Joe May
Encyclopedia
Joe May born Julius Otto Mandl, was a film director
and film producer
born in Austria
and one of the pioneers of German cinema
.
After studying in Berlin and a variety of odd jobs, he began his career as a stage director of operetta
s in Hamburg
before starting to make films from 1912 in Berlin
. In 1902 he had married the actress Mia May (born Hermine Pfleger) and took his stage name from hers.
In 1914 he founded his own film production company, May-Film, and began to produce a successful series of crime film
s, whose detective hero went by the name of Joe Deebs. Some of these were directed by May himself, others by Harry Piel
. (Around the same time May also worked on the Stuart Webbs series of detective films for another company). In 1917 he gave Fritz Lang
one of his earliest breaks in the film industry as screenwriter
on the film Die Hochzeit im Excentricclub (Wedding in the Eccentric Club) and Lang also worked on other May films at this time.
After the end of World War I
in 1918 May's company built film studios in the Berlin suburb of Weissensee and in Woltersdorf
a village northeast of Berlin in Brandenburg
. There he went on to produce and direct a series of popular and exotic adventure films, among them the monumental three hour long Veritas vincit (1919), the eight-part series Die Herrin der Welt (Mistress of the World) (1919–20) as well as the two-part adventure film Das indische Grabmal (The Indian Tomb) (1921) starring Conrad Veidt
and written by Fritz Lang
and Thea von Harbou
.
These featured Mia May in leading roles and she regularly worked under her husband's direction in a number of melodramas like Tragödie der Liebe (1922/23) costarring Emil Jannings
. Their teenage daughter Eva May (born 1902 in Vienna) tried to build her own career as an actress but committed suicide in 1924 after the end of her third marriage with the film directors Manfred Liebenau, Lothar Mendes and Manfred Noa.
Towards the end of the 1920s, May moved away from adventure films and produced more realist works, notable among them the World War I love-triangle Heimkehr
(The Return Home) (1928) and the contemporary thriller Asphalt
(1929). During the early years of sound film he worked as a producer for Erich Pommer
at Ufa
then for different production companies in Germany, Austria and France directing a series of multilingual versions in German and French among those is Ihre Majestät die Liebe / Son altesse l'amour (1930) one of the best musical comedies of the Weimar Cinema.
In 1933 he and Mia, along with many others in the German film industry, emigrated to the United States
where he was able to establish himself as director, mainly for Universal Pictures
, although his work was mainly on what would be regarded as B movies.
His most notable works of this period were the Kay Francis vehicle Confession
, a remake of the 1935 German film Mazurka
, The House of the Seven Gables
and The Invisible Man Returns
(1941). He also worked with the Dead End Kids during this period, helming two films, You're Not So Tough
(1940) and Hit the Road
(1941), despite constant friction with his juvenile delinquent cast members.
Confession
is especially interesting, in that May's film is an exact copy of German director Willi Forst's Mazurka
, right down to the last fade and dissolve, with every shot timed to run exactly the same length, and using the same music as Forst's original film.
May's last film was the early Robert Mitchum
vehicle Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore, made in 1944 for low budget Monogram Pictures
. After retiring as a director, May managed the Blue Danube Restaurant in Los Angeles, and died on April 29, 1954, after a long illness. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywodd, CA
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
born in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and one of the pioneers of German cinema
Cinema of Germany
Cinema in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema has made major technical and artistic contributions to film.Unlike any other national cinemas, which developed in the context of relatively continuous and stable political systems, Germany witnesses major changes to its...
.
After studying in Berlin and a variety of odd jobs, he began his career as a stage director of operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
before starting to make films from 1912 in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1902 he had married the actress Mia May (born Hermine Pfleger) and took his stage name from hers.
In 1914 he founded his own film production company, May-Film, and began to produce a successful series of crime film
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
s, whose detective hero went by the name of Joe Deebs. Some of these were directed by May himself, others by Harry Piel
Harry Piel
Born Hubert August Piel, Harry Piel in Munich, Germany was a prolific German actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer who was involved in over 150 films....
. (Around the same time May also worked on the Stuart Webbs series of detective films for another company). In 1917 he gave Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
one of his earliest breaks in the film industry as screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
on the film Die Hochzeit im Excentricclub (Wedding in the Eccentric Club) and Lang also worked on other May films at this time.
After the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1918 May's company built film studios in the Berlin suburb of Weissensee and in Woltersdorf
Woltersdorf
Woltersdorf may refer to the following places in Germany:*Woltersdorf, Brandenburg, in the Oder-Spree district, Brandenburg*Woltersdorf, Lower Saxony, in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district, Lower Saxony...
a village northeast of Berlin in Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
. There he went on to produce and direct a series of popular and exotic adventure films, among them the monumental three hour long Veritas vincit (1919), the eight-part series Die Herrin der Welt (Mistress of the World) (1919–20) as well as the two-part adventure film Das indische Grabmal (The Indian Tomb) (1921) starring Conrad Veidt
Conrad Veidt
Conrad Veidt was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , The Man Who Laughs , The Thief of Bagdad and Casablanca...
and written by Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
and Thea von Harbou
Thea von Harbou
Thea Gabriele von Harbou was a German actress, author and film director of Prussian aristocratic origin. She was born in Tauperlitz in the Kingdom of Bavaria.-Early work:...
.
These featured Mia May in leading roles and she regularly worked under her husband's direction in a number of melodramas like Tragödie der Liebe (1922/23) costarring Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar...
. Their teenage daughter Eva May (born 1902 in Vienna) tried to build her own career as an actress but committed suicide in 1924 after the end of her third marriage with the film directors Manfred Liebenau, Lothar Mendes and Manfred Noa.
Towards the end of the 1920s, May moved away from adventure films and produced more realist works, notable among them the World War I love-triangle Heimkehr
Homecoming (1928 film)
Homecoming is a 1928 German film directed by Joe May.- Plot :Richard and Karl are German prisoners of war in Siberia. Since escape is almost impossible, they are unguarded and live an almost idyllic existence running a ferry...
(The Return Home) (1928) and the contemporary thriller Asphalt
Asphalt (1929 film)
Asphalt is a German silent film. The film was one of the last silent films released in Germany as the world was entering the era of sound film.-Crew:...
(1929). During the early years of sound film he worked as a producer for Erich Pommer
Erich Pommer
Erich Pommer was a German-born film producer and executive. He was involved in the German Expressionist film movement during the silent era as the head of production at Decla, Decla-Bioscop and from 1924 to 1926 at Ufa responsible for many of the best known movies of the Weimar Republic such as...
at Ufa
Ufa
-Demographics:Nationally, dominated by Russian , Bashkirs and Tatars . In addition, numerous are Ukrainians , Chuvash , Mari , Belarusians , Mordovians , Armenian , Germans , Jews , Azeris .-Government and administration:Local...
then for different production companies in Germany, Austria and France directing a series of multilingual versions in German and French among those is Ihre Majestät die Liebe / Son altesse l'amour (1930) one of the best musical comedies of the Weimar Cinema.
In 1933 he and Mia, along with many others in the German film industry, emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he was able to establish himself as director, mainly for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, although his work was mainly on what would be regarded as B movies.
His most notable works of this period were the Kay Francis vehicle Confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
, a remake of the 1935 German film Mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
, The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables (film)
The House of the Seven Gables is a 1940 drama film based on the novel of the same name by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It stars George Sanders, Margaret Lindsay, and Vincent Price.-Cast:*George Sanders as Jaffrey Pyncheon*Margaret Lindsay as Hepzibah Pyncheon...
and The Invisible Man Returns
The Invisible Man Returns
The Invisible Man Returns is a 1940 horror science fiction film from Universal. It was written as a sequel to the 1933 film The Invisible Man, which was based on the novel The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells. The studio had signed a multi-picture contract with Wells, and they were hoping that this...
(1941). He also worked with the Dead End Kids during this period, helming two films, You're Not So Tough
You're Not So Tough
You're Not So Tough is a 1940 Universal Studios film that starred Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys.-Plot:The Dead End Kids ride a freight train through California. After the kids get arrested for vacrancy, members Tom and Pig are hired to work on a ranch owned by kindly Mama Posito...
(1940) and Hit the Road
Hit the Road
Hit the Road is a crime comedy film featuring the Dead End Kids. Four juvenile delinquents are released from reform school into the care of a reformed gangster who now runs a ranch with his wife and intends to open a school for wayward boys...
(1941), despite constant friction with his juvenile delinquent cast members.
Confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
is especially interesting, in that May's film is an exact copy of German director Willi Forst's Mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
, right down to the last fade and dissolve, with every shot timed to run exactly the same length, and using the same music as Forst's original film.
May's last film was the early Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
vehicle Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore, made in 1944 for low budget Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
. After retiring as a director, May managed the Blue Danube Restaurant in Los Angeles, and died on April 29, 1954, after a long illness. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywodd, CA
Selected filmography
- Two Hearts in Waltz TimeTwo Hearts in Waltz Time (1934 film)Two Hearts in Waltz Time is a 1934 British musical romance film directed by Carmine Gallone and Joe May. It starred Carl Brisson, Frances Day, Bert Coote and Roland Culver. A composer falls in love with the star of an opera company.-Cast:...
(1934)