![]() They performed throughout Europe, including France, Hungary, Italy, and Germany, and he eventually learned five languages. They played Ibsen and Shakespeare in various languages, depending on what country they were in. From that job, he became a pantomimist with a circus for a while, but then returned to join another group of travelling players for a few more years. They set up the stage, with scenery and props, and Curtiz directed them.Īfter 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. He built a little theatre in the cellar of his family home when he was 8 years old, where he and five of his friends re-enacted plays. Career in Europe Actor Ĭurtiz became attracted to the theater when he was a child in Hungary. : 20Īfter graduating from high school, he studied at Markoszy University, followed by the Royal Academy of Theater and Art, in Budapest, before beginning his career. He recalled during an interview that his family's home was a cramped apartment, where he had to share a small room with his two brothers and a sister. Curtiz had a lower-middle-class upbringing. : 20 In 1905, he Magyarised his name to Mihály Kertész. He directed leading musicals, including Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), This Is the Army (1943), and White Christmas (1954), and he made comedies, with Life With Father (1947) and We're No Angels (1955).Ĭurtiz was born Manó Kaminer to a Jewish family in Budapest in 1886, where his father was a carpenter and his mother an opera singer. He directed many other dramas which are considered classics: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Sea Wolf (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Mildred Pierce (1945). Congress and the ASPCA to enact legislation and policy to prevent cruelty to animals on the sets of movies.Ĭurtiz helped popularize the classic swashbuckler, with films such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). 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. He always paid attention to the human-interest aspect of every story, stating that the "human and fundamental problems of real people" were the basis of all good drama. He was versatile, and could handle any film genre: melodrama, comedy, love story, film noir, musical, war story, Western, horror, or historical epic. He himself was nominated five times, and won twice, once for Best Short Subject for Sons of Liberty and once as Best Director for Casablanca.Ĭurtiz 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 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. James Cagney and Joan Crawford won their only Academy Awards under Curtiz's direction. He directed 102 films during his Hollywood career, mostly at Warners, where he directed ten actors to Oscar nominations. ![]() He had already directed 64 films in Europe, and soon helped Warner Bros. invited him to Hollywood in 1926, when he was 39 years of age. Hollywood's Golden Age, when the studio system was prevalent.Ĭurtiz was already a well-known director in Europe when Warner Bros. : 67 He directed classic films from the silent era and numerous others during Michael Curtiz ( / k ɜːr ˈ t iː z/ kur- TEEZ born Manó Kaminer from 1905 Mihály Kertész Hungarian: Kertész Mihály December 24, 1886 – April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history.
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