Artur Berger
Encyclopedia
Artur Semyonovich Berger was an Austria
n-Soviet film architect and set designer. He was active in Austria between 1920 and 1936, during which time he worked on about 30 feature films. In 1936 he emigrated to the Soviet Union
, where he continued to work on films until the early 1970s.
in 1892 to Jewish parents (Simon Berger, a civil servant, and his wife Pauline, née
Beran), Berger was educated at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt and between 1911 and 1915 the Hochschule für angewandte Kunst in Wien, where he was trained in architecture by the highly respected Jugendstil architect
s Josef Hoffmann
and Oskar Strnad
.
At first Berger worked with his brother Josef Berger and with Martin Ziegler on the residential building programme of Red Vienna
, but in 1920 he changed over to working for Sascha-Film
as an architect for scenery and film structures. For the directors Michael Curtiz
and Alexander Korda
he collaborated on the sets for their epic film
s Prinz und Bettelknabe (1920), Der junge Medardus (1923), Harun al Rashid (1924), Die Sklavenkönigin (1924) and Salammbô (1924). He often worked with Emil Stepanek
and Julius von Borsody
. From the mid-1920s however he was involved almost entirely with undistinguished melodramas and light entertainment films. In 1926 he was responsible for the sets on Die Pratermizzi
, and in 1927 for the scenery and buildings of the enormously successful Café Elektric
directed by Gustav Ucicky
. In 1931 he and Siegfried Bernfeld
collaborated on the screenplay for Die große Liebe
, the first film directed by Otto Preminger
.
In 1932 Berger created the sets for Die vom 17er Haus, an election advertising film on behalf of the Social Democrats in the Landtag
election, which was made using the Selenophon sound process. The film is set in the year 2032, in which numerous skyscrapers in glass cladding surround the Stephansdom
. To avoid this vision of a city not worth living in, the Viennese are urged to act according to the election slogan at the end of the film: "Seid gescheit! Das rote Wien siegt! Wählt sozialdemokratisch!" ("Be clever! Red Vienna is the winner! Vote Social Democrat!"). Along with Rossak's Mr. Pims Europareise this was one of the only two Social Democrat promotional films made by the agency Kiba (Kinobetriebsagentur), and also the last before the party was banned by the Austrian Fascist government.
In 1933 Berger was co-founder of the Lehrinstitut für Tonfilmkunst ("Teaching Institute of Sound Film") in Vienna, where he also taught. He was also a member of the Österreichischer Werkbund ("Austrian Labour Union") and of the Bund österreichischer Künstler otherwise known as the Kunstschau/Sonderbund deutschösterreichischer Künstler ("Union of Austrian Artists"). In 1936, when under economic and political pressure from National Socialist Germany the German prohibition against Jews and persons of Jewish descent working in the film industry was also adopted in Austria, Berger immigrated, via Prague
and Paris
, to Moscow
, where he continued his career with Mosfilm
as Artur Semyonovich Berger into the 1970s.
He died in Moscow in 1981.
Berger had two sons, Peter (died 2001) and Sascha (living in Moscow) who both worked as architects, in Austria and Russia (Moscow), and also two daughters, Marianne, (died 2009) and Vera, 93, living in Tirol, Austria.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-Soviet film architect and set designer. He was active in Austria between 1920 and 1936, during which time he worked on about 30 feature films. In 1936 he emigrated to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where he continued to work on films until the early 1970s.
Biography
Born Arthur Berger in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1892 to Jewish parents (Simon Berger, a civil servant, and his wife Pauline, née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Beran), Berger was educated at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt and between 1911 and 1915 the Hochschule für angewandte Kunst in Wien, where he was trained in architecture by the highly respected Jugendstil architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s Josef Hoffmann
Josef Hoffmann
Josef Hoffmann was an Austrian architect and designer of consumer goods.- Biography :...
and Oskar Strnad
Oskar Strnad
Oskar Strnad was an Austrian architect, sculptor, designer and set designer for films and theatres. Together with Josef Frank he was instrumental in creating the distinctive character of the Wiener Schule der Architektur...
.
At first Berger worked with his brother Josef Berger and with Martin Ziegler on the residential building programme of Red Vienna
Red Vienna
Red Vienna was the nickname of the capital of Austria between 1918 and 1934, when the Social Democrats had the majority and the city was democratically governed for the first time.-Social situation after World War I:...
, but in 1920 he changed over to working for Sascha-Film
Sascha-Film
Sascha-Film, in full Sascha-Filmindustrie AG and from 1933 Tobis-Sascha-Filmindustrie AG, was the largest Austrian film production company of the silent film and early sound film period.-History:...
as an architect for scenery and film structures. For the directors Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
and 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...
he collaborated on the sets for their epic film
Epic film
An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...
s Prinz und Bettelknabe (1920), Der junge Medardus (1923), Harun al Rashid (1924), Die Sklavenkönigin (1924) and Salammbô (1924). He often worked with Emil Stepanek
Emil Stepanek
Emil Stepanek was an Austrian set designer and film architect.-Biography:Stepanek was born in Vienna, the son of a carpenter, and received a training in stage set construction, in which he worked for several years. Between 1916 and 1918 he had to perform military service...
and Julius von Borsody
Julius von Borsody
Julius von Borsody was an Austrian film architect and one of the most employed set designers in the Austrian and German cinemas of the late silent and early sound film periods...
. From the mid-1920s however he was involved almost entirely with undistinguished melodramas and light entertainment films. In 1926 he was responsible for the sets on Die Pratermizzi
Die Pratermizzi
Die Pratermizzi is an Austrian silent drama film made by Gustav Ucicky in 1926, released in January 1927, which was long believed lost until its rediscovery in 2005.-Plot:...
, and in 1927 for the scenery and buildings of the enormously successful Café Elektric
Café Elektric
Café Elektric is an Austrian film directed by Gustav Ucicky.- Plot outline :The daughter of a wealthy industrialist falls for a pickpocket .- Cast :* Willi Forst ... Fredl* Marlene Dietrich ... Erni Göttlinger...
directed by Gustav Ucicky
Gustav Ucicky
Gustav Ucicky was an acclaimed Austrian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. He was one of the more successful and acclaimed directors in Austria and Germany from the 1930s through to the early 1960s...
. In 1931 he and Siegfried Bernfeld
Siegfried Bernfeld
Siegfried Bernfeld was an Austrian psychologist and educator who was a native of Lemberg, which is now Lviv, Ukraine...
collaborated on the screenplay for Die große Liebe
Die große Liebe (1931 film)
Die große Liebe is a 1931 Austrian drama film directed by Otto Preminger, the first of his career. The screenplay by Artur Berger and Siegfried Bernfeld is based on a true story.-Plot:...
, the first film directed by Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
.
In 1932 Berger created the sets for Die vom 17er Haus, an election advertising film on behalf of the Social Democrats in the Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
election, which was made using the Selenophon sound process. The film is set in the year 2032, in which numerous skyscrapers in glass cladding surround the Stephansdom
Stephansdom
St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP...
. To avoid this vision of a city not worth living in, the Viennese are urged to act according to the election slogan at the end of the film: "Seid gescheit! Das rote Wien siegt! Wählt sozialdemokratisch!" ("Be clever! Red Vienna is the winner! Vote Social Democrat!"). Along with Rossak's Mr. Pims Europareise this was one of the only two Social Democrat promotional films made by the agency Kiba (Kinobetriebsagentur), and also the last before the party was banned by the Austrian Fascist government.
In 1933 Berger was co-founder of the Lehrinstitut für Tonfilmkunst ("Teaching Institute of Sound Film") in Vienna, where he also taught. He was also a member of the Österreichischer Werkbund ("Austrian Labour Union") and of the Bund österreichischer Künstler otherwise known as the Kunstschau/Sonderbund deutschösterreichischer Künstler ("Union of Austrian Artists"). In 1936, when under economic and political pressure from National Socialist Germany the German prohibition against Jews and persons of Jewish descent working in the film industry was also adopted in Austria, Berger immigrated, via Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, where he continued his career with Mosfilm
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
as Artur Semyonovich Berger into the 1970s.
He died in Moscow in 1981.
Berger had two sons, Peter (died 2001) and Sascha (living in Moscow) who both worked as architects, in Austria and Russia (Moscow), and also two daughters, Marianne, (died 2009) and Vera, 93, living in Tirol, Austria.
Filmography
- Prinz und Bettelknabe (Austria 1920, dir: Alexander KordaAlexander KordaSir 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...
; film architecture with Emil StepanekEmil StepanekEmil Stepanek was an Austrian set designer and film architect.-Biography:Stepanek was born in Vienna, the son of a carpenter, and received a training in stage set construction, in which he worked for several years. Between 1916 and 1918 he had to perform military service...
) - Der Marquis von Bolibar (Austria 1922, Friedrich Porges; with Julius von BorsodyJulius von BorsodyJulius von Borsody was an Austrian film architect and one of the most employed set designers in the Austrian and German cinemas of the late silent and early sound film periods...
) - Der junge Medardus (Austria 1923, Michael CurtizMichael CurtizMichael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
; with Julius von Borsody) - Harun al Rashid (Austria 1924, Michael Curtiz; with Julius von Borsody)
- Die Sklavenkönigin (Austria 1924, Michael Curtiz; with Emil Stepanek)
- Salammbô (Austria/France 1924, Pierre Marodon; with Emil Stepanek)
- Das Spielzeug von ParisDas Spielzeug von ParisDas Spielzeug von Paris is an Austrian silent film released in 1925 and directed by Michael Curtiz. It was the first film to feature French actress Lili Damita in the leading role.-Plot:...
(Austria/Germany/France 1925, Michael Curtiz) - Die Brandstifter Europas – Oberst Redls Erben (Austria 1926, Max NeufeldMax NeufeldMax Neufeld was an Austrian film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed 70 films between 1919 and 1957. He directed the 1934 film The Song of the Sun, which starred Vittorio De Sica.-Selected filmography:...
) - Die PratermizziDie PratermizziDie Pratermizzi is an Austrian silent drama film made by Gustav Ucicky in 1926, released in January 1927, which was long believed lost until its rediscovery in 2005.-Plot:...
(Austria 1927, Karl LeiterKarl Leiter-Selected filmography:* Pratermizzi * Vater Radetzky * Das Ferienkind * Ich bitte um Vollmacht * Wiener Luft...
, Gustav UcickyGustav UcickyGustav Ucicky was an acclaimed Austrian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. He was one of the more successful and acclaimed directors in Austria and Germany from the 1930s through to the early 1960s...
; with Emil Stepanek) - Café ElektricCafé ElektricCafé Elektric is an Austrian film directed by Gustav Ucicky.- Plot outline :The daughter of a wealthy industrialist falls for a pickpocket .- Cast :* Willi Forst ... Fredl* Marlene Dietrich ... Erni Göttlinger...
(Austria 1927, Gustav Ucicky) - Tingel Tangel (Austria 1927, Gustav Ucicky)
- Das Weib am Kreuze (Austria 1929, Guido BrignoneGuido BrignoneGuido Brignone was an Italian film director. He was the father of actress Lilla Brignone.Brignone was born in Milan, Italy...
) - Der Fall des Generalstabs-Oberst Redl (Germany/Czechoslovakia 1931, Karl AntonKarl AntonKarl Anton was a German film director, screenwriter and film producer. He directed 58 films between 1922 and 1960.He was born in Prague, Czech Republic and died in Berlin, Germany.-External links:...
; with Emil Stepanek) - Die große LiebeDie große Liebe (1931 film)Die große Liebe is a 1931 Austrian drama film directed by Otto Preminger, the first of his career. The screenplay by Artur Berger and Siegfried Bernfeld is based on a true story.-Plot:...
(Austria, 1931; screenplay with Siegfried BernfeldSiegfried BernfeldSiegfried Bernfeld was an Austrian psychologist and educator who was a native of Lemberg, which is now Lviv, Ukraine...
) - Lumpenkavaliere (Austria/Germany 1932, Carl BoeseCarl BoeseCarl Boese was a German film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed 158 films between 1917 and 1957.-Selected filmography:* The Golem: How He Came into the World * Paprika...
; with Emil Stepanek) - Abenteuer am Lido (Austria 1933, Richard OswaldRichard OswaldRichard Oswald was an Austrian director, producer, and screenwriter.Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, began his career as an actor on the Viennese stage. He made his film directorial debut at age 34 with Das Eiserne Kreuz...
) - Karneval und Liebe (Austria 1934, Carl LamacCarl LamacKarel Lamač was a Czech film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. He directed 102 films between 1919 and 1953...
) - Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten (Austria 1935, Kurt GerronKurt GerronKurt Gerron was a German Jewish actor and film director.-Life:Born Kurt Gerson into a well-off merchant family in Berlin, he initially studied medicine but was called up for military service in World War I. Seriously wounded he qualified as a military doctor of the German Army...
) - Heut' ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben (Austria 1936, Richard Oswald)
- Ошибка инженера Кочина (Oshibka inzheniera Kochina) / Engineer Kochin's Error (USSR 1939, Alexander Macheret)
- Свинарка и пастух (Svinarka i pastukh) / The Swineherd-girl and the Shepherd (USSR 1941, Ivan PyryevIvan PyryevIvan Aleksandrovich Pyryev , served as Director of the Mosfilm studios and was, for a time, the most influential man in the Soviet motion picture industry.Pyryev was born in Kamen-na-Obi, now Altai Krai, Russia...
) - Жди меня (Zhdi menya) / Wait for Me (USSR 1943, Boris Ivanov, Alexander Stolper)
- Тайна вечной ночи (Tayna vechnoy nochi) / Mystery of the Eternal Night (USSR 1956, Abram RoomAbram RoomAbram Room was aRussian film director.Room's best known film is Bed and Sofa . In the film, a woman who is married to a construction worker has an affair with their lodger. The film tracks the evolution of a housewife into a strong liberated woman, which was very unusual for its time...
, Dmitri Vassilyev) - Человек в штатском (Chelovek v shtatskom) / The Man in Civilian Clothing (USSR 1973, Vassili Zhuravlyov)