Lothar Mendes

Lothar Mendes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lothar Mendes (19 May 1894 – 25 February 1974) was a German-born screenwriter and film director. who began his career as an actor in Vienna and Berlin in Max Reinhardt's famous troupe. He went to America in the early 1920s and there he remained until 1933, directing more than a dozen features, mostly frothy comedies, while under contract to Paramount. His films included the last silent film made in America, The Four Feathers (1929) and the murder mystery Payment Deferred (1933) starring British expatriate Charles Laughton. After Hitler ascended to power, Mendes travelled to Britain in 1934 to work at Gaumont-British Pictures, directing films with Sir Michael Balcon producing. Under that banner, he directed Jew Süss (1934) starring one of Germany's most famous emigre actors, Conrad Veidt. Mendes' Jew Suss is not to be confused with the later Nazi film of the same title (1940) which is a Reich-made, virulently anti-Semitic film that deliberately contorted the exiled German-Jewish writer, Lion Feuchtwanger's original novel of the same name, on which Mendes' film was based. Mendes' 1934 film version of Feuchtwanger's novel received strong notices at the time, and was considered an important and early film in exposing the origins of the violent anti-semitism of the then-newly empowered Nazi Party; in particular, it was praised by Albert Einstein and the Jewish American leader, Rabbi Stephen Wise, who encouraged its distribution in America under the title Power, though the film itself did not attract an audience in Depression America. In 1936, Mendes directed his best-known film, the H.G. Wells short story, The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) starring Sir Ralph Richardson, for which Wells himself co-wrote the adaptation. His last British film was Moonlight Sonata aka The Charmer and starred the aging piano legend Paderewski as himself; it's notable for containing rare performance footage of the legendary pianist, then in exile from his native Nazi-occupied Poland. By 1941, Mendes had returned to Hollywood where he co-directed the pro-British International Squadron (1941), one of several films on the Eagle Squadron of American pilots who volunteered to fly in the Battle of Britain before the US entered the war. His last feature films were patriotic World War II fare with such stars as Rosalind Russell as a Navy reconnaissance pilot who must fly one more mission before getting married in Flight for Freedom (1943) and Edward G Robinson as a man who may or may not have married a spy in Tampico (1944). He retired from films in 1946, and the remaining decades of his life remain murky. "A competent, dependable director," comments film historian Larry Langman, "he never achieved the critical success in America that came to some of his compatriots."

  • Title : Lothar Mendes
  • Popularity : 1.822
  • Known For : Directing
  • Birthday : 1894-05-19
  • Place of Birth : Berlin, Germany
  • Homepage :
  • Also Known As :
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Lothar Mendes Movies

  • 1918
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    Typhoon

    Typhoon

    1 1918 HD

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  • 1931
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    Ladies' Man

    Ladies' Man

    4.3 1931 HD

    A society gigolo goes after a rich mother and her daughter, but tries to find true happiness with his girlfriend, who is neither rich nor in...

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  • 1932
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    Payment Deferred

    Payment Deferred

    5.9 1932 HD

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  • 1929
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    The Four Feathers

    The Four Feathers

    4.4 1929 HD

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  • 1946
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    The Walls Came Tumbling Down

    The Walls Came Tumbling Down

    5.857 1946 HD

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  • 1930
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    Paramount on Parade

    Paramount on Parade

    6.4 1930 HD

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  • 1933
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    Luxury Liner

    Luxury Liner

    6.3 1933 HD

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  • 1932
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    Strangers in Love

    Strangers in Love

    5.1 1932 HD

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  • 1943
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    Flight for Freedom

    Flight for Freedom

    5.2 1943 HD

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  • 1929
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    The Marriage Playground

    The Marriage Playground

    5.8 1929 HD

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  • 1929
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    Dangerous Curves

    Dangerous Curves

    5 1929 HD

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  • 1937
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    Moonlight Sonata

    Moonlight Sonata

    7 1937 HD

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  • 1928
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    Interference

    Interference

    8 1928 HD

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  • 1934
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    Jew Süss

    Jew Süss

    5 1934 HD

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  • 1931
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    Ladies' Man

    Ladies' Man

    4.3 1931 HD

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  • 1924
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    The Monk from Santarem

    The Monk from Santarem

    1 1924 HD

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  • 1944
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    Tampico

    Tampico

    5.5 1944 HD

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  • 1929
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    Illusion

    Illusion

    1 1929 HD

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  • 1936
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    The Man Who Could Work Miracles

    The Man Who Could Work Miracles

    5.685 1936 HD

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  • 1923
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    S.O.S. Die Insel der Tränen

    S.O.S. Die Insel der Tränen

    1 1923 HD

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  • 1942
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    Nazi Agent

    Nazi Agent

    6.6 1942 HD

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  • 1926
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    Liebe macht blind

    Liebe macht blind

    1 1926 HD

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  • 1941
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    International Squadron

    International Squadron

    5.5 1941 HD

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  • 1932
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    If I Had a Million

    If I Had a Million

    6.6 1932 HD

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  • 1926
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    Die drei Kuckucksuhren

    Die drei Kuckucksuhren

    1 1926 HD

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  • 1926
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    The Prince of Tempters

    The Prince of Tempters

    1 1926 HD

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  • 1928
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    A Night of Mystery

    A Night of Mystery

    1 1928 HD

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