Max Ophüls

Lore & Background

Ophüls was born Maximillian Oppenheimer in Saarbrücken, the son of a Jewish textile manufacturer. He took the pseudonym Ophüls during his early theatrical career so that, should he fail, it would not embarrass his father. He began as a stage actor in 1919, later becoming a theater director and creative director of the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1926. After 200 plays, he turned to film in 1929 as a dialogue director at UFA in Berlin, directing his first film in 1931.

Predicting the Nazi ascendancy, Ophüls, a Jew, fled to France in 1933 after the Reichstag fire and became a French citizen in 1938. After France fell, he traveled through Switzerland and Italy before leaving for the United States in 1941. In Hollywood, championed by director Preston Sturges, he directed several films, including Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) and The Reckless Moment (1949). He returned to France in 1950, where he directed La Ronde (1950), Le Plaisir (1952), The Earrings of Madame de… (1953), and Lola Montès (1955).

Ophüls married actress Hildegard Wall in 1926; their son Marcel Ophüls became a prominent documentarian. Ophüls died from rheumatic heart disease on 26 March 1957 in Hamburg while shooting interiors on Montparnasse 19, a biopic of Amedeo Modigliani, and was buried in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Reader's Guide

Max Ophüls is significant for his distinctive cinematic style, characterized by smooth camera movements, complex crane and dolly sweeps, and tracking shots. His work inspired directors such as Stanley Kubrick, who admired his fluid camera techniques. Ophüls' films often feature female protagonists with names beginning with 'L' and are narrated from the woman's point of view, leading scholars to analyze works like Liebelei (1933), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), and Madame de… (1953) as examples of the woman's film genre. The Harvard Film Archive called him 'a supreme stylist of the cinema and a master storyteller.' His legacy includes the annual Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken, named after him. Actor James Mason, who worked with Ophüls, wrote a poem about the director's love for tracking shots, noting that a shot without tracks was 'agony for poor dear Max.'

Did You Know?

• Ophüls took his pseudonym so that, should he fail as an actor, it would not embarrass his father.
• He directed nearly 30 films, with later works including Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) and La Ronde (1950).
• His son Marcel Ophüls became a prominent documentarian, directing The Sorrow and the Pity.
• Actor James Mason wrote a poem about Ophüls' love for tracking shots and elaborate camera movements.