Happy Birthday, Max Ophüls! Born today in 1902 as Maximillian Oppenheimer (also known as Max Ophüls), this German-born writer and director had worked in Germany, France, and the United States. Throughout his career, Ophüls had made nearly thirty films.
Among his credits in the United States, Ophüls is best known for directing the 1948 American black and white drama/romance film 'Letter from an Unknown Woman' and the 1940 American melodrama noir/crime film 'The Reckless Moment'.
Ophüls other most notable credit in the United States is the 1947 American black and white adventure/romance film 'The Exile'. The film stars Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Among his foreign credits, Ophüls is best known for directing the 1953 French/Italian black and white romance/drama film 'Madame de…' ('The Earrings of Madame de...') and the 1955 French/West German Eastmancolor historical romance/drama film 'Lola Montès'.
The former film follows a pair of earrings as they change hands during a series of betrayals and romances.
It begins with French general Général André de... (Charles Boyer) presents his wife Louise (Danielle Darrieux) with the pricey jewelry. However, she is forced to sell the earrings after she runs into financial trouble.
It begins with French general Général André de... (Charles Boyer) presents his wife Louise (Danielle Darrieux) with the pricey jewelry. However, she is forced to sell the earrings after she runs into financial trouble.
When the general sees them in a shop, he secretly purchases them back for a woman he is having an affair with. Then, after a gambling loss, she pawns them, and Italian aristocrat Baron Fabrizio Donati (Vittorio De Sica) buys them for a special Frenchwoman.
The film's different titles reflect on the fact that the surname of the Madame in question – the same as that of her husband's – is never heard nor seen onscreen. The few times in the film when it might be revealed, it is elided by noise or a camera trick.
'The Earrings of Madame De...' had been adapted from French novelist poet and journalist Lévêque de Vilmorin's 1951 literary fiction novel Madame De.
The latter film tells of Lola Montès (Martine Carol), who was a famous cabaret dancer and the lover of many of 19th-century Europe's most prominent men.
She now she works in a seedy American circus, where an impresario/ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) tells her life story as the main attraction.
She now she works in a seedy American circus, where an impresario/ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) tells her life story as the main attraction.
After Lola's lover (and her own mother's boyfriend) Lt. Thomas James (Ivan Desny) marries Lola instead, she is later abducted by Russian cossacks.
Her many affairs end in marriage to King Ludwig I of Bavaria (Anton Walbrook). Lola then flees when the March Revolution of 1848 threatens his kingdom.
Her many affairs end in marriage to King Ludwig I of Bavaria (Anton Walbrook). Lola then flees when the March Revolution of 1848 threatens his kingdom.
The film had been adapted from French writer and journalist Jacques Laurent's (under the nom de plume Jacques Laurent-Cély) historic novel.
'Lola Montès' is now considered a masterpiece of the 1950s French cinema. American film critic Andrew Sarris called it "the most perfect film ever made".
Ophüls said that the story's construction attracted him, stating "there is always the same axis around which the action continually turns like a carousel. A tiny, scarcely visible axis: a pair of earrings".
Among his other foreign credits, Ophüls is known for directing the French black and white romance/drama film 'La Ronde' ('Round') and the 1952 French black and white comedy-drama anthology film 'Le Plaisir' ('House of Pleasures').
Among his other foreign credits, Ophüls is known for directing the French black and white romance/drama film 'La Ronde' ('Round') and the 1952 French black and white comedy-drama anthology film 'Le Plaisir' ('House of Pleasures').
James Mason, who had worked with Ophüls on two films, later wrote a short poem about the director's love for tracking shots and elaborate camera movements:
"A shot that does not call for tracks
Is agony for poor old Max,
Who, separated from his dolly,
Is wrapped in deepest melancholy.
Once, when they took away his crane,
I thought he'd never smile again."
Is agony for poor old Max,
Who, separated from his dolly,
Is wrapped in deepest melancholy.
Once, when they took away his crane,
I thought he'd never smile again."
Ophüls has one son. This is German-French documentary filmmaker and former actor Marcel Ophüls.
He is best known for his four and a half hour 1969 Swiss/West German black and white documentary/war film 'Le Chagrin et la Pitié' ('The Sorrow and the Pity') and the four and a half hour 1988 documentary/war film 'Hôtel Terminus: Klaus Barbie, sa vie et son temps' ('Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie').
Ophüls was credited as Max Opuls on several of his American films. The annual Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany is named after him.
Ophüls had been active from 1931–1957.
#borntodirect
@Criterion
@tcm
@Kanopy
@Kanopy
@FIAFNY
No comments:
Post a Comment