{{Short description|Austrian art director (1892–1960)}} '''Julius von Borsody''' (8 April 1892 in [[Vienna]] – 18 January 1960, also in Vienna) was an [[Austria]]n film architect and one of the most employed [[set designer]]s in the [[Cinema of Austria|Austrian]] and [[Cinema of Germany|German cinemas]] of the late [[Silent film|silent]] and early [[sound film]] periods.{{CN|date=January 2015}} His younger brother, [[Eduard von Borsody]], was a [[film director]] in [[Austria]] and [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]. He is also the great-uncle of German actress [[Suzanne von Borsody]].
==Life== Julius von Borsody attended the [[Munich]] Art Academy before he started in the film industry in 1917. He began his career with [[Sascha-Film]] in Vienna, but up to 1924 also worked with other film production companies. In 1920 he was the [[set designer]] for [[Paul Czinner]]'s highly significant pre-[[Expressionist]] work, ''Inferno''.{{CN|date=January 2015}} Together with [[Emil Stepanek]] and [[Artur Berger]] he was also responsible in Vienna, on the [[epic film|epics]] of [[Michael Curtiz]] and [[Alexander Korda]], for the most spectacular sets ever constructed for an Austrian film, in particular the gigantic Temple of Sodom in ''[[Sodom und Gomorrha]]'' (1922), which because of its sheer size had to be built in the open air, on the [[Laaer Berg]]. Other Sascha-Film epics on which he worked were ''Der junge Medardus'' (1923) and ''Harun al-Rashid'' (1924).
In 1925 Borsody moved to [[Berlin]]. There, for films about the history of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], he was able to design more ambitious structures than in Vienna. He worked on [[Hans Behrendt]]'s ''Potsdam, das Schicksal einer Residenz'' (1927) and [[Phil Jutzi]]' s ''[[Berlin-Alexanderplatz (1931 film)|Berlin-Alexanderplatz]]'' (1931), based on [[Alfred Döblin]]'s [[Berlin Alexanderplatz|book of the same name]]. Besides buildings he also created the façades and decorations of other productions with historical and costumed backgrounds, such as ''Danton'' (1931) and the [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]] biography ''[[Leise flehen meine Lieder]]'' (1933).
Shortly before the [[National Socialist German Workers Party|National Socialist]]s took power in Germany, Borsody returned to Vienna, where for the next few years he worked on a number of films in the ''[[Wiener Film]]'' genre, light romantic musical comedies, the action of which was generally set in the late [[Austro-Hungarian Empire|imperial]] period of about 1900: ''[[Hohe Schule (film)|Hohe Schule]]'' (1934), ''[[Tales from the Vienna Woods (1934 film)|Tales from the Vienna Woods]]'' (1934), ''[[The White Horse Inn (1935 film)|The White Horse Inn]]'' (1935) and others.
After the [[Anschluss]] (the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938) Borsody became principal architect of the [[Nazi]]-owned [[Wien-Film]], but also occasionally worked on buildings for productions of [[Bavaria Film]] in Munich. He was employed on one of the last large-scale productions of the Third Reich - ''[[Shiva und die Galgenblume]]'', filmed in early January 1945 with [[Hans Albers]] in the [[Barrandov Studios]] in [[Prague]] – and also on one of the first post-war Austrian films - ''Der weite Weg'' (1946).
From that time on, in the declining Austrian film industry, he only worked on unpretentious romances and comedies. His last set designs were for the undistinguished ''{{ill|Skandal um Dodo|de}}'' (1958), directed by his brother [[Eduard von Borsody|Eduard]].
==Selected filmography== The following is a list of selected films on which Julius von Borsody worked as film architect or set designer (director's name in brackets): * ''Inferno'' (Austria 1920, dir. [[Paul Czinner]]) * ''Lucifer'' (Austria 1921, dir. [[Ernest Juhn]]) * ''[[The Dead Wedding Guest]]'' (Austria 1921, dir. [[Max Neufeld]]) * ''[[The Marquis of Bolibar]]'' (Austria 1922, dir. [[Friedrich Porges]]) * ''[[Sodom and Gomorrah (1922 film)|Sodom and Gomorrah]]'' (Austria 1922, dir. [[Michael Curtiz]]; film architecture together with [[Emil Stepanek]]) * ''Die Maske der Schuld'' (Austria 1922, directed himself) * ''[[Young Medardus]]'' (Austria 1923, dir. Michael Curtiz) * ''[[Avalanche (1923 film)|Avalanche]]'' (Austria 1923, dir. Michael Curtiz) * ''[[Harun al Raschid (film)|Harun al Raschid]]'' (Austria 1924, dir. Michael Curtiz) * ''[[The City Without Jews]]'' (Austria 1924, dir. [[Hans Karl Breslauer]]) * ''[[Countess Maritza (1925 film)|Countess Maritza]]'' (1925) * ''[[A Waltz by Strauss (1925 film)|A Waltz by Strauss]]'' (1925) * ''[[If You Have an Aunt]]'' (1925) * ''[[The Girl on a Swing (1926 film)|The Girl on a Swing]]'' (1926) * ''[[Potsdam (film)|Potsdam]]'' (Germany 1927, dir. [[Hans Behrendt]]) * ''[[Erotikon (1929 film)|Erotikon]]'' (Czechoslovakia 1929, dir. [[Gustav Machatý]]) * ''Die kleine Veronika'' (Germany 1929, dir. [[Robert Land]]) * ''Der Tanz ins Glück'' (Germany 1930, dir. [[Max Nosseck]]; Borsody's first sound film) * ''[[A Girl from the Reeperbahn]]'' (1930) * ''[[Rendezvous (1930 film)|Rendezvous]]'' (1930) * ''[[Love Songs (1930 film)|Love Songs]]'' (1930) * ''[[Danton (1931 film)|Danton]]'' (Germany 1931, dir. [[Hans Behrendt]]) * ''[[My Cousin from Warsaw (1931 French film)|My Cousin from Warsaw]]'' (1931) * ''[[Berlin-Alexanderplatz (1931 film)|Berlin-Alexanderplatz]]'' (Germany 1931, dir. [[Phil Jutzi]]) * ''[[A Mad Idea]]'' (1932) * ''[[Things Are Getting Better Already]]'' (1932) * ''[[Today Is the Day (film)|Today Is the Day]]'' (1933) * ''[[Gently My Songs Entreat]]'' (Austria 1933, dir. [[Willi Forst]]) * ''[[A Precocious Girl]]'' (Austria 1934, dir. [[Max Neufeld]] and [[Richard Eichberg]]) * ''[[The Secret of Cavelli]]'' (Austria 1934, dir. [[Erich Engel]]) * ''[[Frasquita]]'' (Austria 1934, dir. [[Carl Lamac]]) * ''[[Tales from the Vienna Woods (1934 film)|Tales from the Vienna Woods]]'' (Austria 1934, dir. [[Georg Jacoby]]) * ''[[The Gentleman Without a Residence (1934 film)|The Gentleman Without a Residence]]'' (Austria 1934, dir. [[E. W. Emo]]) * ''[[… nur ein Komödiant]]'' (Austria 1935, dir. Erich Engel) * ''Die Pompadour'' (Austria 1935, dir. [[Willy Schmidt-Gentner]]) * ''[[Circus Saran]]'' (1935) * ''[[Eva (1935 film)|Eva]]'' (1935) * ''[[The World's in Love]]'' (1935) * ''[[Heaven on Earth (1935 film)|Heaven on Earth]]'' (1935) * ''[[The White Horse Inn (1935 film)|The White Horse Inn]]'' (Austria 1935, dir. Carl Lamac) * ''[[Romance (1936 film)|Romance]]'' (1936) * ''[[Confetti (1936 film)|Confetti]]'' (1936) * ''[[The Fairy Doll]]'' (1936) * ''[[Rendezvous in Vienna (1936 film)|Rendezvous in Vienna]]'' (1936) * ''Opernring / Im Sonnenschein'' (Austria 1936, dir. [[Carmine Gallone]]) * ''Ernte / Die Julika'' (Austria 1936, dir. [[Géza von Bolváry]]) * ''[[The Missing Wife (1937 film)|The Missing Wife]]'' (1937) * ''Prater / Der Weg des Herzens'' (Austria 1937, dir. Willy Schmidt-Gentner) * ''Unsterblicher Walzer'' (Germany/Austria 1939, dir. E. W. Emo) * ''[[Ursula Under Suspicion]]'' (1939) * ''Brüderlein fein'' (Germany/Austria 1941, dir. [[Hans Thimig]]) * ''Frauen sind keine Engel'' (Germany/Austria 1943, dir. Willi Forst) * ''[[Dog Days (1944 film)|Dog Days]]'' (1944) * ''[[Shiva und die Galgenblume]]'' (Germany 1945, dir. [[Hans Steinhoff]]; unfinished film) * ''Der weite Weg / Schicksal in Ketten'' (Austria 1946, dir. [[Eduard Hoesch]]) * ''[[Der Herr Kanzleirat]]'' (Austria 1948, dir. [[Hubert Marischka]]) * ''[[Arlberg Express]]'' (Austria 1948, dir. [[Eduard von Borsody]]) * ''[[The Singing House]]'' (Austria 1948, dir. [[Franz Antel]]) * ''[[Maresi]]'' (Austria 1948, dir. [[Hans Thimig]]) * ''[[Vagabonds (film)|Vagabonds]]'' (1949) * ''[[Child of the Danube]]'' (Austria 1950, dir. [[Georg Jacoby]]) * ''[[Vanished Melody]]'' (1952) * ''[[If I Only Have Your Love]]'' (1953) * ''Kaisermanöver'' (Austria 1954, dir. [[Franz Antel]]) * ''[[Her First Date]]'' (1955) * ''{{ill|Skandal um Dodo|de}}'' (Austria 1958, dir. Eduard von Borsody; Julius von Borsody's last film)
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0097477}} * {{Austriaforum|AEIOU/Borsody%2C_Julius_von}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Borsody, Julius Von}} [[Category:Austrian architects]] [[Category:Austrian scenic designers]] [[Category:Hungarian nobility]] [[Category:Austrian people of Hungarian descent]] [[Category:Artists from Vienna]] [[Category:1892 births]] [[Category:1960 deaths]]