Max Ophüls

From Grokipedia

Max Ophüls (born Maximilian Oppenheimer; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957) was a German-born film director and screenwriter whose career spanned Germany, France, and the United States, noted for his elegant cinematic style featuring extended tracking shots and crane movements, as well as recurring themes of romantic entanglement, fate, and ironic tragedy.

Beginning as a stage actor and director in Germany during the 1920s, Ophüls helmed over 200 theatrical productions before transitioning to film in 1929 with the short Die lachende Erbin, followed by features like Behind the Scenes (1930) and the Arthur Schnitzler adaptation Liebelei (1933). Forced to emigrate in 1933 due to his Jewish heritage amid the Nazi rise to power, he relocated to France, where he directed multilingual productions including La Tendre Ennemie (1936), Werther (1938), and La Signora di tutti (1934), the latter earning acclaim at the Venice Film Festival for its innovative narrative structure.

In 1941, Ophüls moved to Hollywood, contributing uncredited work to films like Silent Night while directing Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) and The Reckless Moment (1949) for RKO, both praised for their psychological depth and visual lyricism despite studio constraints. Returning to France postwar, he produced his most celebrated works: La Ronde (1950), a cycle of interconnected love stories; Le Plaisir (1952), adapting Guy de Maupassant tales with opulent period recreations; Madame de... (1953), lauded for its intricate plotting and Martine Carol's performance; and Lola Montès (1955), a lavish biography of the titular courtesan featuring innovative circular staging and color cinematography by Christian Matras. Ophüls's oeuvre, comprising nearly 25 films, influenced subsequent generations of filmmakers through its commitment to mobile camerawork and bittersweet portrayals of human passion, though his peripatetic career and health issues limited output until his death from a heart attack in Hamburg.

In brief

Maximillian Oppenheimer (6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (AW-fəlss or OH-fəlss), was a German and French film director, screenwriter and art director. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of tracking shots, and his melancholic, romantic themes. The Harvard Film Archive has called Ophüls "a supreme stylist of the cinema and a master storyteller".

A refugee from Nazi Germany, Ophüls worked in Germany (1931–33), France (1933–40 and 1950–57), and the United States (1947–50). He made nearly 30 films, the latter ones being especially notable: Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), The Reckless Moment (1949), La Ronde (1950), Le Plaisir (1952), The Earrings of Madame de… (1953), and Lola Montès (1955).