Ewald André Dupont(1891-1956)
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
German film director E.A. Dupont was an influential critic and newspaper
columnist before breaking into the film industry. He wrote several
screenplays and worked as a story editor for
Richard Oswald before turning to
directing in 1917. Over the next eight years Dupont became a respected
exponent of the German expressionist movement. He was particularly
acclaimed for his film Variety (1925),
which stood out for brilliant lighting effects and fluid camera work.
Encouraged by his success, Dupont left Decla-Bioskop and joined
Universal in Hollywood, but only completed one film. Crossing the
Atlantic again, he signed with British National Pictures in 1928. He
briefly became their leading director, again demonstrating his visual
flair with two prestige productions:
Moulin Rouge (1928) and
Piccadilly (1929). The latter was
BIP's most expensively made picture up to this time.
After the advent of sound Dupont's career began to falter. His first "talkie", the "Titanic" story Atlantic (1929)-- shot in both English and French-- was an expensive flop, due mainly to poor dialogue and stilted performances. His next two ventures, respectively in France and Germany, had an even worse critical reception. Dupont next tried his luck in Hollywood. After 1933 he worked at different times for Universal, Paramount and Warner Brothers. Critical success proved elusive, as almost all of his assignments were low-budget second features. After being fired from the set of Hell's Kitchen (1939) for slapping a junior member of the cast who had mocked his accent, Dupont spent most of the 1940s in Hollywood as a talent agent and publicist. He eventually resumed his directing career with an offbeat minor film noir, The Scarf (1951), and a watchable precursor to The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Steel Lady (1953). Among his last films was the notorious sci-fi stinker The Neanderthal Man (1953). He died of cancer in December 1956.
After the advent of sound Dupont's career began to falter. His first "talkie", the "Titanic" story Atlantic (1929)-- shot in both English and French-- was an expensive flop, due mainly to poor dialogue and stilted performances. His next two ventures, respectively in France and Germany, had an even worse critical reception. Dupont next tried his luck in Hollywood. After 1933 he worked at different times for Universal, Paramount and Warner Brothers. Critical success proved elusive, as almost all of his assignments were low-budget second features. After being fired from the set of Hell's Kitchen (1939) for slapping a junior member of the cast who had mocked his accent, Dupont spent most of the 1940s in Hollywood as a talent agent and publicist. He eventually resumed his directing career with an offbeat minor film noir, The Scarf (1951), and a watchable precursor to The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Steel Lady (1953). Among his last films was the notorious sci-fi stinker The Neanderthal Man (1953). He died of cancer in December 1956.
