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Zoltán Korda (3 June 1895 – 13 October 1961) was a Hungarian
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
-born motion picture screenwriter
Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scenarists are scriptwriters who write the screenplays from which films and television programs are made.Most screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation....
, director
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
 and producer
Film producer

A film producer is someone who creates the conditions for making film. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors....
.

Born Zoltán Kellner of Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
ish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó, Túrkeve
Túrkeve

T?rkeve is a town in J?sz-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary....
 in Hungary
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
 (Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Kaiserlich und k?niglich Monarchy was a state in Central Europe ruled by the House of Habsburg, constitutionally a personal union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary....
) and the was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander
Alexander Korda

Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born film director and film producer. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion, a film distributing company....
 and Vincent Korda
Vincent Korda

Vincent Korda was a Hungarian art director. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for another three in the category Academy Award for Best Art Direction....
.

Zoltán Korda went to work with his brother Alexander in their native Hungary and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 for his London Films
London Films

London Films is a United Kingdom film production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda and based at Denham Film Studios in Denham, Buckinghamshire, Buckinghamshire, England....
 production company. Initially Zoltán Korda functioned as a camera operator then for a time worked in film editing and as a screenwriter.






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Encyclopedia


Zoltán Korda (3 June 1895 – 13 October 1961) was a Hungarian
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
-born motion picture screenwriter
Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scenarists are scriptwriters who write the screenplays from which films and television programs are made.Most screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation....
, director
Film director

A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
 and producer
Film producer

A film producer is someone who creates the conditions for making film. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors....
.

Born Zoltán Kellner of Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
ish heritage in Pusztatúrpásztó, Túrkeve
Túrkeve

T?rkeve is a town in J?sz-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary....
 in Hungary
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
 (Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Kaiserlich und k?niglich Monarchy was a state in Central Europe ruled by the House of Habsburg, constitutionally a personal union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary....
) and the was the middle brother of filmmakers Alexander
Alexander Korda

Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born film director and film producer. He was a leading figure in the British film industry, the founder of London Films and the owner of British Lion, a film distributing company....
 and Vincent Korda
Vincent Korda

Vincent Korda was a Hungarian art director. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for another three in the category Academy Award for Best Art Direction....
.

Zoltán Korda went to work with his brother Alexander in their native Hungary and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 for his London Films
London Films

London Films is a United Kingdom film production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda and based at Denham Film Studios in Denham, Buckinghamshire, Buckinghamshire, England....
 production company. Initially Zoltán 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
Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system....
 shorts and a feature-length silent film in Germany in 1927. In London, he made his English-language directorial debut with the sound drama Men of Tomorrow
Men of Tomorrow (1932 film)

Men of Tomorrow is a United Kingdom dramatic film, released in 1932 in film. It was directed by Zoltan Korda and Leontine Sagan. It stars Maurice Braddell and Joan Gardner....
 (1932) then gained wide respect for the adventure film
Adventure film

Adventure Film is a film genre....
 Sanders of the River
Sanders of the River

Sanders of the River is a 1935 in film film directed by Zolt?n Korda, based on the stories of Edgar Wallace. It was later spoofed in the 1938 in film Will Hay film Old Bones of the River, which also featured the characters of Commissioner Sanders, Captain Hamilton and Bosambo seen in this film, but played by different actors....
 (1935), starring Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson

Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson was an American actor of film and stage, All-American and professional sportsperson, writer, multi-lingual orator, lawyer, and basso profondo concert singer who was also noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism....
 and Leslie Banks
Leslie Banks

Leslie Banks, Commander of the British Empire was an England theatre and film actor, Film director and Record producer.Born in West Derby, England, a suburb of Liverpool, he made his acting debut in 1911 in regional vaudeville before moving to London to appear at the "Vaudeville Theatre" in 191]....
. 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
Venice Film Festival

The Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the Lido di Venezia, Venice, Italy....
. Korda and Robert Flaherty won the Venice festival's "Best Director" award for Elephant Boy
Elephant Boy (film)

Elephant Boy is a Cinema of the United Kingdom directed by documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty, and produced by Alexander Korda, based on the story "Toomai, of the Elephants" from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, and starring Sabu Dastagir....
 (1937).

A former cavalry officer, Korda made a number of military action/adventure films, many of which were filmed in Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 or India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
. As someone with a social conscience, his film projects often reflected that perspective when dealing with the conquered indigenous peoples of the British Empire
British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
. Of his directorial efforts, 1939's The Four Feathers
The Four Feathers

The Four Feathers is a 1902 adventure novel by United Kingdom writer A.E.W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title....
 starring Sir Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson

Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
 is considered his greatest cinematic accomplishment. Of lasting significance, the film was nominated for the Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or

The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee....
 at the 1939 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes Film Festival , founded in 1946, is one of the world's oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals alongside Venice Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival....
 and was presented again by the Festival committee in 2002 in retrospective.

In 1940, Zoltán Korda joined brother Alexander in Hollywood. Working through United Artists
United Artists

United Artists Entertainment LLC is an United States film studio. The current United Artists was formed in November 2006 under a partnership between producer/actor Tom Cruise and his production partner, Paula Wagner, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., an MGM company....
, he served as executive producer of Alexander Korda's masterpiece, The Thief of Bagdad
The Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)

The Thief of Bagdad is a British 1940 in film fantasy film directed by Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell and Tim Whelan, with uncredited contributions by Alexander Korda, his brother Zoltan Korda and William Cameron Menzies....
. Zoltán Korda spent the rest of his life in southern California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, making another seven films including the acclaimed 1943 World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 drama, Sahara (1943), for which he wrote the screenplay and which starred Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an United_States_of_America actor and cultural icon. In 1997, Entertainment Weekly magazine named him the number one movie legend of all time....
, and A Woman's Vengeance
A Woman's Vengeance

A Woman's Vengeance is a film directed by Zolt?n Korda, with a screenplay by Aldous Huxley based on his short story "The Gioconda Smile", and starring Charles Boyer, Ann Blyth, Jessica Tandy, Cedric Hardwicke, Rachel Kempson, and Mildred Natwick....
 (1947) with Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer was a four-time Academy Award-nominated France-born actor. Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in European and Hollywood movies during the 1930s, and continued to act in films, television and theatre over the next several decades....
 and Jessica Tandy
Jessica Tandy

Jessie Alice "Jessica" Tandy was a United Kingdom-United States stage and film actress....
.

Zoltán was married to Joan Gardner (1930 - 13 October 1961) till his death and had a son David.

Poor health, brought on years earlier from a battle with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
, forced Zoltán Korda's retirement in 1955. He died in 1961 in Hollywood after a lengthy illness and was interred there in the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery
Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californiadistrict of Los Angeles, California....
.

Filmography (Director)

  • Men of Tomorrow
    Men of Tomorrow (1932 film)

    Men of Tomorrow is a United Kingdom dramatic film, released in 1932 in film. It was directed by Zoltan Korda and Leontine Sagan. It stars Maurice Braddell and Joan Gardner....
     (1932)
  • Sanders of the River
    Sanders of the River

    Sanders of the River is a 1935 in film film directed by Zolt?n Korda, based on the stories of Edgar Wallace. It was later spoofed in the 1938 in film Will Hay film Old Bones of the River, which also featured the characters of Commissioner Sanders, Captain Hamilton and Bosambo seen in this film, but played by different actors....
     (1935)
  • Elephant Boy
    Elephant Boy (film)

    Elephant Boy is a Cinema of the United Kingdom directed by documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty, and produced by Alexander Korda, based on the story "Toomai, of the Elephants" from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, and starring Sabu Dastagir....
     (1937)
  • The Drum
    The Drum (1938 film)

    The Drum is a 1938 in film film from the book by A. E. W. Mason. The film was directed by Zoltan Korda and produced by Alexander Korda. It starred Sabu Dastagir, Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey, and Valerie Hobson....
     (1938)
  • The Four Feathers
    The Four Feathers

    The Four Feathers is a 1902 adventure novel by United Kingdom writer A.E.W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title....
     (1939)
  • Jungle Book
    Jungle Book (1942 film)

    Jungle Book is an United States color 1942 in film action/adventure film based on the Rudyard Kipling novel, The Jungle Book. The film was directed by Zolt?n Korda based on a screeplay adaptation by Laurence Stallings....
     (1942)
  • Sahara (1943)
  • Counter-Attack
    Counter-Attack

    Counter-Attack is a 1945 in film war film starring Paul Muni and Marguerite Chapman as two Russians trapped in a collapsed building with seven enemy German soldiers....
     (1945)
  • A Woman's Vengeance
    A Woman's Vengeance

    A Woman's Vengeance is a film directed by Zolt?n Korda, with a screenplay by Aldous Huxley based on his short story "The Gioconda Smile", and starring Charles Boyer, Ann Blyth, Jessica Tandy, Cedric Hardwicke, Rachel Kempson, and Mildred Natwick....
     (1947)
  • The Macomber Affair
    The Macomber Affair

    The Macomber Affair is a 1947 in film adventure film distributed by United Artists, directed by Zoltan Korda, and starring by Gregory Peck and Joan Bennett and Robert Preston ....
     (1947)
  • Cry, the Beloved Country
    Cry, the Beloved Country (1951 film)

    Cry, the Beloved Country is a 1951 in film drama film directed by Zoltan Korda. Based on the Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton, it stars Canada Lee and Charles Carson....
     (1951)
  • Storm over the Nile
    Storm Over the Nile

    Storm Over the Nile is a 1955 in film film adaptation of the novel The Four Feathers, directed by Terence Young. The film not only extensively used footage from the The Four Feathers of the book, but the exact same screenplay, almost line-for-line....
     (1955)


Footnotes


External links