Voting Station

William Dieterle

Please vote to return to collections.

Filmmaker

The Resume

    (July 15, 1893-December 9, 1972)
    Born in Ludwigshafen, German Empire
    Birth name was Wilhelm Dieterle
    German-American film/stage director & actor
    Appeared in close to 50 films, mostly German, before becoming a movie director
    Acted in 'Those Who Dance' (1930), 'The Way of All Men' (1930), 'Die heilige Flamme' ('The Holy Flames'; 1931), and 'Dämon des Meeres' (1931)
    Directed 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' 'Lucrezia Borgia,' 'The Devil and Daniel Webster,' 'The Story of Louis Pasteur,' 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' 'The Life of Emile Zola,' 'Juarez,' 'Satan Met a Lady,' 'Salome,' 'Turning Point,' 'Love Letters,' 'Portrait of Jennie,' 'I'll Be Seeing You,' and 'Elephant Walk'
    Known as 'the quintessential liberal director of the 30s'

Why he might be annoying:

    He was nicknamed 'the Iron Stove.'
    His last name is easy to mispronounce.
    He was the director of several dated Paul Muni 'bio-pics.'
    His career tanked in the mid-1950s, mainly due to the Hollywood Blacklist.
    His last film was a notorious Ginger Rogers flop, 'Quick! Let's Get Married,' in 1964.
    His trademark was a large fedora along with a pair of white gloves which he wore regularly on the sets of his movies.
    His film assignment, 'Elephant Walk,' was delayed for three months when the US State Department wouldn't allow him to travel to Ceylon, where the film was going to be shot.
    He tried to appeal to the Directors Guild Of America for directing credits in 'Duel in the Sun,' after King Vidor walked from the project, but they turned down his petition.
    He said of his 'Juarez' movie in a 1970s interview, 'it should be the biggest kind of picture right now- a big modern army worn down by guerrilla fighters. The parallel with Vietnam is so obvious.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was the youngest of nine children.
    He lived in poverty, working as a carpenter/scrap dealer when he was old enough to work.
    He was an actor turned director long before it was trendy.
    In his early German film days, he worked with legends Paul Leni, F.W. Murnau, Conrad Veidt, and Emil Jannings.
    He directed a young Marlene Dietrich in his maiden directorial effort in Germany; he was, himself, directed by a young Michael Curtiz in a film adaptation of 'Moby Dick.'
    He was a confidante of Max Reinhardt, and helped ease his transition from the theatrical stage, into Hollywood film.
    He might be the only person to have directed two film versions of Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' (1935; 1968).
    He directed the 1937 Best Picture winner, 'The Life of Emile Zola.'
    He directed Joseph Schildkraut ('Emile Zola') and Paul Muni ('Louis Pasteur') in Oscar-winning performances.
    Brian Aherne ('Juarez'), Walter Huston ('Daniel Webster'), and Jennifer Jones ('Love Letters') also garnered Oscar nominations under his guidance.
    His version of 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' served as more of a template for the popular Disney animated film than the actual book itself did (particularly with its emphasis on the plight of the Gypsies in Paris).
    His 'Hunchback' movie was the only film screened at the very first Cannes Film Festival, held on the eve of Adolf Hitler invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 (resulting in the remainder of the festival being cancelled).
    He and his wife had worked to help get people out of Nazi Germany, and helped many of them find work in the Hollywood (either in his films, or those of other directors).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying