Gustav Machatý
Born
Augustín Otokar Jan Machatý

(1901-05-09)9 May 1901
Died13 December 1963(1963-12-13) (aged 62)
NationalityCzech
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1919–1955
Spouses
Maria Ray
(m. 1937; died 1951)
    Helga Marlo
    (m. 1951)

    Gustav Machatý (9 May 1901 13 December 1963) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor.[1] He directed films in Czechoslovakia, the United States, and Germany, including Erotikon and Ecstasy.

    Life

    He was born Augustín Otokar Jan Machatý in Prague. His father was a real estate investor. Machatý didn't finish high school and started to work in movies as a teenager. He worked as a cinema pianist, actor, screenwriter, producer and art director.

    He directed his first film Teddy by kouřil in 1919. In 1920 he left to USA, worked for Universal Pictures and came back in 1922.[1] In 1926 he finally managed to secure funds for his movie The Kreutzer Sonata. The film was a success and led to Machatý getting offers to direct. His next movie Schweik in Civilian Life was not successful. Machatý spent two years studying foreign movies and entered the period in which made the best movies of his career.[2] In 1929 he made an symbolist drama Erotikon, in 1931 a social drama From Saturday to Sunday and an adaptation of Karel Poláček's novel Načeradec, král kibiců and in 1933 his best known film Ecstasy.[2]

    Ecstasy was screened in Venice Film Festival and made both Machatý and its lead actress Hedy Lamarr internationally famous. They both received offer to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. After making Nocturno in Germany and Ballerine in Italy he decided to accept the offer and traveled to the US.[2] However his American career was filled only by low-level contract work for the studio and MGM producers didn't have any interest in his ideas. From 1940 to 1943 he worked for RKO directing only camera test footage with starting actors. In 1945 he managed to direct Jealousy for a smaller production company Republic Pictures.

    After suicide of his wife Maria Ray (1904–1951) he returned to Europe and settled in Munich, West Germany. He directed his last movie in 1955 and later worked as a professor at Deutsches Institut für Film und Fernsehen in Münich. He died in Münich in 1963.[3]

    Selected filmography

    YearTitleActorDirectorScreenwriterNotes
    1919Akord smrtiYesNoNo
    1919Teddy by kouřilYesYesYesShort film
    1919Lady with the Small FootYesNoYes
    1927The Kreutzer SonataNoYesYes
    1927Schweik in Civilian LifeNoYesNo
    1929ErotikonNoYesYes
    1931From Saturday to SundayNoYesYes
    1931Načeradec, král kibicůNoYesYes
    1933EcstasyNoYesYesWon Best Director in 2nd Venice Film Festival
    1934NocturnoYesYesNo
    1936BallerineNoYesNo
    1937The Good EarthNoYesNoUncredited
    1937Madame XNoYesNoUncredited
    1937ConquestNoYesNoUncredited
    1938The Wrong Way OutNoYesNoShort film
    1939Within the LawNoYesNo
    1945JealousyNoYesNo
    1955Es geschah am 20. JuliNoNoYes
    1955Lost Child 312NoYesNo

    References

    1. 1 2 "Gustav Machatý". Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
    2. 1 2 3 Škvorecký, Josef (1975). All the bright young men and women: a personal history of the Czech cinema. Toronto, Ont: Martin Associates in association with 'Take One' Magazine. ISBN 9780887781100.
    3. "Gustav Machatý". Filmový přehled (in Czech).
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