# Victor Tourjansky > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Victor_Tourjansky > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Victor_Tourjansky.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Tourjansky > Source revision: 1356831845 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Russian actor, screenwriter and film director}} {{Infobox person | name = Victor Tourjansky |native_name = {{nobold|Виктор Туржанский}} | image = Victor Tourjansky.jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Вячеслав Константинович Туржанский | birth_date = {{Birth date|1891|3|4|df=y}} | birth_place = [Kyiv](/source/Kyiv), Russian Empire (now Ukraine) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|8|13|1891|3|4|df=y}} | death_place = [Munich](/source/Munich), [West Germany](/source/West_Germany) (now Germany) | spouse = | occupation = [Film director](/source/Film_director), [screenwriter](/source/screenwriter), [actor](/source/actor) | years_active = 1913–1964 }} '''Victor Tourjansky''' ({{langx|ru|Виктор Туржанский}} 4 March 1891 – 13 August 1976), born '''Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Turzhansky''' ({{Langx|ru|Вячеслав Константинович Туржанский}}), was a Russian actor, screenwriter and film director who emigrated after the [Russian Revolution of 1917](/source/Russian_Revolution_(1917)). He worked in France, Germany, Italy, and the United States. ==Biography== {{Unreferenced section|date=January 2018}} Born into a family of artists in [Kyiv](/source/Kyiv), Tourjansky moved to Moscow in 1911, where he spent a year studying under [Konstantin Stanislavski](/source/Konstantin_Stanislavski). He became involved with silent film and, two years later, made his first productions as a screenwriter and director on the eve of [World War I](/source/World_War_I). When the [October Revolution](/source/October_Revolution) broke out, he left and stayed in [Yalta](/source/Yalta), which had not yet been taken by the [Bolsheviks](/source/Bolsheviks). When the laws for the nationalisation of the cinema industry were applied to Crimea, he left with the [Ermoliev](/source/Joseph_N._Ermolieff) film company and its actors for France, via Constantinople, in February 1920. He was accompanied by his wife, the actress [Nathalie Kovanko](/source/Nathalie_Kovanko). On arriving in Paris, he changed his birth name Viatcheslav, to Victor, which was more easily pronounceable for the French. He was the assistant to [Abel Gance](/source/Abel_Gance) for the filming of his [''Napoléon''](/source/Napol%C3%A9on_(1927_film)) (1927). He later worked for [Universum Film AG](/source/Universum_Film_AG) in Germany, where he arrived during the 1930s and directed twelve films, of which several were officially honored by the Nazis (''[City of Anatol](/source/City_of_Anatol)'', ''[Secret Code LB 17](/source/Secret_Code_LB_17)'', ''[Faded Melody](/source/Faded_Melody)'', ''[Enemies](/source/Enemies_(1940_film)) '', and ''[Orient Express](/source/Orient_Express_(1944_film))''). Tourjansky has been credited by some writers as being the director of the first ever film adaptation of [Bram Stoker](/source/Bram_Stoker)'s novel ''[Dracula](/source/Dracula)'', although it is disputed if the film, which is supposed to have been released in 1920, ever actually existed.{{Cite book |title=The Nosferatu Story The Seminal Horror Film, Its Predecessors and Its Enduring Legacy |last=Giesen |first=Rolf |publisher=McFarland |year=2025 |isbn=9781476650487 |edition=2nd |pages=45}} ==Selected filmography== {{div col}} * ''{{Ill|Po trupam k schastyu|ru|По трупам к счастью (фильм)}}'' (Russia, 1915) * ''{{Ill|Zhenshchina vampir|ru|Женщина-вампир (фильм)}}'' (Russia, 1915) * ''{{Ill|Surogaty lyubvi|it}}'' (Russia, 1918) * ''{{Ill|L'Ordonnance (1921 film)|it|3=L'Ordonnance (film 1921)|lt=L'Ordonnance}}'' (France, 1921) * ''Les Contes des mille et une nuits'' (France, 1921) * ''{{Ill|Le Quinzième Prélude de Chopin|fr}}'' (France, 1922) * ''Nuit de carnaval'' (France, 1922) * ''[La Riposte](/source/La_Riposte_(film))'' (France, 1922) * ''{{Ill|Calvaire d'amour|fr}}'' (France, 1923) * ''{{Ill|Le Chant de l'amour triomphant|fr}}'' (France, 1923) * ''[That Scoundrel Morin](/source/That_Scoundrel_Morin_(1924_film))'' (France, 1924) * ''[The Masked Woman](/source/The_Masked_Woman_(1924_film))'' (France, 1924) * ''[Prince Charming](/source/Prince_Charming_(1925_film))'' (France, 1925) * ''[Michel Strogoff](/source/Michel_Strogoff_(1926_film))'' (France, 1926) * ''[Tempest](/source/Tempest_(1928_film))'' (director: [Sam Taylor](/source/Sam_Taylor_(director)), US, 1928), uncredited * ''[The Adventurer](/source/The_Adventurer_(1928_film))'' (US, 1928) * ''[Volga Volga](/source/Volga_Volga_(1928_film))'' (Germany, 1928) * ''[Manolescu](/source/Manolescu_(film))'' (Germany, 1929) * ''[The Eaglet](/source/The_Eaglet_(1931_film))'' (French-language film version, 1931) ** ''[The Duke of Reichstadt](/source/The_Duke_of_Reichstadt_(1931_film))'' (German-language film version, 1931) * ''[The Unknown Singer](/source/The_Unknown_Singer_(1931_film))'' (France, 1931) * ''[Student's Hotel](/source/Student's_Hotel)'' (France, 1932) * ''[The Orderly](/source/The_Orderly_(1933_film))'' (France, 1933) * ''[Volga in Flames](/source/Volga_in_Flames)'' (France, 1934) * ''[Dark Eyes](/source/Dark_Eyes_(1935_film))'' (France, 1935) * ''[The World's in Love](/source/The_World's_in_Love)'' (Austria, 1935) * ''[La Peur](/source/La_Peur_(1936_film))'' (France, 1936) * ''[City of Anatol](/source/City_of_Anatol)'' (German-language film version, 1936) ** ''[Wells in Flames](/source/Wells_in_Flames)'' (French-language film version, 1937) * ''[The Lie of Nina Petrovna](/source/The_Lie_of_Nina_Petrovna)'' (France, 1937) * ''[The Postmaster's Daughter](/source/The_Postmaster's_Daughter)'' (France, 1938) * ''[Faded Melody](/source/Faded_Melody)'' (Germany, 1938) * ''[Secret Code LB 17](/source/Secret_Code_LB_17)'' (Germany, 1938) * ''[The Blue Fox](/source/The_Blue_Fox_(1938_film))'' (Germany, 1938) * ''[The Governor](/source/The_Governor_(1939_film))'' (Germany, 1939) * ''[A Woman Like You](/source/A_Woman_Like_You_(1939_film))'' (Germany, 1939) * ''[Enemies](/source/Enemies_(1940_film))'' (Germany, 1940, also screenplay) * ''{{Ill|Die keusche Geliebte|it|L'amante casta}}'' (Germany, 1940) * ''{{Ill|Illusion (1941 film)|de|3=Illusion (1941)|lt=Illusion}}'' (Germany, 1941, also screenplay) * ''{{Ill|Liebesgeschichten (1943 film)|de|3=Liebesgeschichten (1943)|lt=Liebesgeschichten}}'' (Germany, 1943) * ''[Tonelli](/source/Tonelli_(film))'' (Germany, 1943, also screenplay) * ''[Orient Express](/source/Orient_Express_(1944_film))'' (Germany, 1944) * ''{{Ill|Dreimal Komödie|de}}'' (Germany, 1945–1949) * ''[The Blue Straw Hat](/source/The_Blue_Straw_Hat)'' (West Germany, 1949) * ''{{Ill|Si te hubieses casado conmigo|es}}'' (Spain, 1950) * ''[The Man Who Wanted to Live Twice](/source/The_Man_Who_Wanted_to_Live_Twice)'' (West Germany, 1950) * ''[Chased by the Devil](/source/Chased_by_the_Devil)'' (West Germany, 1950) * ''{{Ill|Mutter sein dagegen sehr!|de}}'' (West Germany, 1951) * ''[Marriage for One Night](/source/Marriage_for_One_Night)'' (West Germany, 1953) * ''[Salto Mortale](/source/Salto_Mortale_(1953_film))'' (West Germany, 1953) * ''[Arlette Conquers Paris](/source/Arlette_Conquers_Paris)'' (West Germany, 1953) * ''[Daybreak](/source/Daybreak_(1954_film))'' (West Germany, 1954) * ''[Island of the Dead](/source/Island_of_the_Dead_(1955_film))'' (West Germany, 1955) * ''[The Royal Waltz](/source/The_Royal_Waltz_(1955_film))'' (West Germany, 1955) * ''{{ill|Beichtgeheimnis|de|Beichtgeheimnis (Film)}}'' (West Germany, 1956) * ''[The Goddess of Love](/source/The_Goddess_of_Love)'' (co-director: [Fernando Cerchio](/source/Fernando_Cerchio), Italy, 1957) * ''[Heart Without Mercy](/source/Heart_Without_Mercy)'' (West Germany, 1958) * ''[Herod the Great](/source/Herod_the_Great_(film))'' (co-director: {{Ill|Arnaldo Genoino|de}}, Italy, 1959) * ''[Prisoner of the Volga](/source/Prisoner_of_the_Volga)'' (co-director: {{Ill|Arnaldo Genoino|de}}, Italy, 1959) * ''[The Cossacks](/source/The_Cossacks_(1960_film))'' (co-director: [Giorgio Rivalta](/source/Giorgio_Venturini), Italy, 1960) * ''[The Pharaohs' Woman](/source/The_Pharaohs'_Woman)'' (co-director: [Giorgio Rivalta](/source/Giorgio_Venturini), Italy, 1960) * ''[The Triumph of Michael Strogoff](/source/The_Triumph_of_Michael_Strogoff)'' (France, 1961) * ''[A Queen for Caesar](/source/A_Queen_for_Caesar)'' (co-director: [Piero Pierotti](/source/Piero_Pierotti), Italy, 1962) {{div col end}} == References == {{reflist}} ==External links== {{commons category|Victor Tourjansky}} *{{IMDb name|869645}} *Christian Gilles, ''Le cinéma des années [trente, quarante, cinquante] par ceux qui l'ont fait'', Paris : L'Harmattan, 2000. {{ISBN|978-2-7384-8951-7}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Authority control}} {{Victor Tourjansky}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Tourjansky, Victor}} Category:Film directors from the Russian Empire Category:Male actors from the Russian Empire Category:People who emigrated to escape Bolshevism Category:1891 births Category:1976 deaths Category:Male actors from Kyiv Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Category:White Russian emigrants to Germany Category:White Russian emigrants to France Category:Russian male film actors Category:Russian film directors Category:Russian male silent film actors Category:Film people from Kyiv --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Victor Tourjansky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Tourjansky) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Tourjansky?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.