William Dieterle (July 15,
1893, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany – December 9, 1972, Ottobrunn,
Bavaria) was a German
actor and film director,
who worked in Hollywood for much of his career.
Career
He was born Wilhelm Dieterle, the youngest child of nine, to
Jewish parents Jacob and Berthe Dieterle. As
a child, he lived in considerable poverty and earned money by
various means including carpentry and as a scrap dealer. He became
interested in theater early and by the age of sixteen, he had
joined a travelling theater company. His striking good looks and
ambition soon paved the way as a leading romantic actor in theater
productions.
In 1919, he attracted the attention of
Max Reinhardt in
Berlin
who hired him as an actor for his
productions. He started acting in German films in 1921 to
make more money and quickly became a popular character actor. He
tired of acting quickly and wanted to direct.
He directed his first film in 1923,
Der Mensch am Wege,
which co-starred a young
Marlene
Dietrich, but he returned to acting for several years and
appeared in such notable German films as
Das
Wachsfigurenkabinett (
Waxworks) (1924) and
F.W. Murnau's
Faust (1926). In 1927, Dieterle and
his wife,
Charlotte Hagenbruch,
formed their own production company and returned to directing
films, such as
Sex in Chains
(1928) in which he also played the lead role.
In 1930,
Dieterle emigrated to the United States
when he was offered a job in Hollywood
to make German versions of American films; he
became a citizen of the United States in 1937. He adapted
quickly to Hollywood filmmaking and was soon directing original
films. His first,
The Last Flight (1931), was a success
and has been hailed as a forgotten masterpiece. Other films made
during the 1930s include
Jewel
Robbery (1932),
Adorable (1933),
A Midsummer Night's
Dream with Reinhardt,
The Story of Louis Pasteur
(1936),
The Life of Emile
Zola (1937),
Juarez (1939) and
The Hunchback of Notre
Dame (1939), with
Charles
Laughton as Quasimodo.
During the 1940s, Dieterle works were infused with more lush,
romantic expression and many critics see the films of this period
as some of his best works. They include
The Devil and Daniel
Webster (also known as
All That Money Can Buy,
1941),
Love
Letters (1945) and
Portrait of Jennie (1948).
Dieterle's career declined during the 1950s as a result of the
McCarthyism period. Although he was
never blacklisted directly, his libertarian film
Blockade
(1938) as well as some of the people he worked with were considered
suspect.
He continued to make films in the United States in the 1950s,
including the
film noir The Turning Point (1952),
Salome (1953) with
Rita Hayworth,
Elephant Walk (1954) with
Elizabeth Taylor, and a biopic of
Richard Wagner,
Magic Fire (1955)
for
Republic Pictures. He made
some films in Germany and Italy, and a notorious U.S. flop,
Quick, Let's Get Married (1964) - also known as
The
Confession or
Seven Different Ways - with
Ginger Rogers before retiring in 1965.
Dieterle is remembered for always wearing a large hat and white
gloves on set.
Filmography
References
- Wakeman, John (ed.) World Film Directors, Vol. 1, 1890-1945.
New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
- Hillstrom, Laurie Collier (ed.) International Dictionary of
Films and Filmmakers. Detroit: St. James Press, 1997.
Bibliography
- Books
- Close up : the contract director.- Metuchen ; New-York :
Scarecrow Press, 1976.
- Strangers in paradise : the Hollywood emigres 1933-1950 / John
Russel Taylor.- London : Faber & Faber, 1983 ISBN
1892597004
- William Dieterle / Hervé Dumont.- Paris : CNRS éditions :
Cinémathèque française, 2002
- William Dieterle, der Plutarch von Hollywood / Marta
Mierendorff.- Berlin 1993 ISBN 227106001X
- Magazines
- Avant-Scène du Cinéma, n° 196, November 1977
- Cahiers du Cinéma, n° 532, February 1999
- Classic Film Collector, n° 50, Springtime 1976
- Ecran, n° 12, February 1973
- Film in Review, vol 8 n° 4, April 1957
- Jeune Cinéma, n° 222, May-June 1993
- Sight and Sound vol 22 n° 1, July-September 1952
- Sight and Sound, vol 19 n° 3, May 1950
- Velvet Light Trap, n° 15, Autumn 1975
- Wide Angle, vol 8 n° 2, 1986
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