Gustav Machatý

Gustav Machatý (9 May 1901 – 13 December 1963) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor.[1] He directed films in Czechoslovakia, USA and Germany including Erotikon and Ecstasy.

Gustav Machatý
Born	(1901-05-09)9 May 1901 Prague, Austria-Hungary
Died	13 December 1963(1963-12-13) (aged 62) Munich, West Germany
Nationality	Czech
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter
Years active	1919-1955
Spouse(s)	Maria Ray ​ ( m. 1937; died 1951) Helga Marlo ​ ( m. after 1951)

Life

He was born Augustín Otokar Jan Machatý in Prague. His father was a real estate investor. Machatý didn't finish high school and started to work in movies as a teenager. He worked as a cinema pianist, actor, screenwriter, producer and art director.

He directed his first movie Teddy by kouřil in 1919. In 1920 he left to USA, worked for Universal Pictures and came back in 1922.[1] In 1926 he finally managed to secure funds for his movie The Kreutzer Sonata. The film was a success and led to Machatý getting offers to direct. His next movie Schweik in Civilian Life was not successful. Machatý spent two years studying foreign movies and entered the period in which made the best movies of his career.[2] In 1929 he made an symbolist drama Erotikon, in 1931 a social drama From Saturday to Sunday and an adaptation of Karel Poláček's novel Načeradec, král kibiců and in 1933 his best known film Ecstasy.[2]

Ecstasy was screened in Venice Film Festival and made both Machatý and its lead actress Hedy Lamarr internationally famous. They both received offer to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. After making Nocturno in Germany and Ballerine in Italy he decided to accept the offer and traveled to the US.[2] However his American career was filled only by low-level contract work for the studio and MGM producers didn't have any interest in his ideas. From 1940 to 1943 he worked for RKO directing only camera test footage with starting actors. In 1945 he managed to direct Jealousy for a smaller production company Republic Pictures.

After suicide of his wife Maria Ray (1904–1951) he returned to Europe and settled in Munich, West Germany. He directed his last movie in 1955 and later worked as a professor at Deutsches Institut für Film und Fernsehen in Münich. He died in Münich in 1963.[3]

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Actor	Director	Screenwriter	Notes
1919	Akord smrti	Yes	No	No
1919	Teddy by kouřil	Yes	Yes	Yes	Short film
1919	Lady with the Small Foot	Yes	No	Yes
1927	The Kreutzer Sonata	No	Yes	Yes
1927	Schweik in Civilian Life	No	Yes	No
1929	Erotikon	No	Yes	Yes
1931	From Saturday to Sunday	No	Yes	Yes
1931	Načeradec, král kibiců	No	Yes	Yes
1933	Ecstasy	No	Yes	Yes	Won Best Director in 2nd Venice Film Festival
1934	Nocturno	Yes	Yes	No
1936	Ballerine	No	Yes	No
1937	The Good Earth	No	Yes	No	Uncredited
1937	Madame X	No	Yes	No	Uncredited
1937	Conquest	No	Yes	No	Uncredited
1938	The Wrong Way Out	No	Yes	No	Short film
1939	Within the Law	No	Yes	No
1945	Jealousy	No	Yes	No
1955	Es geschah am 20. Juli	No	No	Yes
1955	Suchkind 312	No	Yes	No

References

1. "Gustav Machatý". Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
2. Škvorecký, Josef (1975). All the bright young men and women: a personal history of the Czech cinema. Toronto, Ont: Martin Associates in association with 'Take One' Magazine. ISBN 9780887781100.
3. "Gustav Machatý". Filmový přehled (in Czech).

External links

• Gustav Machatý on IMDb