# Paul Czinner

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{{Short description|American film director (1890–1972)}}
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{{Infobox person
| name               = Paul Czinner
| image              = Elisabeth Bergner and Paul Czinner.jpg
| caption            = Paul Czinner with Elisabeth Bergner
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1890|05|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = Vienna, [Austria-Hungary](/source/Austria-Hungary) (now Austria)
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1972|06|22|1890|05|30|df=yes}}
| death_place        = London, England
| alma_mater         = [University of Vienna](/source/University_of_Vienna)
| occupation         = [Film director](/source/Film_director), [screenwriter](/source/screenwriter)
| years_active       = 1919–1966
| spouse             = [Elisabeth Bergner](/source/Elisabeth_Bergner) (m. 1933–1972, his death)
}}

'''Paul Czinner''' (30 May 1890 – 22 June 1972) was a Hungarian-born British writer, film director, and producer.<ref>{{cite book|title=The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema|page=1977|author=Richard Taylor, Nancy Wood, Julian Graffy, Dina Iordanova|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=978-1838718497|date=2019}}</ref>

==Biography==
Czinner was born to a Jewish family in [Budapest](/source/Budapest), [Austria-Hungary](/source/Austria-Hungary).<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=I0byBwAAQBAJ&q=czinner|first=John|last=Cones|title=Motion Picture Biographies: The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures|date=April 2015|pages=6|publisher=Algora |isbn=9781628941166}}</ref>

After studying literature and philosophy at the [University of Vienna](/source/University_of_Vienna), he worked as a journalist. From 1919 onward, he dedicated himself to work for the film industry as a writer, director and producer. Czinner became engaged to actress [Gilda Langer](/source/Gilda_Langer) in early 1920. Shortly after their engagement, Langer succumbed to the [Spanish flu](/source/1918_flu_pandemic); she died on 31 January 1920.<ref>{{cite book | first1 = Ilona | last1 = Brennicke | first2 = Joe | last2 = Hembus | title = Klassiker des deutschen Stummfilms, 1910–1930 | location = Munich | publisher = Goldmann | year = 1983 | language = de | isbn = 978-3-442-10212-9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ilUbAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA57 | page = 57}}</ref>

In 1924, he offered the leading role in his film ''Nju'' to [Elisabeth Bergner](/source/Elisabeth_Bergner). They became partners. Both were Jewish, and after the Nazi Party under [Adolf Hitler](/source/Adolf_Hitler) began to persecute Jews in Germany, the couple fled. They went first to Vienna, and then on to London, where they were married. Despite Czinner's homosexuality, theirs was a happy union, and one which enriched them personally and professionally. In 1934, he realised his film ''[Catherine the Great](/source/The_Rise_of_Catherine_the_Great)'', with his wife playing the main role. The film was not shown in Germany.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

They emigrated to the United States in 1940, and worked on [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre). After the end of World War II, they returned to England, where Czinner successfully adapted numerous operas—such as ''[Don Giovanni](/source/Don_Giovanni)'' and ''[Der Rosenkavalier](/source/Der_Rosenkavalier)''—to film.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

==Death==
Czinner died on 22 June 1972 in London, aged 82.<ref>{{IMDb name|0194492}}</ref>

==Selected filmography==
* ''Inferno'' (1919)
* ''[Husbands or Lovers](/source/Husbands_or_Lovers_(1924_film))'' (1924)
* ''[Jealousy](/source/Jealousy_(1925_film))'' (1925)
* ''[The Fiddler of Florence](/source/The_Fiddler_of_Florence)'' (1926)
* ''[Doña Juana](/source/Do%C3%B1a_Juana_(film))'' (1927)
* ''[Fräulein Else](/source/Fr%C3%A4ulein_Else_(1929_film))'' (1929)
* ''[The Way of Lost Souls](/source/The_Way_of_Lost_Souls)'' (released in USA as ''The Woman He Scorned'') (1929)
* ''[Ariane](/source/Ariane_(film))'' (1931)
* ''[Dreaming Lips](/source/Dreaming_Lips_(1932_film))'' (1932)
* ''[Ariane, Russian maid](/source/Ariane%2C_jeune_fille_russe_(film))'' (1932)
* ''{{Interlanguage link|Mélo (1932 film)|fr|3=Mélo (film, 1932)|lt=Mélo}}'' (1932)
* ''[Catherine the Great](/source/The_Rise_of_Catherine_the_Great)'' (1934)
* ''[Escape Me Never](/source/Escape_Me_Never_(1935_film))'' (1935)
* ''[As You Like It](/source/As_You_Like_It_(1936_film))'' (1936)
* ''[Dreaming Lips](/source/Dreaming_Lips_(1937_film))'' (1937)
* ''[Stolen Life](/source/Stolen_Life_(1939_film))'' (1939)
* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nPEUtU3DWg Don Giovanni film from the Salzburg performance]'', based on [Mozart's opera](/source/Don_Giovanni). (1954)
* ''[The Bolshoi Ballet](/source/The_Bolshoi_Ballet_(film))'' (1958)
* ''[The Royal Ballet](/source/The_Royal_Ballet_(1960_film))'' (1959)
* ''[Der Rosenkavalier](/source/Der_Rosenkavalier_(1962_film))'', based on the [opera by Richard Strauss](/source/Der_Rosenkavalier) (1962)
* ''[Romeo and Juliet](/source/Romeo_and_Juliet_(1966_film))'', ballet film starring [Rudolf Nureyev](/source/Rudolf_Nureyev) and [Margot Fonteyn](/source/Margot_Fonteyn) (1966)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Paul Czinner |sopt=t}}
* {{IMDb name|0194492}}

{{Paul Czinner}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Czinner, Paul}}
Category:1890 births
Category:1972 deaths
Category:Film directors from Austria-Hungary
Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Category:University of Vienna alumni
Category:Hungarian expatriates in England
Category:Hungarian film directors
Category:Jewish Hungarian film people
Category:German-language film directors
Category:20th-century Hungarian Jews
Category:Hungarian film producers
Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States
Category:Hungarian expatriates in Germany
Category:Hungarian expatriates in Austria

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{{US-film-producer-1890s-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Paul Czinner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Czinner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Czinner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.