Paul Leni
Encyclopedia
Paul Leni born Paul Josef Levi was a German filmmaker and a key figure in German Expressionist
filmmaking, making Backstairs (Hintertreppe, 1921) and Waxworks
(1924) in Germany, and The Cat and the Canary
(1927), The Chinese Parrot
(1927), The Man Who Laughs
(1928), and The Last Warning
(1929) in the U.S.
).
In 1913 he started working in the German film industry designing film sets and/or costumes for directors such as Joe May
, Ernst Lubitsch
, Richard Oswald
, and E. A. Dupont
.
During World War I he started directing as well with films such as Der Feldarzt / Das Tagebuch des Dr. Hart (1917), Patience (1920), Die Verschwörung zu Genua (1920/21) and Backstairs (1921). Waxworks
(1924) was planned as a four part omnibus feature, but the last part was not shot when money ran out. He also made a series of unusual short animated
films Rebus-Film Nr. 1 - 8, which were filmed crossword puzzle
s.
From 1925 Leni designed short prologues for festive film premieres in Berlin cinemas, e.g. Dupont's Variety, Lubitsch's Forbidden Paradise
, and Herbert Brenon's Peter Pan.
In 1927, he moved to Hollywood to accept Carl Laemmle
's invitation to become a director at Universal Studios
. There Leni made a distinguished directorial debut with The Cat and the Canary
(1927), an adaptation of John Willard
's stage play. The film had a great influence over Universal's later classic "haunted house
" horror series, and was subsequently remade several times, notably in 1939 with Bob Hope
. The following year he directed the big budget The Man Who Laughs
, one of the most visually stylized of late period silent films.
Paul Leni died of blood poisoning in Los Angeles on 2 September 1929.
As director (and art director)
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
filmmaking, making Backstairs (Hintertreppe, 1921) and Waxworks
Waxworks (film)
Waxworks is a 1924 fantasy/horror silent film directed by Paul Leni. The film is about a writer who accepts a job from a waxworks proprietor to write a series of stories about the exhibits of Caliph of Baghdad , Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper in order to boost business.Although...
(1924) in Germany, and The Cat and the Canary
The Cat and the Canary (1927 film)
The Cat and the Canary is an American silent horror film adaptation of John Willard's 1922 black comedy play of the same name. Directed by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, the film stars Laura La Plante as Annabelle West, Forrest Stanley as Charles "Charlie" Wilder, and Creighton Hale as...
(1927), The Chinese Parrot
The Chinese Parrot (film)
The Chinese Parrot is a silent film, the second in the Charlie Chan series and was directed by Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of the 1926 Earl Derr Biggers novel of the same name. It is a lost film....
(1927), The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs (1928 film)
The Man Who Laughs is an American silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name and stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin as the blind Dea...
(1928), and The Last Warning
The Last Warning
The Last Warning is a mystery film directed by Paul Leni. It is a companion piece to Universal Pictures 1927 production of The Cat and the Canary...
(1929) in the U.S.
Biography
Leni became an avant-garde painter at the age of 15, he studied at Berlin's Academy of Fine Arts, and subsequently worked as a theatrical set designer, working for a number of theatres in Berlin (but not with Max ReinhardtMax Reinhardt (theatre director)
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
).
In 1913 he started working in the German film industry designing film sets and/or costumes for directors such as Joe May
Joe May
Joe May , born Julius Otto Mandl, was a film director and film producer born in Austria and one of the pioneers of German cinema....
, Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
, Richard Oswald
Richard Oswald
Richard 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...
, and E. A. Dupont
Ewald André Dupont
Ewald André Dupont was a German film director, one of the founders of the German film industry. He was frequently credited as E. A. Dupont....
.
During World War I he started directing as well with films such as Der Feldarzt / Das Tagebuch des Dr. Hart (1917), Patience (1920), Die Verschwörung zu Genua (1920/21) and Backstairs (1921). Waxworks
Waxworks (film)
Waxworks is a 1924 fantasy/horror silent film directed by Paul Leni. The film is about a writer who accepts a job from a waxworks proprietor to write a series of stories about the exhibits of Caliph of Baghdad , Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper in order to boost business.Although...
(1924) was planned as a four part omnibus feature, but the last part was not shot when money ran out. He also made a series of unusual short animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
films Rebus-Film Nr. 1 - 8, which were filmed crossword puzzle
Crossword Puzzle
For the common puzzle, see CrosswordCrossword Puzzle was the second to last album made by The Partridge Family and was not one of the most popular albums. It was released in 1973 and did not produce a U.S. single. This album was finally released on CD in 2003 on Arista's BMG Heritage label...
s.
From 1925 Leni designed short prologues for festive film premieres in Berlin cinemas, e.g. Dupont's Variety, Lubitsch's Forbidden Paradise
Forbidden Paradise
Forbidden Paradise is a 1924 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by German film director Ernst Lubitsch, a recent immigrant to the United States. The film is based on a 1922 Broadway play, The Czarina, by Edward Sheldon...
, and Herbert Brenon's Peter Pan.
In 1927, he moved to Hollywood to accept Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle , born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios - Universal...
's invitation to become a director at Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. There Leni made a distinguished directorial debut with The Cat and the Canary
The Cat and the Canary (1927 film)
The Cat and the Canary is an American silent horror film adaptation of John Willard's 1922 black comedy play of the same name. Directed by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, the film stars Laura La Plante as Annabelle West, Forrest Stanley as Charles "Charlie" Wilder, and Creighton Hale as...
(1927), an adaptation of John Willard
John Willard (playwright)
John Willard was an American playwright. His most famous work is The Cat and the Canary , a play that was made into the influential silent film of the same name in 1927.-External links: at the Internet Movie Database....
's stage play. The film had a great influence over Universal's later classic "haunted house
Haunted house
A haunted house is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property...
" horror series, and was subsequently remade several times, notably in 1939 with Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
. The following year he directed the big budget The Man Who Laughs
The Man Who Laughs (1928 film)
The Man Who Laughs is an American silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name and stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin as the blind Dea...
, one of the most visually stylized of late period silent films.
Paul Leni died of blood poisoning in Los Angeles on 2 September 1929.
German films
As art director- 1913 Ein Ausgestoßener (dir: Joe MayJoe MayJoe May , born Julius Otto Mandl, was a film director and film producer born in Austria and one of the pioneers of German cinema....
) - 1914 Das Panzergewölbe (dir: Joe May)
- 1915 Der Katzensteg (dir: Max Mack)
- 1917 Der Blusenkönig (dir: Ernst LubitschErnst LubitschErnst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
) - 1918/19 Veritas vincit (dir: Joe May)
- 1919 Rausch / Intoxication (dir: Ernst Lubitsch)
- 1920 Der weiße Pfau (dir: E. A. DupontEwald André DupontEwald André Dupont was a German film director, one of the founders of the German film industry. He was frequently credited as E. A. Dupont....
) - 1921 Die Geier-Wally (dir: E. A. Dupont)
- 1921 Lady Hamilton (dir: 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...
) - 1921/22 Frauenopfer (dir: Karl GruneKarl GruneKarl Grune was an Austrian film director and writer who made many silent films in the 1920s.Grune was born in Vienna, where he later attended drama school...
) - 1922/23 Tragödie der Liebe (4 parts, dir: Joe May)
- 1924/25 Der Farmer aus Texas (dir: Joe May)
- 1925 Die Frau von vierzig Jahren (dir: Richard Oswald)
- 1925 Der Tänzer meiner Frau (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...
) - 1925/26 Manon Lescaut (dir: Arthur RobisonArthur RobisonArthur Robison was a German film director and screenwriter of the silent era. He directed 20 films between 1916 and 1935.-Selected filmography:* A Night of Horror...
) - 1925/26 Einspänner Nr. 13 / Fiaker Nr. 13 (dir: Michael KertészMichael CurtizMichael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
) - 1926 Der goldene Schmetterling (dir: Michael Kertész)
As director (and art director)
- 1917 Der Feldarzt / Das Tagebuch des Dr. Hart
- 1917 Prima vera
- 1917 Dornröschen
- 1918 Die platonische Ehe
- 1919 Prinz Kuckuck
- 1920 Patience. Die Karten des Todes
- 1920/21 Die Verschwörung zu Genua
- 1921 Hintertreppe (dir with Leopold JessnerLeopold JessnerLeopold Jessner was a noted producer and director of German Expressionist theater and cinema. His first film, Hintertreppe , is considered a major turning point which paved the way for the later German Expressionist experiments of German filmmakers F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, and G.W...
) - 1923 Das WachsfigurenkabinettWaxworks (film)Waxworks is a 1924 fantasy/horror silent film directed by Paul Leni. The film is about a writer who accepts a job from a waxworks proprietor to write a series of stories about the exhibits of Caliph of Baghdad , Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper in order to boost business.Although...
- 1925/26 Rebus-Film Nr. 1-8 (series of short films)
Universal Studio films
- The Cat and the CanaryThe Cat and the Canary (1927 film)The Cat and the Canary is an American silent horror film adaptation of John Willard's 1922 black comedy play of the same name. Directed by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, the film stars Laura La Plante as Annabelle West, Forrest Stanley as Charles "Charlie" Wilder, and Creighton Hale as...
(1927) - The Chinese ParrotThe Chinese Parrot (film)The Chinese Parrot is a silent film, the second in the Charlie Chan series and was directed by Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of the 1926 Earl Derr Biggers novel of the same name. It is a lost film....
(1927) - The Man Who LaughsThe Man Who Laughs (1928 film)The Man Who Laughs is an American silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni. The film is an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name and stars Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine and Mary Philbin as the blind Dea...
(1928) - The Last WarningThe Last WarningThe Last Warning is a mystery film directed by Paul Leni. It is a companion piece to Universal Pictures 1927 production of The Cat and the Canary...
(1929)