Charles Vidor

Director
Charles Vidor

About

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Birth Place
Budapest, HU
Born
July 27, 1900
Died
June 05, 1959
Cause of Death
Heart Attack

Biography

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Editor and assistant director with UFA who arrived in the US in 1924 and, after a stint with a Wagnerian opera company and in a Broadway chorus, left for Hollywood. Vidor made his directorial debut in 1931 with the self-financed short, "The Bridge," which landed him a contract with MGM. In 1932 he co-directed his first feature, "The Mask of Fu Manchu," one of the finest screen adaptation...

Filmography

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Song Without End (1960)
Director
A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Director
The Joker Is Wild (1957)
Director
The Swan (1956)
Director
Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
Director
Rhapsody (1954)
Director

Photos & Videos

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Gilda - Movie Poster
1 Photo
Love Me Or Leave Me (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Everybody Loves My Baby
The Swan - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
2 Photos
Love Me or Leave Me - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
23 Photos
Lady In Question, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) I'm One Of The Family

Family & Companions

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Karen Morley
Wife
Actor. Married in 1932; divorced in 1943.
Doris Warner LeRoy
Wife
Married in 1945; daughter of Harry Warner (of Warner Bros.); formerly married to Mervyn LeRoy.

Biography

Editor and assistant director with UFA who arrived in the US in 1924 and, after a stint with a Wagnerian opera company and in a Broadway chorus, left for Hollywood. Vidor made his directorial debut in 1931 with the self-financed short, "The Bridge," which landed him a contract with MGM. In 1932 he co-directed his first feature, "The Mask of Fu Manchu," one of the finest screen adaptations of the Sax Rohmer novels. Vidor was noted for his ability to impart a technical fluency to routine subjects; among the best of his prolific output were "Ladies in Retirement" (1941), "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955) and "The Joker Is Wild" (1957). Vidor was also responsible for the trailblazing psychological study, "Blind Alley" (1939), and the two Rita Hayworth vehicles that cemented her stardom: the arresting musical, "Cover Girl" (1944), and the steamy noir thriller, "Gilda" (1946).

Filmography

 

Director (Feature Film)

Song Without End (1960)
Director
A Farewell to Arms (1957)
Director
The Joker Is Wild (1957)
Director
The Swan (1956)
Director
Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
Director
Rhapsody (1954)
Director
Thunder in the East (1953)
Director
Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
Director
It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1952)
Seq [four] Director
Edge of Doom (1950)
Director of opening and closing seq
The Man from Colorado (1948)
Director
The Loves of Carmen (1948)
Director
The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947)
Director
Gilda (1946)
Director
Over 21 (1945)
Director
A Song to Remember (1945)
Director
Cover Girl (1944)
Director
Together Again (1944)
Director
The Desperadoes (1943)
Director
First Comes Courage (1943)
Director
The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942)
Director
They Dare Not Love (1941)
Fill-In Director
New York Town (1941)
Director
Ladies in Retirement (1941)
Director
My Son, My Son! (1940)
Director
The Lady in Question (1940)
Director
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
2nd Unit Director
Romance of the Redwoods (1939)
Director
Blind Alley (1939)
Director
Those High Grey Walls (1939)
Director
The Great Gambini (1937)
Director
She's No Lady (1937)
Director
A Doctor's Diary (1937)
Director
Muss 'Em Up (1936)
Director
His Family Tree (1935)
Director
The Arizonian (1935)
Director
Strangers All (1935)
Director
Double Door (1934)
Director
Sensation Hunters (1933)
Director
The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
Director

Writer (Feature Film)

Me and My Gal (1932)
Contract Writer
Good Sport (1931)
Contract Writer

Producer (Feature Film)

The Loves of Carmen (1948)
Producer

Production Companies (Feature Film)

The Joker Is Wild (1957)
Company

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

Going Hollywood: The War Years (1988)
Other
The Man Who Envied Women (1986)
Other

Life Events

1924

Moved to USA; sang with English Grand opera company; worked in Broadway chorus and as longshoreman

1931

Directed first independent short, "The Bridge"

1932

Joined MGM; directed first feature, "The Mask of Fu Manchu" (uncredited; co-directed with Charles Brabin)

1933

Directed first solo feature, "Sensation Hunters"

1939

Joined Columbia Pictures

1949

Quit Columbia after dispute with Harry Cohn; settled breach-of-contract suit out of court; returned to MGM

1956

Formed Aurora Productions

1959

Suffered heart attack in Vienna while filming "Magic Flame" (completed by George Cukor as "Song Without End")

Photo Collections

 
1 Photo
Gilda - Movie Poster
Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster from Gilda (1946), starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
2 Photos
The Swan - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are a few photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of The Swan (1956), starring Grace Kelly and Alec Guinness.
23 Photos
Love Me or Leave Me - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's Love Me or Leave Me (1955), starring James Cagney and Doris Day.

Videos

Movie Clip

Love Me Or Leave Me (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Everybody Loves My Baby Doris Day as Chicago torch-singer Ruth Etting performs Everybody Loves My Baby and Mean To Me, (Spencer Williams/Jack Palmer, Fred E. Alhert/Roy Turk), both of which became signature songs, her jealous sponsor Marty Snyder (James Cagney) watching, in the acclaimed bio-pic Love Me or Leave Me, 1955.
Lady In Question, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) I'm One Of The Family Acquitted murder suspect Natalie (Rita Hayworth) has belatedly accepted an offer of help from Parisian bike shop owner Morestan (Brian Aherne), who was on her jury, leading to her first day at work, where his wife (Irene Rich) and bedazzled son (Glenn Ford) don’t know the back-story, in The Lady In Question, 1940.
Lady In Question, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) This Is An Unusual Case Bouncy opening from director Charles Vidor, in the Columbia remake of the French director Marc Allegret’s comedy Griboulle (1937), introducing Glenn Ford as handsome amateur Paris astronomer Pierre, Evelyn Keyes his sister, Irene Rich his mother, George Davis a customer and top-billed Brian Aherne his father, in The Lady In Question, 1940, also starring Rita Hayworth.
Lady In Question, The (1940) -- (Movie Clip) He Threatened To Kill Me We know little about this case except that Brian Aherne, as Paris shop owner Morestan, is a very enthusiastic alternate juror, as Rita Hayworth appears as accused murderess Natalie, and Frank Reicher as the inquiring president of the court, in Columbia’s The Lady In Question, 1940, directed by Charles Vidor, also starring Glenn Ford.
Hans Christian Andersen (1952) -- (Movie Clip) The King's New Clothes The original tale by the titular hero is in fact the "Emperor's" new clothes, but the tune by Frank Loesser is about a king, delivered by the famous 19th century Danish author as played by Danny Kaye, early in Samuel Goldwyn's Hans Christian Andersen, 1952.
Hans Christian Andersen (1952) -- (Movie Clip) Ugly Duckling Mocked by his peers because the doctor's shaved his head, young Lars (Peter Votrian) is the lucky recipient of a tale from local (Danish) storyteller Hans (Danny Kaye), another Frank Loesser original written for Samuel Goldwyn's film, Hand Christian Andersen, 1952.
Cover Girl (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Put Me To The Test People forget Margarita Cansino (a.k.a Rita Hayworth, here as "Rusty) was a dancer first, with Gene Kelly (as "Danny"), to Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin's "Put Me To The Test," in Cover Girl, 1944.
Cover Girl (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Nice Teeth Maureen (Leslie Brooks), after her interview with fashion editor Cornelia (Eve Arden), gives a bum steer to modeling contest rival Rusty (Rita Hayworth) in Cover Girl, 1944, from Virginia Van Upp's screenplay.
Farewell To Arms, A (1957) -- (Movie Clip) We Tell A Story Grandeur and literary credentials, Charles Vidor directs and Rock Hudson narrates, roughly from the Hemingway novel, opening producer David O. Selznick’s 1957 production, co-starring Selznick’s wife, Jennifer Jones, Kurt Kasznar, Franco Interlenghi and Leopold Trieste introduced, in A Farewell To Arms.
Farewell To Arms, A (1957) -- (Movie Clip) We Die Anyway Vittorio De Sica as the almost-smarmy Rinaldi conducts his American ambulance driver friend Frederic (Rock Hudson), back at the base in the Italian Alps after leave, to meet the new English nurses, especially Miss Barkley (Jennifer Jones), in David O. Selznick’s production, from Hemingway, A Farewell To Arms, 1957.
Farewell To Arms, A (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Promise You'll Come Back Leaving their base (Charles Vidor directing on location, in the eastern Italian Alps near Venzone), ambulance driver Frederic (Rock Hudson) is desperate to see British nurse Catherine (Jennifer Jones) after their torrid one-night liaison, in the 1957 version of Hemingway’s A Farewell To Arms, produced by Jones’ husband, David Selznick.
Farewell To Arms, A (1957) -- (Movie Clip) I've Come Back To Catherine Something like fidelity to the Hemingway novel, via Laurence Stallings’ play and Ben Hecht’s script, of the second encounter between American WWI ambulance driver Frederic Henry (Rock Hudson) and Brit nurse Catherine (Jennifer Jones), who spoke earlier of her fianceè, killed in action, in A Farewell To Arms, 1957.

Trailer

Swan, The - (Original Trailer) On the eve of her marriage to a prince, a noblewoman falls for her brother's tutor in The Swan (1956) starring Grace Kelly.
Gilda - (Re-issue Trailer) A gambler (Glenn Ford) discovers an old flame (Rita Hayworth) in South America, but she's married to his new boss, in Gilda, 1946.
Farewell to Arms, A (1957) - (Original Trailer) A Farewell to Arms (1957), Ernest Hemingway's story of an affair between an English nurse an an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I.
Loves of Carmen, The - (Original Trailer) It's The Loves of Carmen (1948) without the opera but with Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford and beautiful Technicolor.
Joker Is Wild, The - (Original Trailer) The true story of comedian Joe E. Lewis (Frank Sinatra) who fights to rebuild his life after gangsters slash his vocal cords.
Tuttles of Tahiti, The - (Original Trailer) Charles Laughton heads The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942), a family in the South Seas that goes to any lengths to escape work.
Rhapsody - (Original Trailer) Elizabeth Taylor is a spoiled heiress with a thing for musicians in Rhapsody (1954).

Family

Michael Vidor
Son
Mother Karen Morley.
Quentin Vidor
Son
Mother, Doris Warner Leroy.
Brian Vidor
Son
Restaurateur. Mother, Doris Warner Leroy; married to Sara Munson; son Zubin LeRoy Vidor born in April 2001.

Companions

Karen Morley
Wife
Actor. Married in 1932; divorced in 1943.
Doris Warner LeRoy
Wife
Married in 1945; daughter of Harry Warner (of Warner Bros.); formerly married to Mervyn LeRoy.

Bibliography

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