Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Discussion of the actors, directors and film-makers who 'made it all happen'
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moira finnie
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Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by moira finnie »

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Libertine's animated avatar of actor Francis Lederer reminded me that several of our members admire the work of this Czech-born actor, beginning with one of his first notable appearances on film as one of the many men ruined by Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1929-G.W. Pabst) as Franz Lederer. Do you have a favorite Francis Lederer film?
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Franz Lederer in Pandora's Box (1929).

My current fave would be his portrayal of an Icelandic native in Man of Two Worlds (1934), one of his first American movies, though Romance in Manhattan (1935) with Ginger Rogers was also quite charming, as is his roguish gigolo in Midnight (1939)--though his best American movies may be two that dealt with the rise of Nazism.
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Lederer in Man of Two Worlds (1934). Okay, it's not the ideal Francis Lederer film, but he gave it all he had.

The first is the well-made docu-drama Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), in which Lederer portrays a man whose intense desire to be perceived as powerful exceeds his intelligence. The other film that is seemingly now forgotten, but allows the actor to display charm as well as menace was The Man I Married (1940), about an American woman (Joan Bennett) whose union with her German-born husband (Lederer) unravels after returning to the Fatherland with him.
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Lederer with Joan Bennett and Lloyd Nolan in The Man I Married (1940).

I would love to see more of his German language films. Here's a clip from Wunderbare Lüge der Nine Petrowna (1929-Hanns Schwarz) with Lederer and Brigitte Helm in a film that is mentioned as a masterpiece of German Expressionism. Has anyone seen this?
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Barry Paris interviewed Lederer when he was writing his book on Louise Brooks, his memories of Pandora's Box were a blur (he was 80) but he remembered Louise distinctly, neither of them spoke the other's language and there was a lot of longing looks according to Lederer, they left the filming on the same train to take seperate films parts in Paris. They never saw one another again but Lederer was still calling her Miss Brooks when he was interviewed by Paris.

I simply love Pandora's Box and Lederer in it, his beauty matches that of Louise and his acting in this part is splendid, I always felt it was a shame that he didn't have a bigger career in Hollywood. It seems there are a few of his movies out there that I haven't yet seen which I'll be keeping my eyes open for.
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by feaito »

Hi Moira, good idea for a thread! I've seen both "Pandora's Box" and "Nina Petrowna" (both 1929) and they are among the best films I have ever seen, which were released when Silent Cinema had already reached its nadir and maturity as an art form.

This what I wrote of them when I saw them:
Thanks to Christine yesterday I watched "The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna" (Die wunderbare Lüge der Nina Petrowna, 1929) and was completely blown away by its beauty and Brigitte Helm's performance. All the time I was watching this wonderful Silent I was thinking: Garbo, Garbo! Helm's sensitive, heart-felt, human performance reminded me of the best I've seen of Garbo in Silent films and also I realized -yet once again- that during this time 1928-1929 Silent film -and its language- had reached its complete maturity and its pinnacle as an art form.

The intertitles are in French but it did not matter much, because the film's visuals are much more important than the dialogue (of which I understood 80% which is good, not being fluent in French) and in this sense I also recalled "A Cottage on Dartmoor" (1929), the film with the fewest amount of intertitles ever -which for me is perfect, because when a director can tell a story in a Silent film without much use of intertitles is because he's very talented indeed.

The story is set in Russia before the Revolution and Nina is a Colonel's (Warwick Ward) mistress who falls for a younger officer (Franz -Francis- Lederer). The sets are beautiful. The clothes worn by Helm are incredible (Renée Hubert was responsible for them); the wonderful pacing and unfolding of the story of the film, especially the depiction of how Helm and Lederer (playing a naïve man) fall in love is so subtly, delicately and elegantly done. Wonderful.
I watched Pabst's "Pandora's Box" (1929) and I enjoyed it very much. The version I saw was the 133 minutes German restored version. I love Louise Brooks, she totally bewitches me. She has such a strong presence and is so attractive, appealing, sexy in a kittenish way, so playful, pretty, with a contemporary, even more, a-temporal, timeless quality. The film is very sordid and quite bold, but nevertheless fascinating. There are many characters that are utterly despicable (Lulu's father for instance -Carlo Goetz does a fantastic job). I did not know that Francis Lederer was in it. It was big surprise to see him. Fritz Kortner as Lulu's lover and later husband, is also impressive. The scene with Louise Brooks and Gustav Diessl -playing Jack the Ripper- is so sweet, in spite of the tragedy that's going to happen...two lost souls meet and they can't help tob what they are... The movie is very allegorical and has many images that keep lingering in your mind. A great film. Louise Brooks deserves to be an icon just for her presence in this photoplay.
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by feaito »

I have also seen him in Wyler's "The Gay Deception" (1935), a little gem of a film, as a prince masquerading as a bellboy; Mitchell Leisen's 100% masterful "Midnight" (1939) as a gigolo and as the German who marries American Joan Bennett in "The Man I Married" (1940), and who later becomes a Nazi supporter. Also in this last film, appears beautiful Anna Sten as a staunch Nazi (very good performance as an unpleasant character, the opposite of the of the sympathetic type she played in "So Ends Our Night" (1941).


In all these films Mr. Lederer comes across as a talented and sensitive actor, so I'd also like to watch more of his films.
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by Ann Harding »

My favourite Lederer is certainly The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna. It's a masterpiece. I also saw Lederer in a French silent by Duvivier called Maman Colibri (1929). You can watch it online on the European Film Treasures website. It's a reduced version (75 min instead of 105 min), but having seen the longer version, it's probably preferable.
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by Libertine »

Thanks for opening this thread! :D

I love him. Such a charming man and talented actor. But, yes, I am honest, his charm was what caught me first, his talent I recognized the more I have seen with him. :oops:

My favorite films of his are Romance in Manhattan, One Rainy Afternoon, Midnight and The Gay Deception, but his best performance was in The Man I Married. He made me hate him. Great! When someone you "love" makes you hate him, then it means he's quite talented. ;) But, no seriously, his performance was really very, very good. I wonder about Man of Two Worlds. I haven't seen it yet. Quite difficult to get.

Something else I noticed immediately when I spotted him in Midnight was his voice, and the way he spoke. This wonderful accent spoken in such a melodic way. Let me tell you when I heard him in German I was :shock: . The whole melody was gone. He sounded much harder... yeah, German is a harder sounding language.. but still.

Anyway, it's difficult to find out more about him. There is no book available, despite a little 64 pages thing, which for sure is mainly about his movies. I am not sure if I'll get it or not. Yet, seems he did teach acting for almost his whole life after he quit in the movies.

I also read that Thalberg had planned to really make a star out of him, but because Thalberg did die, this didn't happen. Now, of course no one knows if his career would have been different if Thalberg wouldn't have died, but knowing how much influence T. had.. it's quite possible.
Ann Harding wrote:My favourite Lederer is certainly The Wonderful Lies of Nina Petrovna. It's a masterpiece. I also saw Lederer in a French silent by Duvivier called Maman Colibri (1929). You can watch it online on the European Film Treasures website. It's a reduced version (75 min instead of 105 min), but having seen the longer version, it's probably preferable.
OMG, Mama Colibri! Thank you so much for the link! BTW, where do you get to see all these movies? In the Cinémathèque française? You're very lucky!
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by Ann Harding »

I saw Maman Colibri during a Duvivier retrospective at the Cinémathèque. Nina Petrowna was broadcast on Arte TV. :wink:

The Maman Colibri print online is very good. Here is a close-up of the juvenile Franz:
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by Libertine »

Nah, Ann H. I envy you for being able to visit the Cin. Francaise.. but then, I wouldn't understand a word anyway.

I hope I could save the movie somehow to my hard disk. :(
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by moira finnie »

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One of the least well known of William Wyler's '30s films, The Gay Deception (1935) with Lederer and Frances Dee is now on youtube. Funny, I've worked in offices and I never seem to meet any royalty in disguise. Maybe I can get tips from watching how Frances found one. It could only happen in '30s Hollywood!
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Here's what Fernando (feaito) wrote about this movie on our site back in 2007:
Today I watched a disarmingly charming little gem of a film: "The Gay Deception", directed by my favorite director William Wyler. Frances Dee plays a poor stenographer who enters a sweepstakes, wins US$ 5.000 (the first prize), after which she's determined to live in a big way as long as her money lasts. She arrives at a fancy NY Hotel and meets a devil-may-care prince maskerading as a bellboy, charmingly played by Francis Lederer. The chemistry between the two leads is excellent and although the plot is a mild frou-frou, Cinderella-type of story, it's played with uttermost sincerity and naturalness by the two leads, thanks to a deft direction by master Wyler. Excellent supporting players: Ferdinand Gottschalk, Benita Hume, Alan Mowbray, Lennox Pawle, Lionel Stander, Robert Greig, Paul Hurst and Akim Tamiroff, make a perfect, round movie. Loved it.

It's the second time I've seen mister Lederer on screen -the first time was in that masterpiece titled "Midnight", in which he played a very different role, an annoying gigolo-type- and I'd like to see more of him, especially his earlier films like "One Rainy Afternoon". Frances Dee's talent and charm deserves to be widely re-discovered and properly recognized.

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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by moira finnie »

Our former guest star, Film Noir Foundation exec and author, Alan K. Rode (moxie), wrote an excellent piece on his blog last year musing on Francis Lederer's lingering presence in Southern California. The blog post is linked below. Enjoy!

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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by JackFavell »

Oh thank you Moira! I'm a big fan!

Lederer is one of my favorite unjustly neglected actors. He is surprisingly overlooked, and I cannot figure out why, except that he is so good without letting you see the workings of it. He just fits into whatever milieu he is supposed to be in. He is what is needed, but far far more, above and beyond what you would expect.

My favorites are

Pandora's Box - I came away from this movie more in awe of Lederer's talent as an actor than aware of Louise Brooks. He was so deep inside the role, and heartbeaking, he totally made the movie for me. sorry, Louise Brooks fans.

Midnight - I am very, very fond of Lederer's rueful consort in this movie. This is a film in which the cast is so very good that it lifts the great script and good direction up to the heavens into a more than great film. Lederer's role is deceptively simple, along the lines of an Alexander D'Arcy (another fine actor who didn't get good enough roles) kept man, but Lederer shows us so much - one can't help thinking that had he won Colbert, it would have been the making of him. His shrug at the end is very bittersweet to me. I am just glad he got to do a little of what he is so good at in this movie.

Confessions of a Nazi Spy - Moira put this so well, I can't add to it.

Man of Two Worlds
- I thought this movie was a bit thick, but Lederer really does throw everything he has into the role, as usual. His bewildered innocence makes you want to yell out at the other characters not to destroy it.

I think I've seen Maman Calibri before, but have to go and double check.

I've seen one clip from Nina Petrowna, and desperately must see it somehow. It looks superb, and I only saw one minute from the film.

Waiting for me here on disc are Romance in Manhattan, and Return of Dracula. I know, I know! But I'm told the Dracula is worth watching. I;m sure he'll be good. :D
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by JackFavell »

I found Die Wunderbare Luge der Nina Petrowna on youtube -

not ideal to watch this way, but the Russian-posted print here looks very, very good and has French and German titles. I have no idea if this is the full length version or not. There is also a 99 minute youtube version from a VHS tape that was not so great looking... anyway, for anyone curious about this movie here is the first part:

[youtube][/youtube]


Can someone tell me what happened to Hanns Schwarz? He does not make any movies after 1934, except for one 1937 film, then disappears completely.
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

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JackFavell wrote:Can someone tell me what happened to Hanns Schwarz? He does not make any movies after 1934, except for one 1937 film, then disappears completely.
Perhaps Libertine has access to more German language resources which reveal more about what he went through, but I was only able to find a bit in a biography of Erich Pommer, the filmmaker, and some information from newspaper archives.

It appears that the director made it out of Germany in the nick of time. Hanns Schwarz, who was sometimes compared to Lubitsch by his contemporary critics, was forced to leave Germany with the establishment of the Reich since he was Jewish. It was particularly sad that this occurred right at the time when he was establishing himself as a preeminent director of musicals and an innovator with sound at UFA. Working in France for a time, it was difficult for him to gain a foothold, as it had been for Fritz Lang and others. Schwarz was in America in 1934 where he was stricken with appendicitis while filming the Fox movie, "The Lottery Lover" with Pat Paterson and Lew Ayres. He made his last film in Britain, The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937)--haven't seen it in years, but James Mason's character is all I can remember about it. You can see the movie here on the Internet Archive. Eventually, he made his way to California where fellow émigré Erich Pommer wrote the following in a letter to friends in January, 1941:
"Now the so-called "European Colony"...Frederick Holland is now with Warner Brothers, Franz Waxman still very successful with M.G.M. Joe May and especially Hanns Schwarz are in very bad shape. Both haven't worked for practically over one year. The "European Colony" is growing daily by continuous arrivals of directors, actors and writers who used to work in France until the collapse. A lot is done for them by the various film funds and charity organizations and you can imagine that you see here now more misery than ever before..."
He was only 57 when he died in California in 1945, though I cannot find a cause of death.
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by JackFavell »

Oh, that is terrible!

You always hear about the ones who succeeded in getting out of Germany, and then succeeded (more or less) in Hollywood. I've read quite a bit about those who died under the Nazi regime. I know that members of my own family were in Germany at the time, and were killed because they were Jewish. Somehow, watching this movie, and then so quickly afterwards hearing about Hanns Schwarz' difficulties brings it all home to me as if it were happening right now. I hate the fact that Schwarz, whose fluid camera movements were charming me moments ago, was basically a delayed casualty of Hitler and the hate he inspired. It is such an awful waste of a brilliant talent.
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Re: Francis Lederer (1899-2000)

Post by moira finnie »

I am so sorry about your family's experiences, Wendy. I know what you mean about "the delayed casualties" of the Holocaust. When I was in college, there was an ongoing project through the psychology and history depts. that I was peripherally involved with. The project recorded the experiences and attitudes of the children of wartime survivors and--when possible--the memories of the parents who lived through this evil. Unfortunately, in many instances, the parents couldn't or wouldn't discuss this chapter in their lives. The emotional cost would have been too high for them. Their lives, achievements and children were their living response to that hate they'd endured and defeated--which, of course, placed more pressure on the kids than they could sometimes handle. Interestingly, when I was working in the finance office in a nursing home in the last five years, I encountered several Holocaust survivors who were now elderly. In some instances, some of them were now reliving and talking openly about their wartime experiences; challenging the staff to help them cope with the overwhelming memories that were now tumbling out of these incredibly disciplined people as they finally let their guard down.

I am fascinated by the strength and talent that those who left Germany brought to America in every field imaginable. I just wish more people could have escaped to this country. I can't imagine what it would be like in the midst of life to uproot yourselves and leave your home and everything you know and love behind--and those were the lucky ones.

Have you ever read City of Nets by Otto Friedrich? It is a social history of Los Angeles in the '40s and includes a considerable amount of information about what people from Nazi-dominated Europe endured and how some of them prospered in Hollywood--though there was almost always a wistfulness and understandable anxiety underlying their relative material comfort. And that's not even mentioning the wildly different life styles and values of the Hollywood crowd and the newly arrived artists, writers, and others.

I'll keep looking for more info about Hanns Schwarz. I have to unearth my copy of actress and author Salka Viertel's memoir, The Kindness of Strangers, which is chock full of references to her fellow Europeans in Southern California. I am hoping we can find more out in that book.

Thanks for finding that good clip of Die Wunderbare Luge der Nina Petrowna. There seem to be many clips of that movie on youtube, though this one looks better than most.
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