Erich von Stroheim | |
|---|---|
 Stroheim in 1946 | |
| Born | Erich Oswald Stroheim (1885-09-22)September 22, 1885 |
| Died | May 12, 1957(1957-05-12) (aged 71) Maurepas,Seine-et-Oise, France |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, director, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1914–1955 |
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) |
| Spouses | |
| Partner | Denise Vernac (1939–1957) |
| Children | 2, includingJosef von Stroheim |
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (bornErich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star andavant-garde, visionary director of thesilent era. His 1924 filmGreed (an adaptation ofFrank Norris's 1899 novelMcTeague) is considered one of the finest and most important films ever made. After clashes with Hollywood studio bosses over budget and workers' rights problems, Stroheim found it difficult to find work as a director and subsequently became a well-respected character actor, particularly in French cinema.
For his early innovations, Stroheim is still celebrated as one of the first of theauteur directors.[1] He helped introduce more sophisticated plots andnoirish sexual and psychological undercurrents into cinema.[2] He died of prostate cancer in France in 1957, at the age of 71. Beloved by Parisian neo-Surrealists known asLettrists, he was honored by LettristMaurice Lemaître with a 70-minute 1979 film titledErich von Stroheim.
Stroheim was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1885 as Erich Oswald Stroheim (some sources giveHans Erich Maria Stroheim von Nordenwall,[3][4] but this seems to have been an assumed name, see below), the son of Benno Stroheim, a middle-class hatmaker, and Johanna Bondy, both of whom were observantJews.[5]
Stroheim deserted his military service[6] and emigrated to America aboard theSS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm[2] on November 26, 1909.[7][8] On arrival atEllis Island, he claimed to be Count Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim und Nordenwall, the son ofAustrian nobility like the characters he would go on to play in his films. However, he first found work as a traveling salesman – work which took him toSan Francisco and thenHollywood.[2]
BothBilly Wilder and Stroheim's agentPaul Kohner claimed that he spoke with a decidedly lower-classAustrian accent. His years in America seem to have affected his speech, though. InThe Great Gabbo, Stroheim's German, though fluid, has Midwestern Americanr's. Later, while living inEurope, Stroheim claimed in published remarks to have "forgotten" his native tongue. In Renoir's movieLa Grande Illusion, Stroheim speaks German with what seems to be anAmerican accent. Similarly, in his French-speaking roles, von Stroheim speaks with a noticeable American accent.Jean Renoir writes in his memoirs: "Stroheim spoke hardly any German. He had to study his lines like a schoolboy learning a foreign language."[9]
However, the fashion photographerHelmut Newton, whose first language was German, used a clip from a Stroheim film on which to base one of his fantasy nude photographs, and he has commented that in the clip Stroheim speaks "a very special kind of Prussian officer lingo – it's very abrupt: it's very, very funny".[10]
Stroheim was married three times. He was married to Margaret Knox from 1913 to 1915; His second marriage was to Mae Jones from 1916 to 1919. He was never divorced from his third wife Valerie Germonprez, though he lived with actressDenise Vernac, from 1939 until his death. Vernac also starred with him in several films. Two of Stroheim's sons eventually joined the film business: Erich Jr. (1916–1968) as an assistant director[11] and Josef (1922–2002) as asound editor.[12]
After appearing in 1950'sSunset Boulevard, Stroheim moved to France where he spent the last part of his life. There his silent film work was much admired by artists in the French film industry. In France he acted in films, wrote several novels that were published in French, and worked on various unrealized film projects. He was awarded the FrenchLegion of Honour shortly before his death.
In 1956, Stroheim began to suffer severe back pain, which was diagnosed as cancer. He eventually became paralyzed and was carried to his drawing room to receive the Legion of Honor award from an official delegation. He died at his chateau inMaurepas near Paris on May 12, 1957, at age 71.[13]
By 1914, he was working in Hollywood. He began working in movies as a stuntman,[2] and then in bit-parts and as a consultant on German culture and fashion. His first film, in 1915, wasThe Country Boy, in which he was uncredited. His first credited role came inOld Heidelberg.
He began working withD. W. Griffith, taking an uncredited role as aPharisee inIntolerance. Additionally, Stroheim acted as one of the many assistant directors onIntolerance, a film remembered in part for its huge cast of extras. Later, withAmerica's entry into World War I, he played sneering German villains in such films asSylvia of the Secret Service andThe Hun Within. InThe Heart of Humanity, he tears the buttons from a nurse's uniform with his teeth, and when disturbed by a crying baby, throws it out of a window.
Following the end of the war, Stroheim turned to writing and then directed his own script forBlind Husbands in 1919. He also starred in the film. As a director, Stroheim was known to be dictatorial and demanding, often antagonizing his actors. He is considered one of the greatest directors of the silent era, creating films that represent cynical and romantic views of human nature. In the 1932 filmThe Lost Squadron, Stroheim played a parody of himself as a fanatic German film director making a World War I movie, who orders extras playing dead soldiers to "Stay dead!" Recurring tropes in his films include the portrayal of janitors, and the depiction of characters with physical disabilities.[2]
His next directorial efforts were thelost filmThe Devil's Pass Key (1919) andFoolish Wives (1922), in which he also starred. Studio publicity forFoolish Wives claimed that it was the first film to cost $1 million.
In 1923, Stroheim began work onMerry-Go-Round. He cast the American actorNorman Kerry as Count Franz Maximilian von Hohenegg, a part written for himself, and newcomerMary Philbin in the lead actress role. However studio executiveIrving Thalberg fired Stroheim during filming[2] and replaced him with directorRupert Julian.
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Probably Stroheim's best remembered work as a director isGreed, a detailed filming of the novelMcTeague byFrank Norris. He originally started it as a project withSamuel Goldwyn'sGoldwyn Pictures. Stroheim had long wanted to do a film version of the book. He originally intended it to be a highly detailed reproduction of the original, shot mostly at the locations described in the book in San Francisco andDeath Valley. Von Stroheim shot in San Francisco with his actors in period dress and silent movie makeup while the city itself was represented in its modern form. Automobiles can be seen in the background of some scenes and any "extras" or passersby are in (what was for the time) modern clothing. When the production did move to Death Valley it was in the middle of summer.Greed is also considered by some film historians to be the first feature-length film shot on location. The original print ran for an astonishing 10 hours. Knowing this version was far too long, Stroheim cut almost half the footage, reducing it to a six-hour version to be shown over two nights. It still was deemed too long, so Stroheim and directorRex Ingram edited it into a four-hour version that could be shown in two parts.
However, in the midst of filming, Goldwyn Pictures was bought byMarcus Loew and merged intoMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer. After rejecting Stroheim's attempts to cut it to less than three hours, MGM removedGreed from his control and gave it to head scriptwriterJune Mathis, with orders to cut it to a manageable length.[14] Mathis gave the print to a cutter, who reduced it to 2.5 hours.[15] The shortened release version was a box-office failure, and was angrily disowned by Stroheim. In particular, he blamed Mathis for destroying his pet project, since she was credited as a writer due to contractual obligations.[16] However, Mathis had worked with Stroheim before and had long admired him, so it is not likely she would have indiscriminately butchered his film.[17] The film was partially reconstructed in 1999 by producerRick Schmidlin, using the existing footage mixed with surviving still photographs, but the original cut ofGreed has passed into cinema lore as a lost masterpiece.
Stroheim followed with a commercial project,The Merry Widow, his most commercially successful film; the more personalThe Wedding March, as well as the now-lostThe Honeymoon.
Stroheim's unwillingness or inability to modify his artistic principles for the commercial cinema, his extreme attention to detail, his insistence on near-total artistic freedom and the resulting costs of his films led to fights with the studios. As time went on, he received fewer directing opportunities.
In 1929, Stroheim was dismissed as the director of the filmQueen Kelly, after disagreements with starGloria Swanson and producer and financierJoseph P. Kennedy over the mounting costs of the film and Stroheim's introduction of indecent subject matter into the film's scenario.
AfterQueen Kelly andWalking Down Broadway, a project from which Stroheim was also dismissed, Stroheim returned to working principally as an actor, in both American and French films.
His stern nature, as well as some of his villainous roles, earned him the nickname "the man you love to hate".[18][19]
Working in France on the eve of World War II, Stroheim was prepared to direct the filmLa dame blanche from his own story and screenplay.Jean Renoir wrote the dialogue,Jacques Becker was to be assistant director and Stroheim himself,Louis Jouvet andJean-Louis Barrault were to be the featured actors. Max Cossvan was to produce the film for Demo-Film. The production was prevented by the outbreak of the war on September 1, 1939, and Stroheim returned to the United States.[20]
Stroheim is perhaps best known as an actor for his role as Rauffenstein inJean Renoir'sLa Grande Illusion (1937) and as Max von Mayerling in Billy Wilder'sSunset Boulevard (1950). For the latter film, which also starred Gloria Swanson, Stroheim was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Excerpts fromQueen Kelly were used in the film. The Mayerling character states that he used to be one of the three great directors of the silent era, along withD. W. Griffith andCecil B. DeMille; many film critics agree that Stroheim was indeed one of the great early directors. Stroheim's character inSunset Boulevard thus had an autobiographical basis that reflected the humiliations suffered throughout his career.
He appeared as a guest star in the 1953anthology drama television seriesOrient Express in the episode titledThe Man of Many Skins.[21]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | Blind Husbands | Lieutenant Eric Von Steuben | Director, screenwriter, producer, and star: von Stroheim. Set in the Austrian Alps. Extant. |
| 1920 | The Devil's Pass Key | Director and screenwriter: von Stroheim. Set in Paris. The film is lost. | |
| 1922 | Foolish Wives | Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin (Russian Captain of Hussars): false Russian nobleman and con artist | Director, screenwriter, and star: von Stroheim. Extant. |
| 1924 | Greed | Balloon vendor - uncredited | Director and screenplay adaptation: von Stroheim. Based onFrank Norris's 1899 novelMcTeague. Original version is lost. Two-hour truncated version extant. |
| 1925 | The Merry Widow | Director, screenwriter, and producer: von Stroheim. Extant. | |
| 1928 | The Wedding March | Nicki / Prince Nickolas von Wildeliebe-Rauffenburg. Co-starring role. | Director and star: von Stroheim. Co-stars:Fay Wray andZaSu Pitts. Set in Vienna. Extant. |
| 1931 | The Honeymoon | Nikki | Director, writer, and star: von Stroheim. Sequel toThe Wedding March. Only known copy was destroyed in a fire in the 1950s. |
| 1932 | Queen Kelly | Director, screenwriter, co-producer: von Stroheim. Produced in 1929. Silent film. Extant. | |
| 1933 | Hello, Sister! | Co-director, co-writer. Originally produced asWalking Down Broadway, retitled and re-worked by other directors. Released without director credit. Original version lost. |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1912 | An Unseen Enemy | Man in straw hat dancing by desk in lobby | Director:D. W. Griffith. Co-stars:Lillian Gish andDorothy Gish. Short Film. Extant. |
| 1915 | The Failure | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| Ghosts | Minor Role | Uncredited | |
| Old Heidelberg | Lutz: Prince Karl's valet; film about university life | Director:John Emerson. Co-stars:Wallace Reid andDorothy Gish. Extant. | |
| 1916 | His Picture in the Papers | Anti-vegetarian silent comedy set in NYC, von Stroheim plays an eye-patch-wearing gang member of the "Weazels" | Director:John Emerson. Co-written byAnita Loos. StarringDouglas Fairbanks. Extant. |
| The Flying Torpedo | Accomplice—a German officer | Directors:John B. O'Brien &Christy Cabanne. Futuristic: Set in 1921. Lost. | |
| Macbeth | Uncredited | ||
| Intolerance | Second Pharisee | Uncredited | |
| The Social Secretary | The Buzzard: a nosy NYC newspaper reporter (featured role) | Director:John Emerson. Uncredited Second Director: von Stroheim. Producer:D. W. Griffith. Screenplay: John Emerson andAnita Loos. Starring:Norma Talmadge. Set in NYC. U.S. production. Romantic comedy. Extant. | |
| 1917 | Panthea | Lieutenant of Police | |
| In Again, Out Again | Officer | Uncredited | |
| For France | Minor Role | Uncredited | |
| Draft 258 | |||
| Reaching for the Moon | Prince Badinoff's Aide | Uncredited | |
| Sylvia of the Secret Service | Minor Role | Also Assistant director | |
| Who Goes There? | |||
| 1918 | The Unbeliever | Lt. Kurt von Schnieditz | Director:Alan Crosland. Propaganda and war film. Set in the trenches during World War I. Extant. |
| Hearts of the World | A Hun | ||
| The Hun Within | Von Bickel | ||
| The Heart of Humanity | Eric von Eberhard - a lecherous "Hun" | Director:Allen Holubar. War and Propaganda film. Follows the story of a U.S.Red Cross nurse stationed in Belgium and France during World War I. Extant. | |
| 1919 | Blind Husbands | Lieutenant Eric Von Steuben | Director, screenwriter, producer, and star: von Stroheim. Set in the Austrian Alps. Extant. |
| 1920 | The Devil's Pass Key | Director and screenwriter: von Stroheim. Set in Paris. The film is lost. | |
| 1922 | Foolish Wives | Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin (Russian Captain of Hussars): false Russian nobleman and con artist | Director, screenwriter, and star: von Stroheim. Set in Monaco. Comedy. Extant. |
| 1923 | Souls for Sale | Himself | |
| 1928 | The Wedding March | The Wedding March - a European-based romantic drama. | Director and co-star: Erich von Stroheim. Screenplay source:Harry Carr's short story Extant |
| 1929 | The Great Gabbo | The Great Gabbo - a U.S. based ventriloquist. Starring role. | Director:James Cruze. Screenplay source:Ben Hecht's short story "The Rival Dummy". Von Stroheim's "talkie" debut. Drama and Musical. Extant. |
| 1930 | Three Faces East | Valdar / Shiller / Blecher: London butler who is actually a powerful German spy. Co-starring role. | Director:Roy Del Ruth. Score:Paul Lamkoff. Co-Star:Constance Bennett. Set in London during World War I. U.S. production. War drama. Extant. |
| 1931 | Friends and Lovers | Victor Sangrito: a cruel, blackmailing husband and rare porcelain dealer. Featured role. | Director:Victor Schertzinger. Adapted from a novel by:Maurice Dekobra. Score:Victor Schertzinger andMax Steiner. Costumes:Max Ree. Art Production: Max Ree. Co-starring:Adolphe Menjou,Lili Damita,Laurence Olivier. Set in Calcutta amid the British Raj. U.S. production. Drama. Extant. |
| 1932 | The Lost Squadron | Arthur von Furst: dictatorial Hollywood film director. Co-starring role. | Directors:George Archainbaud andPaul Sloane. Co-stars:Mary Astor andJoel McCrea. Three World War I flying aces find work in Hollywood as film stunt pilots post-war. Likely based to some extent on the tragic death of Mary Astor's newly wed husband andHoward Hawks's brotherKenneth Hawks. Astor and Kenneth Hawks had been married only two years and were living on Appian Way in Laurel Canyon (in a house later owned byIda Lupino) when Kenneth, directing a film about World War I flying aces, crashed into the waves in Santa Monica, California when a stunt plane and his film-crew plane collided mid-air. Drama. Extant. |
| As You Desire Me | Carl Salter: alcoholic Budapest-based novelist. Co-starring role. | Director:George Fitzmaurice. Costumes:Adrian. Based on a story byLuigi Pirandello. Also starringGreta Garbo andMelvyn Douglas. An Italian countess with amnesia post-World War I lives in Budapest with her cruel lover (von Stroheim) and then reunites with her husband (Melvyn Douglas). U.S. production. Drama. Extant. | |
| 1934 | Fugitive Road | Hauptmann Oswald von Traunsee: Austrian military officer in charge of a border outpost during World War I. Starring role. | Directors:Frank R. Strayer. U.S. production. War comedy. Extant. |
| Crimson Romance | Captain Wolters: World War I German airforce officer. Featured role. | Director:David Howard. A German-American leaves the U.S. and joins the German air force, driven out by anti-German hysteria. His best friend accompanies him and also joins the air force. They both fall in love with the same woman, an ambulance driver. Von Stroheim is a supporting player. Low-budget. War drama. Extant. | |
| 1936 | The Crime of Dr. Crespi | Dr. Andre Crespi: invents a serum that allows him to bury his victims alive. Starring role. | Director:John H. Auer. Based onEdgar Allan Poe's short story "The Premature Burial". U.S. production. Low budget. Horror. Extant. |
| 1937 | Marthe Richard | Baron Erich von Ludow: World War I naval attache and spymaster who commits suicide over romantic and national betrayals. Co-starring role. | Director:Raymond Bernard. Based on French prostitute, spy, and politicianMarthe Richard. Von Stroheim's character based on German officer and naval attache Hans von Krohn. Set in Germany, France and Spain during and pre-World War I. French production. War drama and biopic. Extant. |
| La Grande Illusion | Captain von Rauffenstein: commander of a POW camp/castle. Featured role. | Director:Jean Renoir. Co-starringDita Parlo andJean Gabin. The cultural importance of this film cannot be overstated. Nominated for anAcademy Award. Set during World War I. French production. War drama. Extant. | |
| Under Secret Ordersa.k.a.Mademoiselle Docteur | Col. W. Mathesius / Simonis: German officer, spy, and spy recruiter. Co-starring role. | Director:Edmond T. Greville. Co-starring:Dita Parlo andClaire Luce. Set in London during World War I. Based on aPabst film. Remade bySam Wood asStamboul Quest (1934) andAlberto Lattuada asFräulein Doktor (1969). British production. War drama. Extant. | |
| The Alibi | le professeur Winckler: a Parisian nightclub hypnotist, conman, and murderer. Starring role. | Director:Pierre Chenal. Co-starring:Albert Préjean andLouis Jouvet. Set in Paris. Low budget. French production. Murder mystery. Extant. | |
| 1938 | Rail Pirates | Tchou King | |
| The Lafarge Case | Denis | ||
| Boys' Schoola.k.a.Les Disparus de Saint-Agil. | Walter: eerie English language teacher at Parisian boarding school. Featured role. | Director:Christian-Jaque. Adapted from a novel of the same title byPierre Véry. Some dialogue by:Jacques Prévert. Co-starring:Charles Aznavour andSerge Reggiani. French production. Murder mystery. Extant. | |
| Ultimatum | Yugoslavian General and Prime MinisterDušan Simović. | Directors:Robert Wiene andRobert Siodmak. Co-starring:Dita Parlo. Adapted from the novelDays Before the Storm by Ewald Bertram. Historical film depicting theJuly Crisis in Serbia and the events leading to World War I. In exile from Nazi Germany, director Robert Wiene, famous for his silent filmThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), died from a heart attack and the effects of cancer while making this film. His friend, director Robert Siodmak, took over production. French production. War drama/Historical drama. Extant. | |
| Gibraltar | Marson: supposed hairdresser who is actually a terrorist blowing up UK battleships in Gibraltar. Co-starring role. | Director:Fedor Ozep/Fyodor Otsep. Co-star:Viviane Romance as aflamenco dancer. French production. War drama. Extant. | |
| 1939 | Behind the Facade | Eric: card sharp cheating with his business partner's American fiancée. Both recently naturalized French citizens. Cameo. | Directors:Georges Lacombe andYves Mirande. Also featured:Michel Simon andLucien Baroux. Ensemble cast featured in vignettes. Comic murder mystery. French production. Extant. |
| The World Will Tremble | Emil Lasser / Monsieur Frank | ||
| Immediate Call | Captain Stanley Wells | ||
| Personal Column in France known asPieges | Pears: Parisian fashion designer. Featured role. | Director:Robert Siodmak. Co-starring:Maurice Chevalier andPierre Renoir. Remade in 1947 byDouglas Sirk asLured starringLucille Ball. French production. Murder mystery. Extant. | |
| 1940 | Threats | Le professeur Hoffman | |
| Thunder Over Paris | Korlick | ||
| I Was an Adventuress | Andre Desormeaux: international jewel thief. Co-starring role. | Director:Gregory Ratoff. Score:David Buttolph. Co-stars:Peter Lorre andVera Zorina. Set in Europe and Paris. Caper comedy. U.S. (Twentieth Century Fox) production. Extant. | |
| 1941 | So Ends Our Night | Brenner: Nazi SS officer tries to tempt escaped concentration camp refugee into naming names. Featured role. | Director:John Cromwell. Adapted from a novel byErich Maria Remarque. Co-starring:Fredric March,Margaret Sullavan, andGlenn Ford. U.S. production. War drama. Extant. |
| 1942 | Macao, l'enfer du jeu [fr] | Werner von Krall: international arms smuggler and dealer. Co-starring role. | Director:Jean Delannoy. France'sVichy government insisted Delannoy and producerAndre Paulve delete all of von Stroheim's scenes and replace him with actorPierre Renoir. In 1945, von Stroheim's role was restored in the film. French production. Extant. |
| 1943 | Five Graves to Cairo | Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Co-starring role. | Director:Billy Wilder. Screenplay: Billy Wilder andCharles Brackett. Score:Miklós Rózsa. Cinematography:John F. Seitz. Costumes:Edith Head. Co-starring:Franchot Tone,Anne Baxter, andAkim Tamiroff. Semi-comic approach to the material. Filmed in the Mojave and Yuma Arizona deserts. U.S. production. War drama and historical film. Extant. |
| The North Star | Dr. von Harden: Nazi doctor who drains blood from Ukrainian village children to infuse into German soldiers. Featured role. | Director:Lewis Milestone. Original story and screenplay:Lillian Hellman. Cinematography:James Wong Howe. Score:Aaron Copland. Co-stars:Anne Baxter,Dana Andrews,Walter Huston,Walter Brennan,Jane Withers,Farley Granger,Dean Jagger. U.S. production. War drama/propaganda. Extant. | |
| 1944 | The Lady and the Monster | Prof. Franz Mueller: experimental scientist who keeps a dead miser's brain alive. Starring role. | Director:George Sherman. Adapted fromCurt Siodmak's novelDonovan's Brain. Co-star:Vera Ralston. Cinematography:John Alton. Gothic castle in the Arizona desert. Remade in 1953 asDonovan's Brain. U.S. production. Low budget. Horror film. Extant. |
| Storm Over Lisbon | Deresco: spy for Japan who owns a Lisbon nightclub as a front. Co-starring role. | Director:George Sherman. Cinematography:John Alton. Co-star:Vera Ralston. U.S. production. Low budget. War drama. Extant. | |
| 1945 | The Great Flamarion | The Great Flamarion: ex-World War I German army officer working as a sharp shooter in the U.S. vaudeville circuit. Starring role. | Director:Anthony Mann. Score:Alexander Laszlo. Co-starring:Mary Beth Hughes andDan Duryea. Set in Mexico City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Anthony Mann's seventh film. Von Stroheim's first film noir. U.S. production. Low budget. Film Noir. Extant. |
| Scotland Yard Investigator | Carl Hoffmeyer: infamous German art collector determined to steal the Mona Lisa at outbreak of World War 2. Starring role. | Director:George Blair. Set in Paris and London. U.S. production. Low budget. War drama. Extant. | |
| 1946 | The Mask of Diijon | Diijon: famous hypnotist attempts a comeback in the U.S. nightclub circuit. Starring role. | Director:George Blair. U.S. production. Low budget. Film noir. Extant. |
| That's Not the Way to Die | Eric von Berg | ||
| Devil and the Angel. French title:La Foire aux Chimeres. | Frank Davis: lonely, facially disfigured master-engraver for a bank who falls in love with a blind circus performer. Starring role. | Director:Pierre Chenal. Co-star:Madeleine Sologne. A much underrated work of French poetic realism. French production. Film noir. Extant. | |
| Danse de Mort | Edgar: a bitter, fallen prison warden in charge of a sunless, island fortress. Starring role. Extant. | Director:Marcel Cravenne. Co-starring:Denise Vernac, von Stroheim's wife. Some claim this role and Frank Davis inDevil and Angel are among von Stroheim's finest performances. Adapted from anAugust Strindberg play. | |
| 1949 | The Red Signal | Le docteur Mathias Berthold: a widower whose wife was killed in a train accident sleep walks and sabotages train tracks until he is cured by Viennese psychiatrists. Starring role. | Director:Ernst Neubach. Co-starring von Stroheim's wifeDenise Vernac. |
| Portrait of an Assassin | Eric: former circus acrobat/trick motorcycle rider forced to retire due to severe work-related injuries. Starring role. | Director:Bernard Roland. Co-starring:Maria Montez andArletty. Von Stroheim's role was originally written forOrson Welles who was sued for not performing in this film. French production. Film noir. Extant. | |
| 1950 | Sunset Boulevard | Max von Mayerling: ex-Hollywood silent film director now working as a butler for his ex-wife and ex-silent film star Norma Desmond. Featured role. | Director:Billy Wilder. Screenplay: Wilder andCharles Brackett. Co-starring:William Holden andGloria Swanson. Film nominated for many Academy Awards. Von Stroheim nominated forAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Set in Hollywood, California. Often on top-ten lists of greatest noirs or greatest films. U.S. production. Film noir. Extant. |
| 1952 | Alraune | Professor Jacob ten Brinken: experimental genetic scientist who creates the "perfect" yet soulless woman through artificial insemination. Starring role. | Director:Arthur Maria Rabenalt. Co-star:Hildegard Knef. Based on novel of the same name byHanns Heinz Ewers andHenrik Galeen's 1928 silentfilm of the same title starringBrigitte Helm. Galeen's film is known by other titles includingMandrake,Unholy Love, andDaughter of Destiny. West German production. Horror. Extant. |
| 1953 | Midnight . . . Quai de Bercya.k.a.Minuit . . . Quai de Bercy | Professeur Kieffer: a religious fanatic who distributes pamphlets to strip-club patrons. Cameo. | Director:Christian Stengel. A whodunit. A Parisian landlady is murdered and there are many suspects. |
| The Other Side of Paradisea.k.a.L'envers du Paradis | William O'Hara: an eccentric sea captain living in a southern French village. Cameo. | Director:Edmond T. Greville. Score:Paul Mistaki. Set in Segnac, Provence. Black and white. French production. Drama. Extant. | |
| Alarm in Moroccoa.k.a.Alerte au Sud | Conrad Nagel. Co-starring role (?). | Director:Jean-Devaivre. Set in French Morocco. Two members of the Foreign Legion uncover a nuclear weapon test site. Von Stroheim's first color film. French-Italian production. Adventure film. Extant. | |
| 1955 | The Infiltrator. Original French title:Serie noire | Sacha Zavaroff: a Russian mob boss. Cameo. | Director:Pierre Foucaud. Corsican gangsters. |
| Napoléon | Ludwig van Beethoven. Cameo. | Director/co-star:Sacha Guitry. Both von Stroheim andOrson Welles have minor, featured roles in the film. Color. Franco-Italian production. Historical epic. Extant. | |
| Madonna of the Sleeping Carsa.k.a.La madone des sleepings | Doctor Siegfried Traurig: a German psychiatrist on theOrient Express. Featured role. | Director:Henri Diamant-Berger. Adaptation from 1925 novel of same title byMaurice Dekobra and 1928 silent film, also with the same title. Co-starring:Jean Gaven. Von Stroheim's final film. Black and white. French production. Spy thriller comedy. Extant. (final film role) |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | Macbeth | Minor role | Assistant director: von Stroheim. |
| The Social Secretary | The Buzzard: a nosy NYC newspaper reporter (featured role) | Director:John Emerson. Uncredited assistant director: von Stroheim. Producer:D. W. Griffith. Screenplay: John Emerson andAnita Loos. Starring:Norma Talmadge. Set in NYC. U.S. production. Romantic comedy. Extant. | |
| 1917 | Sylvia of the Secret Service | Minor Role | Also assistant director |
| 1923 | Merry-Go-Round | Co-screenwriter and original director: von Stroheim. Set in pre-World War I Vienna. A disguised nobleman falls in love with a circus puppeteer's daughter. Extant. | |
| 1928 | Tempest | Director:Sam Taylor. Co-writer: von Stroheim. StarringJohn Barrymore as a peasant Russian army officer who falls in love with a Russian princess in Czarist Russia. Von Stroheim was supposed to star in and direct this film but was taken off the project and replaced by Sam Taylor. Drama. Extant. | |
| 1933 | Hello, Sister! | Original director: von Stroheim. Extant. | |
| 1936 | The Devil-Doll | Director:Tod Browning. Co-screenplay adaptation: von Stroheim. Adapted fromAbraham Merritt's 1932 novelBurn Witch Burn!. Score:Franz Waxman. Set in Paris and French penal colony of Cayenne in French Guiana, known asIle du Diable orDevil's Island. Co-starringMaureen O'Sullivan andLionel Barrymore. Wrongly accused banker escapes prison and returns to Paris to wreak revenge through shrunken humans. This wias Browning's second-to-last film. Horror. Extant. | |
| 1937 | Between Two Women | Original Story: Erich von Stroheim Director:George B. Seitz. Film's theme of a female burn victim echoes the actual experience in 1933 of von Stroheim's wife Valerie who was burned in a Hollywood (shop located on Sunset Boulevard) beauty parlor explosion. Extant. |
"Lubitsch shows you first the king on the throne, then as he is in the bedroom. I show you the king in the bedroom so you'll know just what he is when you see him on his throne."[22]
"If you live in France, for instance, and you have written one good book, or painted one good picture, or directed one outstanding film 50 years ago and nothing else since, you are still recognized and honored accordingly. People take their hats off to you and call you 'maître'. They do not forget. In Hollywood—in Hollywood, you're as good as your last picture. If you didn't have one in production within the last three months, you're forgotten, no matter what you have achieved ere this."[23]
