Österreichische Filmschaffende im britischen Exil ab 1933

Abstract

This dissertation starts from the premise that the legacy of Austrian film exiles in the British film industry from 1933 through to the end of World War II and beyond has been largely neglected. Their contribution to production methods, to professional training and to technological development has often been ignored. In fact, Britain can be considered the country benefiting most from diaspora of Continental film personnel. The dissertation explores in what way the influence of exiles can be appropriately assessed. The fact that the number of émigrés in the British film industry increased dramatically after 1933 does not necessarily entail that their actual influence increased accordingly. Influence can be assessed at the level of reception, in other words what films, stars and directors attained the greatest number of audiences and/or critical attention, and at the level of production, including specific studio practices. As far as the ‘influence’ on narrative content and visual style is concerned, only a thorough analysis of individual cases and a study of production practices can establish how far ‘authorial’ control among émigrés actually extended. Consequently, it is necessary to turn to a number of specific case studies to explore and dissect the role of Austrian exiles: Paul L. Stein (director), Robert Neumann (author and screenwriter), Wolf Suschitzky (director of photography), Carl Esmond (actor), Peter Lorre (actor), and Rudolf Cartier (director and producer). In analysing their contribution to British film, this dissertation sets out to problematise the often-made assumption that their ‘cultural baggage’ and/or professional training in German film enabled them to successfully employ these experiences in the UK.

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