Anatole Litvak (1902–1974)

Anatole Litvak was born Mikhail Anatol Litvak to a Jewish family in Kiev (present-day Kyiv, Ukraine), then part of the Russian Empire. When he was five years old, the family moved to St. Petersburg. There he began acting at age 13 at an experimental theater and later became a theater manager. He studied philosophy at university. In 1923, Litvak went to work for Nordkino Studios, where he was assistant director for nine silent films. Two years later, he moved to Berlin for more artistic opportunities. Litvak's first film as director was the musical Dolly Gets Ahead (Dolly Macht Karriere, 1930), followed by other films in Germany and France. He went to England to direct the British romantic comedy Sleeping Car (1933). Following the Nazi regime's rise to power in 1933, Litvak moved to Paris, which became his favorite locale for making films. In 1936, he directed Mayerling with Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux as tragic lovers, which earned him an international reputation. The success of this film brought Litvak invitations from Hollywood. There he quickly became one of the leading directors by the late 1930s, making such films as The Woman I Love (1937), starring Miriam Hopkins, his future wife. He worked for Warner Brothers from 1937 to 1941, directing the anti-Nazi drama Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) among others before leaving for Twentieth Century-Fox. There he made only one picture, This Above All (1942), before joining the U.S. Army's Special Service Division during World War II. He worked with Frank Capra, co-directing the "Why We Fight" series of documentaries, including The Battle of Russia (1943). After the war, Litvak returned to Hollywood and directed the film noir classic Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), and The Snake Pit (1948), a classic psychological drama that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. It was followed by the war thriller Decision Before Dawn (1951), which received a nomination for Best Picture. Litvak, who had returned to live in France in 1949, achieved a nearly documentary-like verisimilitude in film with his use of authentic German locations, included bombed-out ruins. Most of his subsequent films were European productions, including The Deep Blue Sea (1955), based on a play by Terence Rattigan; Anastasia (1956); Goodbye Again (1961); The Night of the Generals (1967); and The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (1970), the last film in his 45-year career.