André De Toth
Encyclopedia
André de Toth was a Hungarian
-American filmmaker, born and raised in Makó
, Csongrád
, Kingdom of Hungary
Austro-Hungarian Empire. He directed the 3-D film
House of Wax
, despite being unable to see in 3-D himself, having lost an eye at an early age. He is known for his gritty B movie
s in the western
and crime
genres.
and becoming part of the theater scene in Budapest
. From that involvement he segued to the film industry and worked as a writer, assistant director, editor and sometime actor. In 1939 he directed five films just before war began in Europe. Several of these pictures received significant release in the Hungarian communities in the United States. De Toth went to England, spent several years as an assistant to fellow Hungarian émigré Alexander Korda
, and eventually moved to the Los Angeles in 1942.
Based on his Hungarian films, the production work for Korda and writing he had done on American projects during earlier stints in Los Angeles, de Toth was given an oral contract as a director at Columbia from which he ultimately extricated himself by litigation.
Because he preferred working as an independent, de Toth had no “A” budgets early in his career and had to supplement his directing income with writing assignments, often uncredited. Introduced to Westerns by John Ford
, de Toth worked mostly in that genre throughout the 1950s, often bringing elements of noir style into those films. In 1951 he received an Oscar nomination for Best Writing (with co-writer William Bowers) for the story filmed as The Gunfighter.
While he is often remembered as the director of the earliest and most successful 3-D film, House of Wax
, (all the more remarkable since, like Ford, Fritz Lang
, and Raoul Walsh
, de Toth had only one good eye), he was also responsible for two of the noir cycle's most unusual examples: Pitfall
and Crime Wave
.
On October 27, 2002, de Toth died from an aneurysm
. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
-American filmmaker, born and raised in Makó
Makó
Makó is a town in Csongrád County in southeastern Hungary. It lies on the Maros River, near the Romanian border. The area of the town is of which is arable land. The climate is very warm with hot and dry summers. Makó and the surrounding region get the most sunshine in Hungary, about 85-90...
, Csongrád
Csongrád
Csongrád is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary. Formerly, the city also had the alternate Slavic name of Černigrad, which, like the Hungarian version, means "Black Castle" or "Black Town".-History:...
, Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
Austro-Hungarian Empire. He directed the 3-D film
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
House of Wax
House of Wax (1953 film)
House of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price. It is a remake of Warners' Mystery of the Wax Museum without the comic relief featured in the earlier film, and was directed by André de Toth...
, despite being unable to see in 3-D himself, having lost an eye at an early age. He is known for his gritty B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s in the western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
and crime
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
genres.
Career
Born ca. 1912 as Sâsvári Farkasfalvi Tóthfalusi Tóth Endre Antal Mihály, he earned a degree in law from the Royal Hungarian University in the early 1930s. He garnered acclaim for plays written as a college student, acquiring the mentorship of Ferenc MolnárFerenc Molnár
LanguageFerenc Molnár was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist. His Americanized name was Franz Molnar...
and becoming part of the theater scene in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. From that involvement he segued to the film industry and worked as a writer, assistant director, editor and sometime actor. In 1939 he directed five films just before war began in Europe. Several of these pictures received significant release in the Hungarian communities in the United States. De Toth went to England, spent several years as an assistant to fellow Hungarian émigré Alexander Korda
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
, and eventually moved to the Los Angeles in 1942.
Based on his Hungarian films, the production work for Korda and writing he had done on American projects during earlier stints in Los Angeles, de Toth was given an oral contract as a director at Columbia from which he ultimately extricated himself by litigation.
Because he preferred working as an independent, de Toth had no “A” budgets early in his career and had to supplement his directing income with writing assignments, often uncredited. Introduced to Westerns by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, de Toth worked mostly in that genre throughout the 1950s, often bringing elements of noir style into those films. In 1951 he received an Oscar nomination for Best Writing (with co-writer William Bowers) for the story filmed as The Gunfighter.
While he is often remembered as the director of the earliest and most successful 3-D film, House of Wax
House of Wax (1953 film)
House of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price. It is a remake of Warners' Mystery of the Wax Museum without the comic relief featured in the earlier film, and was directed by André de Toth...
, (all the more remarkable since, like Ford, Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
, and Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
, de Toth had only one good eye), he was also responsible for two of the noir cycle's most unusual examples: Pitfall
Pitfall (1948 film)
Pitfall is a black-and-white 1948 film noir drama directed by André De Toth. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Jay Dratler, and was titled Tragedia a Santa Monica for its Italian release...
and Crime Wave
Crime Wave (1954 film)
Crime Wave is a 1954 film noir, directed by André De Toth. It was adapted from a short story which originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post - Criminal Mark by John and Ward Hawkins.-Plot:...
.
Personal life
De Toth was married seven times and had 19 children. His wives included:- Veronica LakeVeronica LakeVeronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan's Travels and her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and was well-known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle...
, to whom he was married from 1944 until 1952. They had a son, Andre Anthony Michael De Toth (October 25, 1945-February 24, 1991) and a daughter, Diana De Toth (born October 16, 1948). They divorced in 1952. - Marie Louise Stratton, to whom he was married from 1953 until 1982, when they divorced. This marriage also produced two children, Michelle and Nicolas.
- He was married to Ann Green at the time of his death; they had no children together.
Death
In 1996, he published his memoir, Fragments –Portraits from the Inside (London: Faber and Faber, 1994).On October 27, 2002, de Toth died from an aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
.
Selected filmography
- None Shall EscapeNone Shall EscapeNone Shall Escape is a 1944 war film. Even though the film was made during World War II, the setting is a post-war Nuremberg-style war crimes trial...
(1944) - Dark WatersDark Waters (1944 film)Dark Waters is a 1944 Gothic horror film based on the novel of the same name by Francis and Marian Cockrell. It was directed by André De Toth and starred Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone and Thomas Mitchell.-Plot:...
(1944) - RamrodRamrod (film)Ramrod is a 1947 Western film directed by André De Toth.This cowboy drama from Hungarian director De Toth was the first of several films based on the stories of Western author Luke Short. De Toth's first Western is often compared to films noir movies released around the same time...
(1947) - PitfallPitfall (1948 film)Pitfall is a black-and-white 1948 film noir drama directed by André De Toth. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Jay Dratler, and was titled Tragedia a Santa Monica for its Italian release...
(1948) - Slattery's HurricaneSlattery's HurricaneSlattery's Hurricane is a 1949 drama film based on a story submitted by Herman Wouk to Twentieth Century Fox. The film tells the story of an anti-hero ex-navy pilot who discovers that he works for a dope-smuggling ring, but ultimately attempts to redeem himself during a violent hurricane. It stars...
(1949) - Carson CityCarson City (1952 film)Carson City is a 1952 western film starring Randolph Scott, Lucille Norman, Raymond Massey, and Richard Webb. Carson City was Warner Bros.' first film shot in WarnerColor.-Plot:...
(1952) - Springfield RifleSpringfield Rifle (1952 film)Springfield Rifle is a western film, directed by Andre de Toth and released by Warner Bros. Pictures in 1952. The film is set during the American Civil War and stars Gary Cooper in the lead role as Major Alex Kearney. Phyllis Thaxter played the lead female role as Erin Kearney. The film also...
(1952) - Last of the Comanches (1953)
- House of WaxHouse of Wax (1953 film)House of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price. It is a remake of Warners' Mystery of the Wax Museum without the comic relief featured in the earlier film, and was directed by André de Toth...
(1953) - Thunder Over the PlainsThunder Over the PlainsThunder Over The Plains is a 1953 western film directed by André de Toth and starring Randolph Scott and Lex Barker. This was the first film that Lex Barker appeared in after completing a series of 5 Tarzan films...
(1953) - TanganyikaTanganyika (film)Tanganyika is a 1954 action adventure film directed by André De Toth and starring Van Heflin.-Plot synopsis:In 1903 Kenya, tough colonist John Gale is leading a safari to bring in escaped murderer Abel McCracken , who is stirring up the Nukumbi tribe and endangering Gale's holdings...
(1954) - Crime WaveCrime Wave (1954 film)Crime Wave is a 1954 film noir, directed by André De Toth. It was adapted from a short story which originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post - Criminal Mark by John and Ward Hawkins.-Plot:...
(1954) - The Bounty Hunter (1954)
- The Indian FighterThe Indian FighterThe Indian Fighter is a 1956 Western movie. It is from an original story by Robert L. Richards.-Plot:Johnny Hawks is a man who made his name fighting Indians...
(1955) - Monkey on My BackMonkey on My Back (film)Monkey on My Back is a 1957 biographical film starring Cameron Mitchell as Barney Ross, a world champion boxer and war hero who became addicted to morphine and overcame it.-Cast:*Cameron Mitchell as Barney Ross*Dianne Foster as Cathy Holland...
(1957) - The Two-Headed SpyThe Two-Headed SpyThe Two-Headed Spy is a 1958 British spy thriller, set in World War II. It starred Jack Hawkins and was directed by Andre De Toth. It also starred Gia Scala, Erik Schumann and Alexander Knox.-Plot:...
(1958) - Day of the OutlawDay of the OutlawDay of the Outlaw is a 1959 film starring Robert Ryan and Burl Ives. It was directed by André De Toth; this film being his last Western feature film. Parts of it were filmed on location in snowy Bend, Oregon.-Plot:...
(1959) - Play DirtyPlay DirtyPlay Dirty is a 1969 British film inspired by the North African exploits of units such as the Long Range Desert Group, Popski's Private Army and the SAS during World War II. It was directed by André De Toth and written by Melvyn Bragg and Lotte Colin...
(1968)
Further reading
- Anthony Slide (editor), De Toth on De Toth: Putting the Drama In Front of the Camera (Faber, 1996)