curtiz's experience in using moving cameras to create expressionistic scenes, such as

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