Born Today December 26: August Blom

1869-1947

Pioneering Danish film director August Blom was born on Boxing Day in Copenhagen; he began his acting career in 1893 on the stage in Kolding. He was working on the stage all the way up through 1910, the year that he directed his first film entitled The White Slave Trade (there is more than one film by this title from Denmark (and Nordisk) [variations on Den hvide slavehandel the first dating from 1907--so there has been some confusion as to which film was Blom's]).  Many sources cite The Storms of Life (1910) as his directing debut for Nordisk, but he was clearly directing for at least a short time before this film's release. He actually made his debut in film in 1909 as an actor in The Mystery Of The Museum a Nordisk short film of little import. In fact, Blom has a long list of acting credits before taking up directing.  From 1909 and through most of 1910, he was an actor for Nordisk with some 20 credits to his name, most of the films directed by mentor, and one of Sweden's earliest directors (himself also an actor), Viggo Larsen (one of the "Slave Trade" films mentioned above was his).  After he began directing, Blom basically quit acting, only directing himself in bit or cameo roles (such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde released in 1910).  There was initially nothing to distinguish Blom as a director, but what he lacked in directing talent with actual camera work, he made up for in the editing process and in the use of certain set pieces (he was particularly known for his use of mirrors on set to "expand" the size of the acting space).  The first real feature film that he directed was In The Hands of Imposters in 1911, clocking in at just over 45 minutes, the film is a sequel to his White Slave Trade, and it one of the films that gets mixed up in the whole confusion over the "slave trade" films in Danish film history.  While Blom was a successful maker of films in Denmark (and Europe), especially with the construction of a great number of movie houses both in the country and abroad on the continent, before 1913; it was his massive project that became Atlantis; the film, with it's massive runtime of 120 minutes, that Blom is remembered for.  Never mind that it appears to be a telling of the sinking of the Titanic only the year before (it was actually based on a book predating that disaster-though the sinking played a part in the film's story), or that stars the Danish "movie stars" of the day, or even that Michael Curtiz (as Mihály Kertész) was a assistant director and had a part in the film, or even that it sports a "freak" moment with an armless man for some reason; it is that the film was Denmark's first multi-reel film that made it the historical memory that it is.  The film was very expensive and did no where near the business to recoup the filming costs, but it eventually became the most watched, most popular film that Nordisk ever released; thus making it the most watched Danish film of it's time as well.  Blom continued to direct a large number of films in 1910's--working all through World War I.  During the war, Nordisk produced a couple of science fiction films that reflected the true fear and angst of the time that have become silent film classics; Blom for his part directed The End Of The World in 1916 (fellow Danish director Holger-Madsen directed A Trip To Mars two year later).  Blom's directing in 1920's, however, ebbed and stopped by mid way through the decade.  Blom directed just a handful of films from 1920 thru 1925, with a period between 1922 and 1925 when he didn't direct at all.  He instead decided to open his own movie theater in 1924  The last film that he directed was outside the production facilities of Nordisk; for (I believe) the first time in his career he was working for other Danish film companies. The film, Hendes naade, dragonen--a comedy--is barely remembered today.  His film making hey-days were definitely between 1910 and 1916, with many of his later films resigned to obscurity (there is also the problem of many of these Danish films having not survived in the first place--always a very sad fact concerning films from the age).  Blom then retired to run his theater--which he personally managed through the year of his death.  He passed away on the 10th of January, 1947 in the city of his birth at the age of 77.  There is no information as to where he is buried.

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Wikipedia (exceptionally well done entry, breaking down his work by year).

You can view or cast Atlantis from YouTube here.

Born Today December 3: Ludvig Holberg

1684-1754

Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was born on this date in Bergen Denmark-Norway (now exclusively part of Norway).  He was a playwright, philosopher, essayist and historian.  He studied theology at the University of Copenhagen and taught himself languages, history and law.  During this period, it was customary for law students to travel abroad for purposes of study; it was his travels that lead to an interest in writing.  Though he wrote prolifically in philosophy and history, it is his comedic plays that became of interest to the world of film (he was also a prodigious writer of satirical poetry).  The first film to make use of his work for a narrative production came in 1908 with Jeppe paa bjerget, a short Danish film produced by Nordisk Film.  One other film in the silent era made use of his plays for a screenplay:  Skomakarprinsen (1920), a feature length comedy produced in Sweden.   The latest film to use is work for a screenplay came in 2002, with a made for television film in Denmark, Jean de France. A lifelong bachelor, Holberg died in Copenhagen Denmark-Norway (now the capital of Denmark) on the 28th January 1754 at the age of 69.  He is interred in an elaborate crypt in Sorø klosterkirke (Church of Soroe Cloister) in Sjaelland, Denmark.  For more on his highly influential life, follow the link to Wikipedia below.  

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Born Today November 6: Jonas Lie

1833-1908

Norwegian writer Jonas Lauritz Idemil Lie was born on this date in Hokksund, in Øvre Elker, Norway. His father was in service, and at the age of five the elder Lie was appointed sheriff of Tromsø, which lies within the arctic circle. He most of his formative years were spent in this very remote region.  When older, he was sent to naval school, but his poor eyesight precluded him from serving in the Norwegian Navy.  He then transferred to attend Bergen Cathedral School; and in 1851, he entered the University of Christiania, where he was to make acquaintances with Bjørnstjeme Bjørnson and Henrik Ibsen.  He graduated in 1857 with a degree in law.  He took to the practice of law the following year in Kongsvinger, a border town next to Sweden.  As this was a fairly isolated community, clients where few and far between; in the spare time allotted to him by the circumstance, he then began to write for the local newspaper.  By 1866 he had complete a full volume of poetry, which ultimately was not a success.  After this, he devoted himself solely to journalism when it came to writing, and by 1870, he was writing tales based on his brand of naturalistic reporting.  In this year, he published The Visionary Pictures From Nordland, a tale filled with far north superstitions and notions of the sea.  This would set him on the course of becoming a full time writer.  By 1874 the Norwegian Parliament had granted him an artists salary; money that he used to travel to add to his natural observational style of writing.  He would go on to pen several long tales in the form of novels and a few volumes of short stories, some of which bordered on gothic in nature.  In the world of film, not much has been made of his work; in all there are just 3 well known documented motion pictures based on his writing.   The first, and the only in the silent era, came in 1912 with The Commodore's Daughter  based on one of his novels.  It was a Danish film and was produced by the famed Nordisk Films.  Two Norwegian films have be produced from his work, the latest of which is the short drama Troll  in 1991.  Long married to Henriette Thomasine Lie, the aunt of the Norwegian/American painter who also went by the name Jonas Lie, the elder Jonas Lie died on 5 July in Fleskum in Andvika, less than a year after losing his wife.  He was buried in the famed Stavern Kirkegård cemetery in Norway, along with his wife.

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Born Today February 3: Carl Theodore Dreyer

1889-1968

One the world's greatest writer/directors of all time was born illegitimate to a married Danish farmer and his Swedish housemaid employee, in Copenhagen, Denmark; Dreyer's birth father gave him up for adoption at birth.  He spent the first two years of his life in an orphanage and several foster homes--it's unclear what his name was; if he even really had one.  He was then adopted by one Carl Theodore Dreyer and wife, and named after his adopted father.  His childhood was unhappy, with his adopted parents constantly reminding him that he should grateful for anything they gave him, including and especially food; and in his own words from later in life, "...and that I strictly had no claim on anything, since my mother got out of paying by lying down to die."  He turned out to be an extremely intelligent young man, and left home and school when he was 16 years of age.  He managed to get work as a journalist; from there, he found work as a silent title card writer, and from there, a writer of screenplays.  His first film credit came as a writer in 1912 with Dødsridtet (The Leap To Death), a film with a crime plot, that he actually appeared in as "Balloon Skipper." [a role he would resprise in his The Hidden Message (1913)]  He wrote for a couple of Danish production companies, before being hired by Nordisk Film (one of the only silent film producers to survive into the modern age--they are still open!) in 1913.  The first film that he wrote for them was Chatollets hemmelighed.  His first direction credit comes at Nordisk in 1919, The President, based on a Karl Emil Franzos novel about infanticide, that Dreyer adapted for the screen himself.  The next film that he directed, The Parson's Widow (1920), a horror comedy, was a Swedish collaboration, produced by the Swedish production company, Svensk Filmindusrti (another company still in business), and, again adapted by Dreyer.  By the mid 1920's he was frustrated with his work in Denmark and Scandinavia, and left for the French film industry.  While there, he met many prominent members of the French artistic community, including:  Jean Hugo and Jean Cocteau.  It was in France that he finally made his great film break through in 1928 with La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc, which Dreyer penned with poet Joseph Delteil based on transcripts from the historical trial.  The film is considered one the great triumphs of the silent era and a top 100 film classic by many a critic.  This would be the last silent film that he wrote or directed.  The next film that he made came in 1932 with the horror masterpiece Vampyr, which he co-adapted from a novel by Sheridan La Fanu, with fellow Dane Christen Jul.  The film featured mono sound mix by (Tobis-Klangfilm), part of the production company for the film, Tobis-Filmkunst, a Danish company, to very sparse dialogue. For the most part, the film should be considered a partial silent film because of this.  Three versions were made, one in French, one in German and one in English.  The film was panned by critics and did not do well at the box office.  After this, he left for journalism again; by 1952 he was a cinema manager.   He would go to make several more experimental type films and many more short documentaries.  One film, Två människor (1945) was a complete box office failure.  Dreyer thoroughly disowned the film, and even later claimed that it never existed.  He tried his best to have copies of it destroyed; but despite this, the Swedish Film Institute preserved a copy and it has been remastered since.  Dreyer died on the 20th March 1968 in Copenhagen at the age of 79.  After his death the screenplay for a film that he had been planning to make about Jesus was published; this has been called the great unfinished project of his life.  He is buried in Frederiksberg Old Cemetery there.  His gravestone is adorned with his signature.

[Source: Wikimedia Commons]

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