Zoltan Korda

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Zoltan Korda 3 June 1895 13 October 1961 was a Hungarianborn motion picture screenwriter director and producer Born Zoltán Kellner Kellner Zoltán in Hungarian name order of Jewish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó Túrkeve in Hungary AustriaHungary he was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander and Vincent Korda Zoltan Korda went to work with his brother Alexander in their native Hungary and in the United Kingdom for his London Films production company Initially Zoltan Korda functioned as a camera operator then for a time worked in film editing and as a screenwriter In 1918 and 1920 in Hungary he directed two silent film shorts and a featurelength silent film in Germany in 1927 In London he made his Englishlanguage directorial debut with the sound drama Men of Tomorrow 1932 then gained wide respect for the adventure film Sanders of the River 1935 starring Paul Robeson and Leslie Banks The film proved a significant commercial and critical success giving Korda the first of his four nominations for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival Korda and Robert Flaherty won the Venice festivals Best Director award for Elephant Boy 1937 A former cavalry officer Korda made a number of military actionadventure films many of which were filmed in Africa or India As someone with a social conscience his film projects often reflected that perspective when dealing with the indigenous peoples of the British Empire Of his directorial efforts 1939s The Four Feathers starring Sir Ralph Richardson is considered his greatest cinematic accomplishment Of lasting significance the film was nominated for the Palme dOr at the 1939 Cannes Film Festival and was presented again by the Festival committee in 2002 in retrospective In 1940 Zoltan Korda joined brother Alexander in Hollywood Working through United Artists he served as executive producer of The Thief of Bagdad Zoltan Korda spent the rest of his life in southern California making another seven films including the acclaimed 1943 World War II drama Sahara 1943 for which he wrote the screenplay and which starred Humphrey Bogart and A Womans Vengeance 1947 with Charles Boyer and Jessica Tandy Korda was married to Joan Gardner 1930 13 October 1961 till his death and had a son David The entire familys colorful history is the subject of a book by Zoltans nephew Michael Korda Charmed Lives Poor health brought on years earlier from a battle with tuberculosis forced Zoltan Kordas retirement in 1955 He died in 1961 in Hollywood after a lengthy illness and was interred there in the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery Description above from the Wikipedia article Zoltan Korda licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia