Josef von Sternberg
Encyclopedia
Josef von Sternberg — born Jonas Sternberg — was an Austria
n-American
film
director
. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène
, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich
.
. When he was two years old the family moved to America, and he spent most of his childhood in New York City
and Lynbrook, New York
. His father, Moses (Morris) Sternberg, a former soldier in the army of Austria-Hungary
, twice tried to make a home for the family in the US before finding employment as a lace worker. (The false aristocratic title 'von' was added in 1925 by actor/co-producer Elliott Dexter
during the production of By Divine Right
, supposedly to "even up" the credits as they appeared on screen. Sternberg did not protest, since it invited comparison with his hero, Erich von Stroheim
.).
and worked as an errand boy in a lace warehouse. He later obtained a job cleaning and repairing movie prints, and soon found himself working for William A. Brady
at the World Film Studio at Fort Lee, New Jersey
. He made his directorial debut in 1925 with The Salvation Hunters
, called by some the first American independent film.
Charlie Chaplin
was impressed by The Salvation Hunters, and encouraged Douglas Fairbanks
and Mary Pickford
to acquire the rights to it. Pickford also asked Sternberg to direct a film with her as star, but rejected his first scenario. Chaplin also commissioned him to write and direct A Woman of the Sea
(also known as The Sea Gull), starring his former star and lover Edna Purviance
, but this film was later destroyed by Chaplin. Still photographs from A Woman of the Sea were published by Purviance's family in 2008.
Von Sternberg had commercial success later in the decade at Paramount Pictures
with the late-period silent films The Last Command
and The Docks of New York
(1928), both noted for their influential cinematography. His reputation was also advanced by a series of early gangster films including Underworld
and Thunderbolt
.
and he accepted an invitation to make a film in Germany. In 1929, Sternberg worked in Berlin
and directed the widely acclaimed film Der blaue Engel
(The Blue Angel; 1930) in both German
and English
versions simultaneously, the first German-language talkie. It was Sternberg's second film with the German actor Emil Jannings
as the doomed Professor Rath. (The first was The Last Command
.)
Von Sternberg also cast the not well known Marlene Dietrich
as Lola Lola, the female lead, and overnight made her an international star. Sternberg and Dietrich continued to collaborate on Morocco
(1930), Dishonored
(1931), Shanghai Express
(1932), Blonde Venus
(1932), The Scarlet Empress
(1934), and The Devil is a Woman (1935). The Scarlet Empress is particularly celebrated for its atmospheric and suggestively demonic production design.
In 1932, von Sternberg commissioned architect Richard Neutra
to design the 'Von Sternberg House', an avant-garde American modernism
architectural style residence inside a walled estate compound on acreage in the walnut groves. (The author Ayn Rand
later acquired the property, with the modernism
evocative of 'The Fountainhead,' and resided there. This landmark was demolished in 1972 for construction of the Teledyne
complex.)
Von Sternberg is one of the directors to whom has been attributed the origin of the expression "MOS", a phrase used when a scene is to be filmed without sound .
(1952) was von Sternberg's last Hollywood film. Anatahan
(1953), made in Japan, is the story of a group of Japanese soldiers who refused to believe that the Second World War had ended. The film, which was directed, photographed, narrated, and written by von Sternberg, saw limited release and was a financial failure. It was also Sternberg's final film; although another Hollywood picture he co-directed (Jet Pilot
) was released in 1957, it had actually been shot seven years earlier, when he was still under contract to producer Howard Hughes
.
Between 1959 and 1963 von Sternberg taught a course on film aesthetics at the University of California at Los Angeles, based on his own films. His students included Jim Morrison
and Ray Manzarek
, who went on to form the rock group The Doors
. References to Sternberg films appear in some songs by the group, and Manzarek describes Sternberg as "perhaps the greatest single influence on The Doors."
In 1965, von Sternberg wrote an autobiography, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, which took its title from an early film comedy; also, over fifty production stills (from the Purviance family's collection), showing his work on A Woman of the Sea
, were published in 2008.
Von Sternberg died from a heart attack
in 1969 at age 75. He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Westwood
, California
near several film studios.
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-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène
Mise en scène
Mise-en-scène is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, which essentially means "visual theme" or "telling a story"—both in visually artful ways through storyboarding, cinematography and stage design, and in poetically artful ways through direction...
, use of lighting and soft lens, and seven-film collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
.
Youth
Von Sternberg was born Jonas Sternberg to a Jewish family 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...
. When he was two years old the family moved to America, and he spent most of his childhood in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Lynbrook, New York
Lynbrook, New York
Lynbrook is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 19,427 at the 2010 census. The Village of Lynbrook is inside the Town of Hempstead. The Village of Lynbrook's current mayor is William Hendrick....
. His father, Moses (Morris) Sternberg, a former soldier in the army of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, twice tried to make a home for the family in the US before finding employment as a lace worker. (The false aristocratic title 'von' was added in 1925 by actor/co-producer Elliott Dexter
Elliott Dexter
Elliott Dexter was an American film and stage actor. Dexter started his career in vaudeville and didn't move to films until he was 45. He retired from acting in 1925....
during the production of By Divine Right
By Divine Right
By Divine Right is a Canadian indie rock band, led by guitarist and vocalist José Miguel Contreras.-History:The band was formed in 1989 by high school friends Contreras, drummer Mark Goldstein, bassist Liz Teear and guitarist Steve Berman. They put out a number of independent releases before...
, supposedly to "even up" the credits as they appeared on screen. Sternberg did not protest, since it invited comparison with his hero, Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born film star of the silent era, subsequently noted as an auteur for his directorial work.-Background:...
.).
Early career
Von Sternberg dropped out of Jamaica High SchoolJamaica High School (New York City)
Jamaica High School is a four-year public high school in Queens, New York. The school is administered by the New York City Department of Education.-History:...
and worked as an errand boy in a lace warehouse. He later obtained a job cleaning and repairing movie prints, and soon found himself working for William A. Brady
William A. Brady
William Aloysius Brady, Sr. was an American theatre actor, producer, and sports promoter.-Biography:Brady was born to a newspaperman in 1863. His father kidnapped him from San Francisco and brought him to New York City, where his father worked as a writer while William was forced to sell...
at the World Film Studio at Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...
. He made his directorial debut in 1925 with The Salvation Hunters
The Salvation Hunters
-Production background:The film stars George K. Arthur and Georgia Hale and was released by United Artists. This was the first film directed by Josef von Sternberg, and it is sometimes described as the first American independent film, shot on a small budget by a completely unknown director...
, called by some the first American independent film.
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
was impressed by The Salvation Hunters, and encouraged Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
and Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
to acquire the rights to it. Pickford also asked Sternberg to direct a film with her as star, but rejected his first scenario. Chaplin also commissioned him to write and direct A Woman of the Sea
A Woman of the Sea
A Woman of the Sea, also known by its working title Sea Gulls, was an unreleased 1926 silent film produced by the Chaplin Film Company....
(also known as The Sea Gull), starring his former star and lover Edna Purviance
Edna Purviance
Edna Purviance was an American actress during the silent movie era. She was the leading lady in many Charlie Chaplin movies. In a span of eight years, she appeared in over thirty films with Chaplin.-Early life:...
, but this film was later destroyed by Chaplin. Still photographs from A Woman of the Sea were published by Purviance's family in 2008.
Von Sternberg had commercial success later in the decade at Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
with the late-period silent films The Last Command
The Last Command (film)
The Last Command is a 1928 silent film directed by Josef von Sternberg, and written by John F. Goodrich and Herman J. Mankiewicz, from a story by Lajos Biró. Star Emil Jannings won the very first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances in this film and The Way of All...
and The Docks of New York
The Docks of New York
The Docks of New York is a silent film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring George Bancroft, Betty Compson and Baclanova. It tells the story of a prostitute who tries to rise above her life on the docks by finding love...
(1928), both noted for their influential cinematography. His reputation was also advanced by a series of early gangster films including Underworld
Underworld (1927 film)
Underworld is a 1927 silent crime film directed by Josef von Sternberg.-Plot:Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.-Cast:* George Bancroft as "Bull" Weed* Evelyn Brent as "Feathers"...
and Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt (1929 film)
Thunderbolt is a 1929 proto-noir which tells the story of a criminal, facing execution, who wants to kill the man in the next cell for being in love with his girlfriend. It stars George Bancroft, Fay Wray, Richard Arlen, Tully Marshall and Eugenie Besserer....
.
Dietrich
Von Sternberg's career suffered a decline after ThunderboltThunderbolt (1929 film)
Thunderbolt is a 1929 proto-noir which tells the story of a criminal, facing execution, who wants to kill the man in the next cell for being in love with his girlfriend. It stars George Bancroft, Fay Wray, Richard Arlen, Tully Marshall and Eugenie Besserer....
and he accepted an invitation to make a film in Germany. In 1929, Sternberg worked in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and directed the widely acclaimed film Der blaue Engel
Der blaue Engel
The Blue Angel is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, based on Heinrich Mann's novel Professor Unrat. The film is considered to be the first major German sound film and it brought world fame to actress Marlene Dietrich...
(The Blue Angel; 1930) in both German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
versions simultaneously, the first German-language talkie. It was Sternberg's second film with the German actor Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar...
as the doomed Professor Rath. (The first was The Last Command
The Last Command (film)
The Last Command is a 1928 silent film directed by Josef von Sternberg, and written by John F. Goodrich and Herman J. Mankiewicz, from a story by Lajos Biró. Star Emil Jannings won the very first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances in this film and The Way of All...
.)
Von Sternberg also cast the not well known Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
as Lola Lola, the female lead, and overnight made her an international star. Sternberg and Dietrich continued to collaborate on Morocco
Morocco (1930 film)
Morocco is a 1930 film in which a Foreign Legionnaire meets and falls in love with a singer. It was directed by Josef von Sternberg and stars Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich and Adolphe Menjou. The story was adapted by Jules Furthman from the novel Amy Jolly by Benno Vigny...
(1930), Dishonored
Dishonored
Dishonored is a 1931 romantic spy film made by Paramount Pictures. It was co-written , directed and edited by Josef von Sternberg...
(1931), Shanghai Express
Shanghai Express (film)
Shanghai Express is a 1932 American film directed by Josef von Sternberg. The pre-Code picture stars Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, and Warner Oland. It was written by Jules Furthman, based on a story by Harry Hervey. It was the fourth of seven teamings of Sternberg and Dietrich.The...
(1932), Blonde Venus
Blonde Venus
Blonde Venus is a 1932 is a Pre-Code drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant. The movie was produced and directed for Paramount Pictures by Josef von Sternberg with a screenplay by Jules Furthman and S. K. Lauren adapted from a story by Furthman and von Sternberg. The music score was by W...
(1932), The Scarlet Empress
The Scarlet Empress
The Scarlet Empress is a 1934 historical drama film made by Paramount Pictures about the life of Catherine the Great. It was directed and produced by Josef von Sternberg from a screenplay by Eleanor McGeary, loosely based on the diary of Catherine arranged by Manuel Komroff...
(1934), and The Devil is a Woman (1935). The Scarlet Empress is particularly celebrated for its atmospheric and suggestively demonic production design.
In 1932, von Sternberg commissioned architect Richard Neutra
Richard Neutra
Richard Joseph Neutra is considered one of modernism's most important architects.- Biography :Neutra was born in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria Hungary, on April 8, 1892. He was born into both-Jewish wealthy family...
to design the 'Von Sternberg House', an avant-garde American modernism
American modernism
American modernism like modernism in general is a trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation, and is thus in its essence both progressive and optimistic...
architectural style residence inside a walled estate compound on acreage in the walnut groves. (The author Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
later acquired the property, with the modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
evocative of 'The Fountainhead,' and resided there. This landmark was demolished in 1972 for construction of the Teledyne
Teledyne
Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an industrial conglomerate primarily based in the United States but with global operations. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc., by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky....
complex.)
Von Sternberg is one of the directors to whom has been attributed the origin of the expression "MOS", a phrase used when a scene is to be filmed without sound .
Later career
MacaoMacao (film)
Macao is a 1952 black-and-white film noir adventure film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray. Producer Howard Hughes fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired Nicholas Ray to finish it...
(1952) was von Sternberg's last Hollywood film. Anatahan
Anatahan (film)
, also known as The Saga of Anatahan, is a 1953 black-and-white Japanese film war drama directed by Josef von Sternberg.It was the final work directed by noted Hollywood director Josef von Sternberg...
(1953), made in Japan, is the story of a group of Japanese soldiers who refused to believe that the Second World War had ended. The film, which was directed, photographed, narrated, and written by von Sternberg, saw limited release and was a financial failure. It was also Sternberg's final film; although another Hollywood picture he co-directed (Jet Pilot
Jet Pilot (film)
Jet Pilot is a 1957 Cold War romantic comedy film starring John Wayne and Janet Leigh. Written by Jules Furthman, the Technicolor movie went through several directorial changes. Josef von Sternberg directed between October, 1949 and February, 1950...
) was released in 1957, it had actually been shot seven years earlier, when he was still under contract to producer Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
.
Between 1959 and 1963 von Sternberg taught a course on film aesthetics at the University of California at Los Angeles, based on his own films. His students included Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
and Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek
Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
, who went on to form the rock group The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
. References to Sternberg films appear in some songs by the group, and Manzarek describes Sternberg as "perhaps the greatest single influence on The Doors."
In 1965, von Sternberg wrote an autobiography, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, which took its title from an early film comedy; also, over fifty production stills (from the Purviance family's collection), showing his work on A Woman of the Sea
A Woman of the Sea
A Woman of the Sea, also known by its working title Sea Gulls, was an unreleased 1926 silent film produced by the Chaplin Film Company....
, were published in 2008.
Von Sternberg died from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 1969 at age 75. He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Westwood
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
near several film studios.
Silent films
- The Salvation HuntersThe Salvation Hunters-Production background:The film stars George K. Arthur and Georgia Hale and was released by United Artists. This was the first film directed by Josef von Sternberg, and it is sometimes described as the first American independent film, shot on a small budget by a completely unknown director...
(1925) - Exquisite SinnerExquisite SinnerExquisite Sinner is a silent film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Phil Rosen. Prior to working The Masked Bride, von Sternberg had filmed this picture. The studio disliked the picture and brought in Phil Rosen for extensive retakes in 1926.-Preservation status:The film is indicated as a lost...
(1926, lost) - A Woman of the SeaA Woman of the SeaA Woman of the Sea, also known by its working title Sea Gulls, was an unreleased 1926 silent film produced by the Chaplin Film Company....
(1926, also known as The Sea Gull or Sea Gulls, lost) - UnderworldUnderworld (1927 film)Underworld is a 1927 silent crime film directed by Josef von Sternberg.-Plot:Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.-Cast:* George Bancroft as "Bull" Weed* Evelyn Brent as "Feathers"...
(1927) - The Last CommandThe Last Command (film)The Last Command is a 1928 silent film directed by Josef von Sternberg, and written by John F. Goodrich and Herman J. Mankiewicz, from a story by Lajos Biró. Star Emil Jannings won the very first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances in this film and The Way of All...
(1928) - The Dragnet (1928, lost)
- The Docks of New YorkThe Docks of New YorkThe Docks of New York is a silent film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring George Bancroft, Betty Compson and Baclanova. It tells the story of a prostitute who tries to rise above her life on the docks by finding love...
(1928) - The Case of Lena SmithThe Case of Lena SmithThe Case of Lena Smith is an American film directed by Josef von Sternberg, starring Esther Ralston and James Hall, and released by Paramount Pictures...
(1929, lost)
Sound films
- ThunderboltThunderbolt (1929 film)Thunderbolt is a 1929 proto-noir which tells the story of a criminal, facing execution, who wants to kill the man in the next cell for being in love with his girlfriend. It stars George Bancroft, Fay Wray, Richard Arlen, Tully Marshall and Eugenie Besserer....
(1929) - The Blue AngelDer blaue EngelThe Blue Angel is a film directed by Josef von Sternberg in 1930, based on Heinrich Mann's novel Professor Unrat. The film is considered to be the first major German sound film and it brought world fame to actress Marlene Dietrich...
(1930) - MoroccoMorocco (1930 film)Morocco is a 1930 film in which a Foreign Legionnaire meets and falls in love with a singer. It was directed by Josef von Sternberg and stars Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich and Adolphe Menjou. The story was adapted by Jules Furthman from the novel Amy Jolly by Benno Vigny...
(1930) - DishonoredDishonoredDishonored is a 1931 romantic spy film made by Paramount Pictures. It was co-written , directed and edited by Josef von Sternberg...
(1931) - An American Tragedy (1931)
- Shanghai ExpressShanghai Express (film)Shanghai Express is a 1932 American film directed by Josef von Sternberg. The pre-Code picture stars Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, and Warner Oland. It was written by Jules Furthman, based on a story by Harry Hervey. It was the fourth of seven teamings of Sternberg and Dietrich.The...
(1932) - Blonde VenusBlonde VenusBlonde Venus is a 1932 is a Pre-Code drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant. The movie was produced and directed for Paramount Pictures by Josef von Sternberg with a screenplay by Jules Furthman and S. K. Lauren adapted from a story by Furthman and von Sternberg. The music score was by W...
(1932) - The Scarlet EmpressThe Scarlet EmpressThe Scarlet Empress is a 1934 historical drama film made by Paramount Pictures about the life of Catherine the Great. It was directed and produced by Josef von Sternberg from a screenplay by Eleanor McGeary, loosely based on the diary of Catherine arranged by Manuel Komroff...
(1934) - The Devil is a Woman (1935)
- Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment (1935 American film)Crime and Punishment is a 1935 film directed by Josef von Sternberg for Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was adapted by Joseph Anthony and S.K. Lauren from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel of the same title...
(1935) - The King Steps Out (1936)
- Sergeant MaddenSergeant MaddenSergeant Madden is a 1939 film noir forerunner directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Wallace Beery. The supporting cast in this dark police movie, noted for its imaginative and evocative cinematography, includes Laraine Day, Alan Curtis, and Marc Lawrence.-Cast:*Wallace Beery as Sergeant...
(1939) - The Shanghai GestureThe Shanghai GestureThe Shanghai Gesture is a 1941 American United Artists film noir motion picture starring Gene Tierney and Walter Huston, with Victor Mature and Ona Munson....
(1941) - The Town (1943, short film)
- MacaoMacao (film)Macao is a 1952 black-and-white film noir adventure film directed by Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray. Producer Howard Hughes fired director von Sternberg during filming and hired Nicholas Ray to finish it...
(1952) - AnatahanAnatahan (film), also known as The Saga of Anatahan, is a 1953 black-and-white Japanese film war drama directed by Josef von Sternberg.It was the final work directed by noted Hollywood director Josef von Sternberg...
(1952–8, also known as The Saga of Anatahan)
Other projects
- The Masked BrideThe Masked BrideThe Masked Bride is a silent drama film, directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Mae Murray, Francis X. Bushman and Basil Rathbone. Originally helmed by Josef von Sternberg, the director followed the footsteps of Erich von Stroheim in walking out of a Mae Murray movie, this time after two weeks...
(1925, directed with Christy CabanneChristy CabanneChristy Cabanne , born William Christy Cabanne, was an American film director, screenwriter and silent film actor. Christy Cabanne was, along with Sam Newfield and William Beaudine, one of the most prolific directors in the history of American film.-Biography:Cabanne graduated from the U.S...
, uncredited) - ItIt (1927 film)It is a 1927 silent romantic comedy film which tells the story of a shop girl who sets her sights on the handsome and wealthy boss of the department store where she works. Because of this film, actress Clara Bow became known as the "It girl"...
(1927, directed with Clarence G. BadgerClarence G. BadgerClarence G. Badger was an American film director of feature films in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. His most noteworthy films include It, starring Clara Bow, more than a dozen features and shorts starring Will Rogers, and two features starring Raymond Griffith, Paths to Paradise and Hands...
, uncredited) - Children of DivorceChildren of DivorceChildren of Divorce is a silent film, directed by Frank Lloyd from an adaptation of Owen Johnson's novel, written by Adela Rogers St. Johns, Hope Loring and Louis D. Lighton.-Plot:...
(1927, directed with Frank LloydFrank LloydFrank Lloyd was a film director, scriptwriter and producer...
, uncredited) - Street of SinStreet of Sin-Production background:The film was produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Mauritz Stiller and Ludwig Berger, and starred Olga Baclanova, Emil Jannings, and Fay Wray.-Cast:*Olga Baclanova as Annie...
(1928, directed with Mauritz StillerMauritz StillerMauritz Stiller was a Finnish-Swedish actor, screenwriter and silent film director, who was mostly active in Sweden.-Life:...
, uncredited) - I, ClaudiusI, Claudius (film)I, Claudius was the proposed 1937 film of the book I, Claudius. It was to have been produced by Alexander Korda, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Charles Laughton , Emlyn Williams , Flora Robson , and Merle Oberon , but it was dogged by ill-luck, culminating in a car accident involving...
(1937, unfinished) - The Great WaltzThe Great WaltzThe Great Waltz is a musical conceived by Hassard Short with a book by Moss Hart and lyrics by Desmond Carter, using themes by Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II. It is based on a pasticcio by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Julius Bittner called Walzer aus Wien, first performed in Vienna in 1930...
(1938, directed with Julien DuvivierJulien DuvivierJulien Duvivier was a French film director. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930-1960...
, uncredited) - I Take This WomanI Take This Woman (1940 film)I Take This Woman is a 1940 drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr.-Cast:*Spencer Tracy as Dr. Karl Decker*Hedy Lamarr as Georgi Gragore Decker*Verree Teasdale as Madame "Cesca" Marcesca*Kent Taylor as Phil Mayberry...
(1940, directed with W.S. Van Dyke, uncredited) - Duel in the Sun (1946, directed with King VidorKing VidorKing Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
, uncredited) - Jet PilotJet Pilot (film)Jet Pilot is a 1957 Cold War romantic comedy film starring John Wayne and Janet Leigh. Written by Jules Furthman, the Technicolor movie went through several directorial changes. Josef von Sternberg directed between October, 1949 and February, 1950...
(1957; Sternberg only directed a small portion of this film, in 1950, while still under contract to Howard HughesHoward HughesHoward Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
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External links
- Senses Of Cinema: Josef von Sternberg
- Josef von Sternberg. The Case of Lena Smith Book on Josef von Sternberg's last silent movie - one of the legendary lost masterpieces of the American cinema; Published by the Austrian Film Museum
- Literature on Josef von Sternberg
- For the Icon, The Shadow, and The Glimmer Between: 3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg, Daniel Kasman, MUBI (August 23, 2010)