{{Short description|Czech film director (1897–1952)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Karel Lamač | image = Karel Lamač.jpg | other_names = Carl Lamac | birth_date = {{Birth date|1897|1|27|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Prague]], [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (now Czech Republic) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1952|8|2|1897|1|27|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Hamburg]], [[West Germany]] (now Germany) | occupation = Film director, actor, screenwriter, film producer | years_active = 1919–1952 }}
'''Karel Lamač''' (27 January 1897 – 2 August 1952) was a Czech [[film director]], actor, [[screenwriter]], [[film producer|producer]] and singer.<ref name="csfd.cz">{{cite web |url=http://www.csfd.cz/herec/3222-karel-lamac/ |title=Karel Lamač |access-date=6 February 2011 |work=csfd.cz |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901063611/http://www.csfd.cz/herec/3222-karel-lamac/ |archive-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He directed more than 100 films in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
== Life == Lamač was born 27 January 1897 in [[Prague]], [[Austria-Hungary]]. His parents were Karel Lamač sr. (1863–1938), opera singer and a pharmacist, and Františka Lamačová (née Prusíková, 1860–1949).<ref name="nfa">{{cite web |url=https://nfa.cz/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Lama%C4%8D-Karel.pdf |title=Lamač Karel (1897–1952) Inventář |publisher=Národní filmový archiv |date=1997 |language=cs |access-date=7 February 2020 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326034913/https://nfa.cz/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Lama%C4%8D-Karel.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In his childhood Lamač was interested in pharmacy, electrical engineering, stage magic and acting. Before WWI he went to apprentice in camera manufacturer company Ernemann in [[Dresden]].<ref name="nfa" /> During the war he was a combat cameraman. After the war he became a technical director of film laboratory in Excelsiorfilm. He started working in movies in 1918, first as an actor, later as a writer and a director. Among his best movies of this period are crime drama ''[[The Poisoned Light]]'', comedy ''Catch Him!'' and drama ''[[White Paradise (1924 film)|White Paradise]]''. In 1923 he wrote a book ''How to write a film libretto''.<ref name="nfa" /> His frequent collaborators were actress [[Anny Ondra]], cinematographer [[Otto Heller]] and screenwriter [[Václav Wasserman]].<ref name="nfa" /> In 1926 he co-founded a film studio Kavalírka where he made his movies until it burned down in 1929.<ref name="nfa" />
In 1930 he founded a production company Ondra-Lamač Film with his then girlfriend [[Anny Ondra]] in Berlin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/ed_precedenti/edizione2002/Funny_Ladies1.html|title=Funny Ladies 1 (2002)|access-date=6 April 2016}}</ref> During 1930s he was making movies in Germany, Czechoslovakia, France and Austria. After the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia he left to Netherlands to make ''[[De Spooktrein]]'' and then to United Kingdom. He served in [[RAF]] until 1941. He made war documentaries and three feature movies during WWII.<ref name="nfa" /> After the war he made two movies in France. In 1947 then went to USA where he worked on technical innovations of color film and camera lenses. In 1951 he returned to Germany and directed his last film ''[[The Thief of Bagdad (1952 film)|The Thief of Bagdad]]''.<ref name="nfa" />
He died in [[Hamburg]], West Germany due to serious problems with his kidneys.<ref name="nfa" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Český hraný film I 1898–1930| publisher=NFA| place=Praha |date=1995 }}</ref>
==Selected filmography== ===Director=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Notes |- | 1919 | ''The Furious Bridegroom'' | Short film. Considered lost. |- | 1919 | ''Chord of Death'' | Considered lost. |- | 1920 | ''[[Gilly in Prague for the First Time]]'' | |- | 1921 | ''[[The Poisoned Light]]'' | |- | 1923 | ''The Lumberjack'' | |- | 1924 | ''[[White Paradise (1924 film)|White Paradise]]'' | |- | 1925 | ''Catch Him!'' | |- | 1925 | ''[[Karel Havlíček Borovský (film)|Karel Havlíček Borovský]]'' | Considered lost. |- | 1925 | ''[[The Lantern (1925 film)|The Lantern]]'' | |- | 1926 | ''[[The Countess from Podskalí]]'' | Considered lost. |- | 1926 | ''[[The Good Soldier Schweik (1926 film)|The Good Soldier Schweik]]'' | |- | 1926 | ''Schweik at the Front'' | |- | 1926 | ''[[Never the Twain (film)|Never the Twain]]'' | Considered lost. |- | 1927 | ''The Old Dad Bezoušek'' | |- | 1927 | ''A Flower of the Šumava Mountains'' | Considered lost. |- | 1927 | ''Sweet Josefine'' | Considered lost. |- | 1928 | ''[[Eve's Daughters]]'' | |- | 1928 | ''[[The First Kiss (German film)|The First Kiss]]'' | |- | 1928 | ''[[Suzy Saxophone]]'' | |- | 1928 | ''[[Der erste Kuß]]'' | |- | 1929 | ''Sin'' | Considered lost. |- | 1929 | ''[[Sinful and Sweet]]'' | |- | 1929 | ''[[Sin of a Beautiful Woman]]'' | |- | 1929 | ''[[The Girl with the Whip]]'' | |- | 1929 | ''[[The Caviar Princess]]'' | |- | 1930 | ''Das Mädel aus U.S.A.'' | |- | 1929 | ''[[Fairground People]]'' | |- | 1930 | ''[[Imperial and Royal Field Marshal (1930 film)|Imperial and Royal Field Marshal]]'' | |- | 1930 | ''[[K. und K. Feldmarschall]]'' | German version of ''[[Imperial and Royal Field Marshal (1930 film)|Imperial and Royal Field Marshal]]'' |- | 1930 | ''Monsieur le maréchal'' | French version of ''[[Imperial and Royal Field Marshal (1930 film)|Imperial and Royal Field Marshal]]'' |- | 1930 | ''Eine Freundin so goldig wie Du'' | |- | 1931 | ''[[Him and His Sister]]'' | |- | 1931 | ''Er und seine Schwester'' | German version of ''[[Him and His Sister]]'' |- | 1931 | ''[[The Squeaker (1931 film)|The Squeaker]]'' | |- | 1931 | ''[[Business Under Distress]]'' | |- | 1931 | ''[[Die Fledermaus (1931 film)|Die Fledermaus]]'' | |- | 1931 | ''[[Wehe, wenn er losgelassen]]'' | |- | 1931 | ''{{Interlanguage link|La Chauve-Souris (film)|fr|3=La Chauve-Souris (film, 1932)|lt=La Chauve-Souris}}'' | Co-directed with [[Pierre Billon (director)|Pierre Billon]] |- | 1932 | ''[[Mamsell Nitouche (1932 film)|Mamsell Nitouche]]'' | |- | 1932 | ''[[A Night in Paradise (1932 film)|A Night in Paradise]]'' | |- | 1932 | ''Une nuit au paradis'' | |- | 1932 | ''[[Lelíček in the Services of Sherlock Holmes]]'' | |- | 1932 | ''[[The Undertaker (1932 film)|The Undertaker]]'' | |- | 1932 | ''Die grausame Freundin'' | |- | 1932 | ''Faut-il les marier?'' | |- | 1932 | ''[[The Ringer (1932 film)|The Ringer]]'' | |- | 1932 | ''[[Kiki (1932 film)|Kiki]]'' | |- | 1932 | ''Baby'' | |- | 1933 | ''[[Daughter of the Regiment (1933 film)|Daughter of the Regiment]]'' | |- | 1933 | ''La fille du régiment'' | French version of ''[[Daughter of the Regiment (1933 film)|Daughter of the Regiment]]'' |- | 1933 | ''Fräulein Hoffmanns Erzählungen'' | |- | 1933 | ''The Good Tramp Bernášek'' | |- | 1933 | ''Jindra, the Countess Ostrovín'' | |- | 1933 | ''[[The Love Hotel]]'' | |- | 1933 | ''Orchesterprobe'' | Short film |- | 1934 | ''So ein Theater!'' | Short film |- | 1934 | ''Der verhexte Scheinwerfer'' | |- | 1934 | ''[[The Switched Bride]]'' | Short film |- | 1934 | ''L'amour en cage'' | |- | 1934 | ''Karneval und Liebe'' | |- | 1934 | ''[[Little Dorrit (1934 film)|Little Dorrit]]'' | |- | 1934 | ''[[Frasquita]]'' | |- | 1934 | ''[[The Brenken Case]]'' | |- | 1934 | ''Polská krev'' | |- | 1934 | ''[[Polish Blood]]'' | German version of ''Polská krev'' |- | 1934 | ''[[Nezlobte dědečka]]'' | |- | 1935 | ''[[Knockout (1935 film)|Knockout]]'' | |- | 1935 | ''Großreinemachen'' | |- | 1935 | ''[[I Love All the Women]]'' | |- | 1935 | ''J'aime toutes les femmes'' | French version of ''Ich liebe alle Frauen'' |- | 1935 | ''[[The White Horse Inn (1935 film)|The White Horse Inn]]'' | |- | 1935 | ''[[The Young Count]]'' | |- | 1936 | ''[[The Postman from Longjumeau]]'' | |- | 1936 | ''[[The Bashful Casanova]]'' | |- | 1936 | ''Flitterwochen'' | |- | 1936 | ''On the Green Meadow'' | |- | 1936 | ''[[Where the Lark Sings (film)|Where the Lark Sings]]'' | |- | 1937 | ''[[The Hound of the Baskervilles (1937 film)|The Hound of the Baskervilles]]'' | |- | 1937 | ''[[A Girl from the Chorus]]'' | |- | 1937 | ''Vor Liebe wird gewarnt'' | |- | 1937 | ''Peter im Schnee'' | |- | 1937 | ''Grounds for Divorce'' | |- | 1937 | ''[[Cause for Divorce]]'' | German version of ''Důvod k rozvodu'' |- | 1937 | ''[[The Vagabonds (1937 film)|The Vagabonds]]'' | |- | 1937 | ''Pat und Patachon im Paradies'' | |- | 1937 | ''[[Florentine (film)|Florentine]]'' | |- | 1938 | ''Immer wenn ich glücklich bin..!'' | |- | 1938 | ''Forbidden Love'' | |- | 1938 | ''Frühlingsluft'' | |- | 1938 | ''[[Ducháček Will Fix It]]'' | |- | 1938 | ''[[The Lantern (1938 film)|The Lantern]]'' | |- | 1938 | ''Watch Out for the Ghosts'' | |- | 1939 | ''[[Place de la Concorde (1939 film)|Place de la Concorde]]'' | |- | 1939 | ''Slávka, Don't Give In!'' | |- | 1939 | ''[[U pokladny stál...]]'' | |- | 1939 | ''[[De Spooktrein]]'' | |- | 1940 | ''[[Narcisse (film)|Narcisse]]'' | |- | 1943 | ''[[Schweik's New Adventures]]'' | |- | 1943 | ''[[They Met in the Dark]]'' | |- | 1944 | ''[[It Happened One Sunday]]'' | |- | 1947 | ''La Colère des dieux'' | |- | 1947 | ''[[One Night at the Tabarin]]'' | |- | 1952 | ''[[The Thief of Bagdad (1952 film)|The Thief of Bagdad]]'' | |- |}
===Actor=== * ''[[Gilly in Prague for the First Time]]'' (1920) * ''[[The Poisoned Light]]'' (1921) * ''[[The Arrival from the Darkness]]'' (1921) * ''[[Look After Your Daughters]]'' (1922) * ''[[Lead Us Not into Temptation (film)|Lead Us Not into Temptation]]'' (1922) * ''[[Young Medardus]]'' (1923) * ''[[Helena (1924 film)|Helena]]'' (1924) * ''[[The Secret Agent (1924 film)|The Secret Agent]]'' (1924) * ''[[White Paradise (1924 film)|White Paradise]]'' (1924) * ''[[The Lantern (1925 film)|The Lantern]]'' (1925) * ''[[Eve's Daughters]]'' (1928)
===Producer=== * ''[[The Double (1934 film)|The Double]]'' (1934)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0482742|Karel Lamač}}
{{Authority control}} {{Karel Lamač}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamac, Karel}} [[Category:1897 births]] [[Category:1952 deaths]] [[Category:Male actors from Prague]] [[Category:People from the Kingdom of Bohemia]] [[Category:20th-century Czech male actors]] [[Category:Czech film directors]] [[Category:Czechoslovak film directors]] [[Category:Czech silent film directors]] [[Category:Czech film producers]] [[Category:Czech male film actors]] [[Category:Czech male silent film actors]] [[Category:Czech male screenwriters]] [[Category:Silent film screenwriters]] [[Category:German-language film directors]] [[Category:English-language film directors]] [[Category:20th-century Czech screenwriters]] [[Category:Film directors from Prague]]