Julius von Borsody
Encyclopedia
Julius von Borsody was an Austria
n film architect and one of the most employed set designers in the Austrian
and German cinemas
of the late silent
and early sound film
periods. His younger brother, Eduard von Borsody
, was a successful film director
in Austria
and Germany
.
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. Together with Emil Stepanek
and Artur Berger
he was also responsible in Vienna, on the 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 Prussia
, he was able to design even more ambitious structures than in Vienna. Particularly outstanding was his work on Hans Behrendt
's Potsdam, das Schicksal einer Residenz (1927) and Phil Jutzi
' s Berlin Alexanderplatz
(1931), based on Alfred Döblin
's book of the same name. Besides impressive buildings he also created the façades and decorations of many other top productions with historical and costumed backgrounds, such as Danton (1931) and the Schubert
biography Leise flehen meine Lieder (1933).
Shortly before the National Socialist
s took power in Germany, Borsody returned to Vienna, where for the next few years he worked on a number of major films in the Wiener Film
genre, light romantic musical comedies, the action of which was generally set in the late imperial period of about 1900: Hohe Schule (1934), G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald (1934), Im weißen Rössl (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 very 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 otherwise undistinguished Skandal um Dodo (1958), directed by his brother Eduard
.
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...
n film architect and one of the most employed set designers in the Austrian
Cinema of Austria
Austria has had an active cinema industry since the early 20th century. Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky was among the Austrian pioneers of this art. Several Austrians pursued a career in pre-Nazi Germany and later in the United States, among them Fritz Lang, Josef von Sternberg, Billy Wilder, Fred...
and German cinemas
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...
of the late silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
and early sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
periods. His younger brother, Eduard von Borsody
Eduard von Borsody
Eduard von Borsody was an Austrian cameraman, film editor, film director and screenplay writer.- Life :Eduard von Borsody began his film career as a cameraman...
, was a successful film director
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:...
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 Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Life
Julius von Borsody attended the MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
Art Academy before he started in the film industry in 1917. He began his career with Sascha-Film
Sascha-Film
Sascha-Film, in full Sascha-Filmindustrie AG and from 1933 Tobis-Sascha-Filmindustrie AG, was the largest Austrian film production company of the silent film and early sound film period.-History:...
in Vienna, but up to 1924 also worked with other film production companies. In 1920 he was the set designer for Paul Czinner
Paul Czinner
Paul Czinner was a writer, film director, and producer.Czinner was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary. After studying literature and philosophy at the University of Vienna, he worked as a journalist. From 1919 onward, he dedicated himself to work for the filming industry as writer, director and...
's highly significant pre-Expressionist work, Inferno. Together with Emil Stepanek
Emil Stepanek
Emil Stepanek was an Austrian set designer and film architect.-Biography:Stepanek was born in Vienna, the son of a carpenter, and received a training in stage set construction, in which he worked for several years. Between 1916 and 1918 he had to perform military service...
and Artur Berger
Artur Berger
Artur Semyonovich Berger was an Austrian-Soviet film architect and set designer. He was active in Austria between 1920 and 1936, during which time he worked on about 30 feature films...
he was also responsible in Vienna, on the epics
Epic film
An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...
of Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
and Alexander Korda
Alexander Korda
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British producer and film director. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion Films, a film distributing company.-Life and career:The elder brother of filmmakers Zoltán Korda and Vincent...
, 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
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...
. There, for films about the history of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, he was able to design even more ambitious structures than in Vienna. Particularly outstanding was his work on Hans Behrendt
Hans Behrendt
-Selected Filmography:* Daughter of the Regiment * Die Schmugglerbraut von Mallorca * Gloria * Danton * The Heath Is Green * My Friend the Millionaire * Wedding at Lake Wolfgang...
's Potsdam, das Schicksal einer Residenz (1927) and Phil Jutzi
Phil Jutzi
Phil Jutzi was a German cameraman and movie director.Born Philipp Jutzi in Altleiningen as the son of a tailor, Jutzi was self-educated...
' s Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz is a novel by Alfred Döblin, published in 1929. The story concerns a small-time criminal, Franz Biberkopf, fresh from prison, who is drawn into the underworld. When his criminal mentor murders the prostitute whom Biberkopf has been relying on as an anchor, he realizes that...
(1931), based on Alfred Döblin
Alfred Döblin
Alfred Döblin was a German expressionist novelist, best known for the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz .- 1878–1918:...
's book of the same name. Besides impressive buildings he also created the façades and decorations of many other top productions with historical and costumed backgrounds, such as Danton (1931) and the Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
biography Leise flehen meine Lieder (1933).
Shortly before the National Socialist
National Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
s took power in Germany, Borsody returned to Vienna, where for the next few years he worked on a number of major films in the Wiener Film
Wiener Film
Wiener Film is an Austrian film genre, consisting of a combination of comedy, romance and melodrama in an historical setting, mostly, and typically, the Vienna of the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
genre, light romantic musical comedies, the action of which was generally set in the late imperial period of about 1900: Hohe Schule (1934), G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald (1934), Im weißen Rössl (1935) and others.
After the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
(the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938) Borsody became principal architect of the Nazi-owned Wien-Film
Wien-Film
Wien-Film GmbH was a large Austrian film company, which in 1938 succeeded the Tobis-Sascha-Filmindustrie AG and lasted until 1985...
, 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
Hans Albers
Hans Philipp August Albers was a German actor and singer. He was the single biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1945 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.- Life and work :...
in the Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios is a famous set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe.Several of the movies filmed there won Academy Awards...
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
– and also on one of the very 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 otherwise undistinguished Skandal um Dodo (1958), directed by his brother Eduard
Eduard von Borsody
Eduard von Borsody was an Austrian cameraman, film editor, film director and screenplay writer.- Life :Eduard von Borsody began his film career as a cameraman...
.
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, Paul CzinnerPaul CzinnerPaul Czinner was a writer, film director, and producer.Czinner was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary. After studying literature and philosophy at the University of Vienna, he worked as a journalist. From 1919 onward, he dedicated himself to work for the filming industry as writer, director and...
) - Lucifer (Austria 1921, Ernest Juhn)
- Der tote Hochzeitsgast (Austria 1921, Max NeufeldMax NeufeldMax Neufeld was an Austrian film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed 70 films between 1919 and 1957. He directed the 1934 film The Song of the Sun, which starred Vittorio De Sica.-Selected filmography:...
) - Der Marquis von Bolibar (Austria 1921, Friedrich Porges)
- Sodom und Gomorrha (Austria 1922, Michael CurtizMichael CurtizMichael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
; film architecture together with Emil StepanekEmil StepanekEmil Stepanek was an Austrian set designer and film architect.-Biography:Stepanek was born in Vienna, the son of a carpenter, and received a training in stage set construction, in which he worked for several years. Between 1916 and 1918 he had to perform military service...
) - Die Maske der Schuld (Austria 1922, directed himself)
- Der junge Medardus (Austria 1923, Michael Curtiz)
- Harun al Rashid (Austria 1924, Michael Curtiz)
- Die Stadt ohne Juden (Austria 1924, Hans Karl BreslauerHans Karl BreslauerHans Karl Breslauer, born Johann Karl Breslauer, later often known as H. K. Breslauer was an early Austrian film director, also an actor, screenwriter and author.- Career as actor and screenwriter :...
) - Potsdam, das Schicksal einer Residenz (Germany 1927, Hans BehrendtHans Behrendt-Selected Filmography:* Daughter of the Regiment * Die Schmugglerbraut von Mallorca * Gloria * Danton * The Heath Is Green * My Friend the Millionaire * Wedding at Lake Wolfgang...
) - Erotikon (Czechoslovakia 1929, Gustav MachatýGustav MachatýGustav Machatý was a Czech film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed 17 films between 1919 and 1955, including Ecstasy...
) - Die kleine Veronika (Germany 1929, Robert Land)
- Der Tanz ins Glück (Germany 1930, Max NosseckMax Nosseck-Selected filmography:* Aventura oriental * Oranje Hein * Overture to Glory * Gambling Daughters * The Brighton Strangler * Black Beauty* Dillinger * And Who Is Kissing Me?...
; Borsody's first sound film) - Danton (Germany 1930, Hans BehrendtHans Behrendt-Selected Filmography:* Daughter of the Regiment * Die Schmugglerbraut von Mallorca * Gloria * Danton * The Heath Is Green * My Friend the Millionaire * Wedding at Lake Wolfgang...
) - Berlin AlexanderplatzBerlin AlexanderplatzBerlin Alexanderplatz is a novel by Alfred Döblin, published in 1929. The story concerns a small-time criminal, Franz Biberkopf, fresh from prison, who is drawn into the underworld. When his criminal mentor murders the prostitute whom Biberkopf has been relying on as an anchor, he realizes that...
(Germany 1931, Phil JutziPhil JutziPhil Jutzi was a German cameraman and movie director.Born Philipp Jutzi in Altleiningen as the son of a tailor, Jutzi was self-educated...
) - Leise flehen meine Lieder (Austria 1933, Willi ForstWilli ForstWilli Forst, born Wilhelm Anton Frohs was an Austrian actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer and singer...
) - Csibi, der Fratz / Früchtchen (Austria 1933, Max Neufeld, Richard EichbergRichard EichbergRichard Eichberg was an German film director and producer. He directed 87 films between 1915 and 1949. He also produced 77 films between 1915 and 1950.He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Munich, Germany....
) - Hohe Schule (film) (Austria 1934, Erich EngelErich EngelErich Engel was a German film and theatre director.- Biography :Engel was born in Hamburg, where later he studied at the School of Applied Arts...
) - Frasquita (Austria 1934, Carl LamacCarl LamacKarel Lamač was a Czech film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. He directed 102 films between 1919 and 1953...
) - G'schichten aus dem Wienerwald (Austria 1934, Georg JacobyGeorg JacobyGeorg Jacoby was a German film director and screenwriter. He was married to Marika Rökk from 1940 until his death; the actress Gabriele Jacoby is their daughter.-Selected filmography:...
) - Der Herr ohne Wohnung (Austria 1934, E. W. EmoE. W. EmoE. W. Emo was an Austrian film director, specialising in comedies, 21 of them with the actor Hans Moser. He also worked outside Austria and wrote some screenplays....
) - … nur ein Komödiant (Austria 1935, Erich Engel)
- Die Pompadour (Austria 1935, Willy Schmidt-GentnerWilly Schmidt-GentnerWilly Schmidt-Gentner was one of the most successful German composers of film music in the history of German-language cinema. He moved to Vienna in 1933...
) - Im weißen Rössl (Austria 1935, Carl Lamac)
- Opernring / Im Sonnenschein (Austria 1936, Carmine GalloneCarmine GalloneCarmine Gallone was an early acclaimed Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Considered one of Italian cinema's top early directors, he directed over 120 films in his fifty year career between 1913 and 1963.-Filmography:*Il bacio di Cirano *La donna nuda *Senza colpa! *Fior di...
) - Ernte / Die Julika (Austria 1936, Géza von BolváryGéza von BolváryGéza von Bolváry was a Hungarian actor, screenwriter and film director, who worked principally in Germany and Austria.- Biography :...
) - Prater / Der Weg des Herzens (Austria 1937, Willy Schmidt-Gentner)
- Unsterblicher Walzer (Germany/Austria 1939, E. W. Emo)
- Brüderlein fein (Germany/Austria 1941, Hans ThimigHans ThimigHans Emil Thimig, pseudonym: Hans Werner was an Austrian actor, film director and stage director.- Life :...
) - Frauen sind keine Engel (Germany/Austria 1943, Willi Forst)
- Shiva und die Galgenblume (Germany/Czechoslovakia 1945, Hans Georg Andres, Michaela Krützen)
- Der weite Weg / Schicksal in Ketten (Austria 1946, Eduard Hoesch)
- Der Herr Kanzleirat (Austria 1948, Hubert MarischkaHubert MarischkaHubert Marischka , brother of Ernst Marischka, was an Austrian operetta tenor, actor, film director and screenwriter.- Career :...
) - Arlberg-Expreß (Austria 1948, Eduard von BorsodyEduard von BorsodyEduard von Borsody was an Austrian cameraman, film editor, film director and screenplay writer.- Life :Eduard von Borsody began his film career as a cameraman...
) - Kaisermanöver (Austria 1954, Franz AntelFranz AntelFranz Antel was a veteran Austrian filmmaker.Born in Vienna, Antel worked mainly as a film producer in the interwar years. After World War II, he began writing and directing films on a large scale...
) - Skandal um Dodo (Austria 1958, Eduard von Borsody; Julius von Borsody's last film)