Berthold Viertel | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1885-06-28)28 June 1885 |
| Died | 24 September 1953(1953-09-24) (aged 68) Vienna, Austria |
| Spouse(s) | Grete Viertel (m. 19??;div. 1918) |
Berthold Viertel (28 June 1885 – 24 September 1953) was anAustrian screenwriter and film director, known for his work inGermany, the UK and the US.
Viertel was born inVienna, the capital of theAustro-Hungarian Empire, but later went to work inBerlin. Viertel developed a reputation as a poet and theatre director, before moving into film work from 1922. As a screenwriter and director, he collaborated with some of the leading figures of thesilent era of German cinema and worked on several influential films.[1]Uneasy Money (1926) is a work ofNew Objectivity film movement.
He was married to screenwriter and actressSalka Viertel from 30 April 1918 to 20 December 1947.
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Following the collapse of Viertel's theatretroupe, he faced severe financial difficulties and accepted an offer from theFox Film Corporation. He came toLos Angeles in 1928 planning to stay for just three years. Viertel wanted to gain experience working for the boomingHollywood film industry and hoped to earn enough to return to Europe. For four years, he worked for Fox thenParamount Pictures, andWarner Brothers.
Viertel grew to intensely dislike the atmosphere in Hollywood, which he found paranoid and which he believed placed too many artistic restraints on him. Viertel wanted to produce socially relevant films and did not believe Hollywood had the capacity to do so. This came to a head when he was working on the Paramount filmThe Cheat (1928) and after clashing with studio bosses he was replaced byGeorge Abbott.[2]
With the uncertain political situation in Germany in 1932, the Viertels decided to stay in the United States with their children rather than return to an uncertain future in Europe. The Viertels' house inSanta Monica Canyon was the site ofsalons and meetings of the Hollywood "intelligentsia" and European intellectuals. It was also an important gathering place for theémigré community.[3]
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Previously, Berthold Viertel had been married to Grete Viertel, but they divorced in 1918. After his divorce from Salka in 1947, he married for a third time, this time toElisabeth Neumann to whom he remained married until his death in 1953.
His marriage to Salka Viertel produced three sons: Hans, Peter and Thomas.Peter Viertel (1920–2007) was a book and screenplay writer.
Christopher Isherwood's novelPrater Violet (1945) is a fictional portrayal of the period Isherwood and Viertel worked together, as screenplay writer and director, respectively, for theBritish Gaumont feature filmLittle Friend (1934).
