Berthold Viertel

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Berthold Viertel (June 28, 1885 - September 24, 1953), born in Vienna, Austria was a screen writer and film director.

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[edit] Arrival in America

He was married to screenplay writer and actress Salka Viertel nee, Steuermann, from April 30, 1918, to December 20, 1947. The pair came to Los Angeles in 1928 planning to stay for just three years. Berthold wanted to gain experience working for the booming movie industry and the couple hoped earn enough to return to Europe. For four years, he worked for Fox Film Corporation, then Paramount Pictures, and Warner Brothers. With the uncertain political situation in Germany in 1932, the Viertels decided to stay in the United States with their children rather than return to an uncertain future in Europe. The Viertels house was an important gathering place for the émigré community. [1]

[edit] Personal Life

Previously, Berthold Viertel had been married to Grete Viertel, but they divorced in 1918. After his divorce from Salka in 1947, he married for a third time, this time to Elisabeth Newmann with whom he remained married until his death in 1953.

His marriage to Salka Viertel produced three sons: Hans, Peter and Thomas. Peter Viertel is a book and screenplay writer.

[edit] Further Reading

Christopher Isherwood's novel Prater Violet (1945) is a fictional portrayal of Isherwood and Viertel's time working together, as screenplay writer and director, respectively, for the British Gaumont movie Little Friend (1934)

[edit] Filmography

  • Rhodes of Africa (1936)
  • The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1935)
  • Little Friend (1934) starring Nova Pilbeam, screenplay by Christopher Isherwood
  • The Man from Yesterday (1932)
  • The Wiser Sex (1932)
  • The Magnificent Lie (1931)
  • Heilige Flamme, Die (1931)
  • The Spy (1931)
  • Man Trouble (1930)
  • Seven Faces (1929)
  • The One Woman Idea (1929)
  • Abenteuer eines Zehnmarkscheines, Die (1926)
  • Perücke, Die (1925)
  • Nora (1923)
  • Puppenheim, Ein (1922)

[edit] References

Irene Jansen. Berthold Viertel: Leben und künsterlerische Arbeit im Exil. New York: Peter Lang, 1992.

Salka Viertel. The Kindness of Strangers. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969.


[edit] External links

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