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.
Wikipedia (exceptionally well done entry, breaking down his work by year).
You can view or cast Atlantis from YouTube here.
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