Anatole Litvak

Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak OBE (3 June 1902 – 15 December 1974), commonly known as Anatole Litvak, was a Ukrainian-American filmmaker. Born to Jewish parents in Kiev, he began his theatrical training at age 13 in St. Petersburg, where he lived through the end of the Russian Revolution. He began his film directing career in Germany and France, before moving to the United States in the late 1930s. Litvak was notable for directing little-known foreign actors to early fame and is believed to have contributed to several actors winning Academy Awards. In 1936 he directed Mayerling, a film which made French actors Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux international stars. He returned Swedish star Ingrid Bergman to popularity with American audiences in 1956 with Anastasia, in which she won her second Oscar. He directed Olivia de Havilland to an Academy Award nomination for The Snake Pit (1948). He directed Jean Gabin in his screen debut and directed Elia Kazan in his earliest acting role, City for Conquest. Litvak directed Confessions of a Nazi Spy in 1939, starring Edward G. Robinson, which used actual newsreel footage from U.S. Nazi rallies. As a refugee from Nazi Germany, Litvak was among the few directors who tried to open Hollywood's eyes to the threat Germany posed to Europe and the world. During World War II, he enlisted and co-directed documentaries with Frank Capra, including Why We Fight films. On his own he directed The Battle of Russia (1943), which won numerous awards and was nominated for an Oscar. Because of Litvak's ability to speak Yiddish, Ukrainian, Russian, English, German, and French, he supervised the filming of the D-Day Normandy landings. He also filmed aerial warfare with the U.S. Eighth Air Force. He was promoted to full colonel by the end of the war for his volunteer wartime efforts. He received special awards from the governments of France, Britain, and the United States.