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Henry Koster

Henry Koster (real name Herman Kosterlitz) is a director , screenwriter and producer American born on ¹ May 1905 in Berlin ( Germany ), died on 21 September 1988 at Camarillo ( U.S. ).

Summary

1 Biography
2 Filmography
3 External link

/ / Biography

Henry Koster was still young when his father, a salesman, left home. He managed to finish high school in Berlin, writing and performing new comics.

Koster discovered very early in the film world when his uncle, about 1910, opened a cinema in Berlin. His mother played the piano to accompany the films, leaving his children watch the show. After working initially as a writer of short stories, Koster was hired as a screenwriter for a movie company in Berlin and became assistant director Curtis Bernhardt. One day, he fell ill and asked Koster to take over the making of a film. Thus in the years 1931/1932, he made two or three films for the company UFA.

In the midst of making a film, Koster realized he was already under some form of anti-Semitism , and knew he should leave. He lost his cool during a clash with an officer and knocked SA. Then he spun directly from the airport and left Germany for France, where he was hired again by Curtis Bernhardt, who had been exiled earlier. Koster then moved to Budapest where he met and married Kiraly Kato in 1934. In Budapest, he met Joe Pasternak representing the company Universal in Europe, and he made three films for him.

In 1936, Koster signed a contract to work with Universal in Hollywood, and he sailed for the United States with his wife and other refugees, to work with Pasternak. Although he spoke no English, he came to convince the studio to let him make three girls page (Three Smart Girls), giving a musical featuring a 15 year old girl, Deanna Durbin. The film was a great success and saved Universal from bankruptcy. The second film for Universal Koster, One Hundred Men and a Girl , with Deanna Durbin and Leopold Stokowski was all to the glory of the studio, Deanna Durbin, Pasternak and Koster. He still leads Deanna Durbin to four times; particularly in Three Smart Girls Grow Up, the sequel to Three Smart Girls, as well as First Love.

Koster directed many films and musical family in the late 1930s and early 1940s, with actresses like Betty Grable and Deanna Durbin. He worked for Universal until 1941, then went to MGM , and Fox in 1948.

In 1947, he received an Oscar nomination for best director for the comedy The Bishop's Wife. In 1951, he directed one of his most famous films, Harvey , a fantasy comedy starring James Stewart. Subsequently, he undertook more elaborate productions of historical or religious inspiration as The Robe (The Robe), a biblical drama and one of the first films in CinemaScope, Desiree , biography of the first wife of Napoleon, and The Naked Maja ( The Naked Maja) on the life of the painter Goya. Towards the end of his career, he returned to comedy with such films as Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation) using again featuring James Stewart. His last film was The Singing Nun in 1965. He retired in Camarillo, California to devote himself to painting until his death in 1988.

He married the actress Peggy Moran in 1942 and led all major players of the era: James Stewart , Richard Burton in his first American film My Cousin Rachel , Marlon Brando , Bette Davis , Ava Gardner , ...