Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

After that, Dorothy and her children returned from Miami to Circleville, where she remarried Dick Jonas, which lasted about a year.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

In 1962, Dorothy met Chelmer Milligan (1927—1988), whose previous wife Burnis divorced him due to “gross neglect.”


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Chelmer had two daughters, one of whom, Chalma, was the same age as Billy.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

On October 27, 1963, Dorothy and Chelmer were married.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

According to Billy's testimony, when he was eight years old, his stepfather tied him up in a barn and raped him, which was the beginning of his first personalities.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

However, Keys in his book claims that Billy's first personalities - the nameless boy, Christine and Sean - appeared earlier, when Billy was 3-4 years old.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Chelmer Milligan was later charged with rape.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Arrest and trial


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

In 1975, Milligan was imprisoned at the Ohio State Correctional Facility for armed robbery and robbery of a pharmacy.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

At the beginning of 1977, he was released on parole.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

However, in October 1977, Milligan was arrested again.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

This time for raping three women on Ohio State University campus.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Milligan was identified by one of the victims from a photo in the police file, and his fingerprints were found on the other victim's car.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Since Milligan used a weapon, several of which were found during a search of his home, he also violated the terms of parole.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

As a result, he was convicted of “... three counts of kidnapping, three counts of robbery and four counts of violence”.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

In preparation for his defense, Dr. Willis K. Driscoll carried out a psychological examination, as a result of which Milligan's condition was assessed as acute schizophrenia.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He was then examined by Dorothy Turner, a psychologist at the Southwestern Community Mental Health Center in Columbus, Ohio.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

During this examination, Turner concluded that Milligan suffers from multiple personality disorder.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Milligan's public defenders, Gary Schweikart and Judy Stevenson, obtained a declaration of insane, after which he was transferred to a psychiatric clinic “until he returned to him mental health.”


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Imprisonment


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Milligan was admitted to one of the state psychiatric hospitals, the Athens Mental Health Center, where, according to the court, he did not receive sufficient care to recover.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

While he was in this hospital, Milligan reported having ten different personalities.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Later, psychiatrist David Cole found 14 more individuals marked as “undesirable”.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Among the first ten were Arthur, a prim and arrogant Englishman; Allen, a swindler and manipulator; Ragen Vadaskovinic, a Yugoslav communist, “guardian of hatred”; and Adalana, a 19-year-old lesbian who longed for intimacy and later found herself guilty of rape.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Alter personalities


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The description is based on Daniel Keys's book The Multiple Minds of Billy Milligan.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Billy Milligan developed alter personalities at the age of 3-4 years (the nameless boy he played with and Christine, who took care of his younger sister).


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The number of personalities increased at the age of 8-9, when little Billy was repeatedly raped and beaten by his stepfather.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Ten personalities were considered basic (described as of 1977-1978, during treatment).


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Power was won by individuals after Billy wanted to attempt suicide at the age of 16, at the same time they “put him to sleep”, taking responsibility for maintaining security.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Billy, the original William Stanley Milligan, is the main individual, prone to suicide.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Arthur Smith is 22 years old, a sophisticated, educated Englishman.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

An expert in science and medicine, with a focus on hematology.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He independently studied Arabic (to study inscriptions on the Egyptian pyramids) and Swahili.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

With the help of logic and deduction, I found out that he was not alone in Milligan's body, and identified the rest of the personalities.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Along with Ragen, he took responsibility for the common body - with the exception of dangerous situations.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He established rules of conduct for the rest of the “family members” — Milligan's personalities.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He smokes a pipe.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

An atheist.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He wears glasses.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Rejen Vadaskovinic is a Yugoslav, 23 years old, has a Slavic accent in English, writes and speaks Serbo-Croatian.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Color blind, so he paints monochrome paintings.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He is a “guardian of hatred”.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

A communist, an expert in weapons and ammunition, is responsible for physical fitness.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He has extreme power due to the fact that he knows “how to control the flow of adrenaline”.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Reigen's weak point is women and children, and he does not hesitate to help them if they are in trouble, to the point of stealing food and things for them.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He manages basic actions in dangerous situations and, along with Arthur, can classify individuals as “undesirable”.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Weight 95 kg. Very big, strong arms, long black hair, dangling mustache.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Allen is 18 years old, a fraudster, a manipulator, has excellent eloquence.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He most often communicates with the outside world.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Agnostic.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He draws portraits, plays drums.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The only right-handed person and the only one who smokes cigarettes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Weight 75 kg, parting hair on the right.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Tommy is 16 years old, “guardian of salvation.”


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

In his own words, he is often confused with Allen.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

I independently understood electricity, the principles of operation of electrical and mechanical devices, locks.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He learned to control muscles and joints, get rid of handcuffs and a straitjacket.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He plays the saxophone, paints landscapes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Light blond hair, dark amber eyes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Danny is a frightened 14-year-old boy, scared of people, especially men.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He paints only still lifes, because he is afraid of the earth in any form — Chalmer once forced him to dig a grave and dig in it, leaving only a breathing hole.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Blond shoulder-length hair, blue eyes, short and thin.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

David is 8 years old, “pain keeper.”


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

It takes consciousness to take the pain of others.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Dark reddish-blond hair, blue eyes, small stature.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Christine is a 3-year-old Englishwoman, one of Billy's first personalities to appear and the first to learn about the existence of someone else.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

“Baby for the Corner,” stood in the corner of the school and at home, if Billy said it, because unlike other personalities, she did it calmly.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

She is dyslexic, but Arthur teaches her to read and write.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Ragen has a special affection for her.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The favorite of the “family”.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Blond shoulder-length hair, blue eyes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Christopher is Christine's brother, 13, who plays the harmonica.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Her hair is light brown like Christine's, but her bangs are shorter.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Adalana is a 19-year-old active lesbian.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He cooks, puts things in order in the “family”, writes poetry.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Has the ability to occupy the body.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

It was she who was engaged in rape in order to get warmth, affection and love, needed a hug.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Prior to her arrest, only Arthur and Christine knew it existed.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

She was declared by Arthur an undesirable person: she was forever forbidden to “get on the stain” (that is, to hold consciousness) and ever take time.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Adalana has long straight black hair.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The eyes twitch because of nystagmus.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Thirteen other individuals were declared undesirable by Arthur and Ragen for certain actions (antisocial behavior, violation of rules, etc.).


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Unwanted


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Phil is 20 years old, Brooklyn with a strong accent.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

A criminal element engaged in drug trafficking, participated in armed robberies of homosexual couples, waiting for victims in parking lots by the highway.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Curly brown hair, brown eyes, hooked nose.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Kevin, 20 years old, Phil's friend, developed a plan to rob a pharmacy, and then stole the loot from his comrades in the case.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Later, while at a maximum security clinic in Lima, in gratitude for the rebellion against the paramedics who beat patients at the clinic, Arthur crossed Kevin off the list of unwanted.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

A blond man with green eyes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Walter Milligan is 22 years old, Australian, hunting enthusiast.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

It was allowed to enter the body when its ability to find the right direction was required.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Arthur classified him as undesirable for “barbarism” — killing a crow in the forest.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Wears a mustache.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

April is 19 years old, black-haired, dark-eyed, slender girl with a Boston accent.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

I was obsessed with killing Billy's stepdad.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Declared undesirable after she convinced Rajen to kill Chalmer.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Arthur, having summoned Christine, was able to persuade Rajen not to commit the murder.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Black hair, brown eyes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Samuel is 18 years old, a religious Jew.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He was declared undesirable by Arthur for selling paintings by Allen and Tommy.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Arthur later admitted that he had made too harsh a decision under the influence of emotions, but did not cancel it.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The only religious person.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Black curly hair, beard, brown eyes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Mark Gravedigger — 16 years old, Workhorse.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He is often referred to as a zombie because he does nothing if he is not told and stares at the wall when everyone gets bored.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Lee is 20 years old, a joker and a wit.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He first began to control the body in a Lebanese prison and at the same time was declared undesirable for the fact that his pranks went too far and threatened the “family”.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

After that, he preferred to disappear from consciousness altogether.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Dark brown hair, brown eyes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Steve is 21 years old, a parodist, was summoned to prison after Lee's expulsion, because he knew how to make people laugh.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Infuriated Reigen, parody his accent, and Arthur, talking Cockney.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He was caught mimicking a prison warden, as a result of which Milligan was placed in isolation, after which he was found undesirable.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Jason is 13 years old, “pressure valve.”


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

It was used as a child to release tension, but it constantly led to difficult situations.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Brown hair, brown eyes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Bobby (Robert) is 17 years old, an inactive dreamer.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

I dreamed of adventures, saw myself as an actor, traveler, hero, but did not want to do anything specific for this.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He went on a hunger strike, for which he was classified as “undesirable” — good physical condition was necessary in prison conditions.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Sean is 4 years old, a deaf boy with developmental delay.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He occupied consciousness as a child, when Billy was punished and yelled at him.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Because of his deafness, he often buzzed, listening to the sounds coming in his head.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

It was classified as undesirable because it was not necessary as an adult.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Martin is 19 years old, a snob and braggart from New York City.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Arthur classified it as undesirable due to his lack of desire for self-improvement.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Blond with grey eyes.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Timoti is 15 years old and worked as a flower merchant in a store until he ran into a homosexual who flirted with him.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

After that, he withdrew to his own world.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The unifying person was the 26-year-old Teacher, who first appeared clearly during Billy's treatment at the Athens Mental Health Center.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

It was he who helped Keys tell the story of Billy Milligan, as he was able to remember those episodes that were not available to the rest of the “family”.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Some of Billy Milligan's personalities were gifted artists and musicians, each specializing in a separate direction in painting/graphics or musical instrument.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

All 24 had different IQ and different EEG data.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The data of the IQ test performed at the Hardin Clinic:


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Arthur refused to be tested because it was below his merits.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Intellectually very developed and takes advantage of this to maintain a dominant position among others.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Ragen Vadaskovinich — speech 114, behavior 120, overall level 119.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Allen — Speech 105, Behavior 130, Overall Level 120.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Tommy is 81 speech, 96 behavior, 87 overall.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Danny is 69 speech, 75 behavior, 71 overall.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The reaction to the Rorschach test showed poorly concealed hostility and the need for external support.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

David — Speech 68, Behavior 72, Overall 69.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Christine is too young to test.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Christopher is speech 98, behavior 108, total 102.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Adalana did not want to “go out” to conduct tests.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

A few common features: signs of a woman's personality, an extremely developed Super Ego, which can disappear with intense anger.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

No evidence of psychotic process or schizophrenic thinking was found [4]


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Post-release activities


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

In 1988 (or 1991), after more than 10 years of intensive care in Ohio medical institutions, Billy Milligan was recognized as “whole” and released.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

It is known that in 1996 he lived in California, owned a small film studio Stormy Life Productions and was going to make a short film (which, apparently, was never released).


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Later, he filed for bankruptcy, then William Milligan's place of residence and occupation are unknown, all his former acquaintances lost contact with him (he did not even receive his money left after the reckoning for debts in bankruptcy) [2].


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

According to his lawyer, Bruce Tabit, “some of the walls of his house have beautiful frescoes, others are covered with mathematical formulas. It's beyond human capacity to know everything about Billy Milligan.”


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Death


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

On December 16, 2014, WBNS-10TV reported that Milligan died on December 12 of cancer in Columbus, Ohio in a nursing home.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

He was 59 years old [5].


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

In popular culture


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Literature


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

In 1981, Daniel Keys's biographical novel “The Multiple Minds of Billy Milligan” was published, and the book is currently available in 14 languages.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The next book, entitled Milligan Wars, which explains Billy's period in various psychiatric clinics in more detail, was written in 1986, but was first published only in 1994 in Japan.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The book has also been published in Taiwan (2000), France (2009), China (2000), Indonesia (2006) and the United Kingdom (1996).


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The publication of the book in the United States was impossible, as the healthcare system is severely criticized.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The publication of “Milligan Wars” in the United States is planned after the release of the film about Billy Milligan “The Crowded Room”, where the main role is to be played by Leonardo DiCaprio.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Milligan Wars appeared in Russian on September 1, 2016.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Also on March 10, 2017, a printed edition was released.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Movie


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

As of February 26, 2016 [7], the shooting of the film about the life of Billy Milligan “The Crowded Room” continues.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The script was written in 1997 by Todd Graff with the participation of Danny DeVito.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

James Cameron was originally to be directed by James Cameron.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

During the ten years of the project's existence, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Colin Farrell and others expressed interest in starring in the film, some of whom Milligan personally consulted.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

In March 2015, it was reported that the role went to Leonardo DiCaprio, who had been striving to play it for 20 years.


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

The film will be produced by the actor's company Appian Way [8].


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

See also


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Multiple personality


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Chris Costner Sizemore


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Notes


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Literature


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Cite journal requires |journal= (help)


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

References


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

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Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

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Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Category:American rapists


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Category:Criminals found insane


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Category:Mental


Question: How many personalities did Billy Milligan have?

Billy Milligan

Category:People with rare diseases


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Robert Siodmak (English: Robert Siodmak; German: Robert Siodmak; August 8, 1900 — March 10, 1973) was a German and American film director best known for his 1940s noir films years.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak established himself as “a master of intense crime films who in the mid-1940s applied his German sensitivity to a series of exquisite Hollywood thrillers” [1].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In his work, he “successfully combined the technique of German expressionism with modern styles of American cinema, especially with film noir, creating a whole series of dark, sometimes terrible and always memorable movies” [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“Robert Siodmak's career is one of the most underrated and misunderstood in Hollywood history... Siodmak is considered a leading architect among film fans, especially those who highly appreciate noir thrillers of this genre.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

No other director has created as many high-quality noir films as Siodmak... His most significant noir films include Ghost Lady, Uncle Harry's Strange Thing, Spiral Staircase, The Killers, The Dark Mirror”, “The Crying of the Big City”, “Crisscross” and “The Thelma Jordon Case” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In total, he directed 12 films noir, more than any other director.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's career especially shone in the short ten-year period from 1943 to 1953, and “it is the period of time that is the zenith of the noir cycle. Of course, his work during this period was very fruitful, but the fact that he did not go beyond the film noir genre, for many was the reason to question his directorial talent”... But “if he could not expand his directorial range in breadth, he was able to create a directorial depth of the noir cycle, unrivaled in the history of Hollywood”... “Siodmak staged several films admired by many critics, however, his films rarely make it to the lists of the best films of all time”, largely because “his career developed in parallel with that of eclipsed his Alfred Hitchcock” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1946, three of Siodmak's films were awarded Oscar nominations in various categories: actress Ethel Barrymore for Best Supporting Actress in The Spiral Staircase, Siodmak himself for directing the film “The Killers”, Vladimir Pozner — for the original story of the film “The Dark Mirror”.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In addition, Anthony Weiler for screenplay, Miklos Roja for music and Arter Hilton for editing received Oscar nominations for the film “The Killers” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 2008, “The Killers” was included in the National Film Registry selected by the National Film Preservation Board for storage at the Library of Congress.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak is considered an actor director, he discovered Burt Lancaster to the audience, and was able to unleash the potential of actresses such as Ava Gardner, Olivia de Havilland, Dorothy McGuire, Yvonne de Carlo, Barbara Stanwick and Ella Raines [4].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Biography


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Early years


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Robert Siodmak was born on August 8, 1900 in Dresden, Germany, to Jewish parents.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's birthplace remains a matter of discussion.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Some researchers claim that he was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1900, while his mother and banker father were on vacation in America, after which the Siodmack family returned home to Dresden.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Others claim that Siodmak was born in Dresden, and being born in America was “a myth for obtaining a US visa in Paris” [5].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Robert's younger brother, Kurt Siodmak, has also become a prominent figure in Hollywood, a famous writer and screenwriter.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Robert Siodmak grew up in Germany, and after completing his studies at the University of Marburg, he tried himself as an actor in local theaters [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1925, Siodmak entered the cinema, becoming an editor and screenwriter for German director and producer Kurt Bernhardt.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1926, Siodmak's uncle, famous producer Seymur Nebenzal invited Siodmak to the state film studio Universum Film AG (UFA) to compile original silent films from the material of old films stored at the warehouse.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Film career in Germany: 1929—1933


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

After two years of work, in 1929, Siodmak was able to convince Nebenzal to finance his experimental film Men on Sunday (1930), based on a story by his brother Kurt.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film, which “is essentially a series of carefree vignettes with non-professional actors” [2], tells the story of two young friends having fun on a Sunday on the lake in the company of two girls before going back to their daily routine.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film turned out to be quite successful, it was positively received by critics and was able to succeed with the general public.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Many future Hollywood stars took part in the work on the film: Edgar G. Ulmer was a co-director, Billy Wilder co-wrote the script, and Fred Zinnemann was the second cameraman [1] [6].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“In cooperation with these gifted people, Siodmak's strong directing skills were inevitably formed” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The popularity of this small film led to a contract with producer Erich Pommer at the state film studio UFA [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In the early 1930s, Siodmak directed several more successful films in Germany: a tragicomedy about the love, problems and misfortunes of residents of the apartment building “Farewell” (1930).


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

This first solo film by Shiodmak as director “was a kind of “Grand Hotel” of the working class. The script for the film was written by Emerich Pressburger (later famous director), whom Siodmak “discovered” while working as a specialist in finding new screenwriters. The technical performance, experimental spirit and freshness of the ideas of this film announced the emergence of an important new talent in German cinema” [1].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

A series of fairly successful crime dramas followed.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In the center of the painting “Preliminary Hearing” (1931) was the investigation into the murder of a prostitute, in which the prosecutor's son was the main suspect.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

This film strengthened Siodmak's status as a leading representative of expressionism, using lighting and cinematography to convey moods and emotions, such as fear and disgust.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The “pre-hearing” was “in many ways a victory for style over content, filled with atmosphere and realistic details, both in image and sound. There are also unusual angles and close-ups, flashes of light and accidental sounds (in particular, scratching heating pipes with a ruler to intimidate the interrogated suspect), which previously have never been used so expressively and meaningfully” [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Another significant work of Siodmak as a director was the tragicomedy The Man Who Seeks His Killer (1931), which was again written by his brother Kurt and Billy Wilder [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film tells the story of a desperate man who is tired of life, but too cowardly to commit suicide.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

He signs a contract to kill himself, but after handing over the order to an unknown person, he falls in love with the girl, decides to refuse the order and is forced to track down his killer so as not to be killed by myself.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film was ahead of its time (and the plot was later copied many times), but was not a success at the box office.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

A remake of this film, entitled “I Hired an Assassin” (1990), was directed by the famous Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“Assault of Passion” (1932) told the story of a criminal who, when released, kills the seducer of his bride and goes on the run, and when she cheats on him again, he surrenders himself to the police.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In addition, Siodmak directed several simple comedies, such as Quick (1932), the story of a rich girl at a resort who fell in love with a clown and a circus director who turns out to be the same face.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's last film to be shot before leaving Germany was the growing up drama Burning Mystery (1933), based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Stefan Zweig.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In total, during his fairly successful directing career in Germany, Siodmak created a total of 15 films [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak was already a recognized director, but the rise of the Nazi Party to power in Germany forced him to flee to Paris.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Work in France: 1934—1939


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

At the beginning of his career in France, Siodmak made rather lightweight comedies, such as “The Crisis Is Over” (1934) with Daniel Darieu about a group of actors who, after leaving the theater, are forced to stage a play, “Mr. Flow” (1936) about a safe cracker in Paris, who is eventually deceived by his own partner.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The films Symphony of Love (1936) and Life of Paris (1936) were devoted to the operetta genre.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The first film is a romantic musical melodrama about a young talented composer.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The comedy “Paris Life” tells the story of a wealthy Brazilian who falls in love with the star of Jacques Offenbach's operetta “Paris Life”, and after 35 years comes again to marry her.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

More serious films of the Parisian period include the crime thriller with social overtones White Cargo (1937) and the psychological drama Molenaar (1938).


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In the first film, two journalists investigate the transfer of European women to brothels in South America.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Molenaar (1938) tells the difficult story of his wife and children's hatred for her husband and father, a sea captain, who is bedridden after a stroke.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The best film of the French stage of Siodmak was “The Trap” (1939), a dense suspense thriller about the hunt in Paris for a serial killer in the style of Jack the Ripper [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Hollywood Career Start: 1940—1944


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

With the outbreak of World War II, under the threat of Nazis entering Paris, Siodmak moved to Hollywood, where in 1941 he signed his first contract with Paramount Studios.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

For her, he directed three not very impressive category B films: the comedy melodrama Widow of West Point (1941), the thriller about the secret criminal operations of the Nazis “Night Flight” (1942) and the romantic comedy “My heart belongs to my dad” (1942) [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1943, Siodmak staged a fairly successful psychological drama “Remember Someone” (1943) about an elderly rich woman who once lost her son.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Since then, she has been living in the hotel where she broke up with her son for the last time, hoping that he will return.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

One day, a group of students check into a hotel, and the woman becomes attached to one of them, starting to perceive him as her grandson.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

After a while, this student should be visited by the father, who, according to the woman, is her son.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Without waiting for him to arrive, she dies happily ignorant.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The first Universal films: 1943—1944


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak was not happy with the fact that he began to gain his reputation as a director of category B. He had hope for career progress when “his brother Kurt, who emigrated to America in 1937 and succeeded as a horror screenwriter, helped him get the position of director at Universal Studios” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1943, Siodmak signed a seven-year contract with the studio, and became a full-time director of the company, where, in addition to staging his own films, his duties included refining and saving the unsuccessful and weak films by other directors.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak “found his niche in Universal, a studio known for combining expressionist technique with Hollywood neo-realism, especially in the horror and thriller genres. The experience of editing and filming in France on relatively small budgets allowed Siodmak to create many high-quality films at Universal that looked very good, although they were not expensive to produce ” [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1943, Siodmak directed the film Son of Dracula (1943), based on the story of his brother Kurt, the third in a series of films about Dracula and “the best of the later horror films of Universal”, [6], in which “ the origins of the Shiodmak style appear” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film takes place in the swampy lands of the southern United States, where the mysterious Earl of Alucard (Lon Chaney) settles.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Fascinated by occultism, the heiress of a wealthy family admires Alucard, and soon agrees to become his wife.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

However, her ex-fiancé, along with a local doctor and psychologist, conclude that Alucard is a descendant of the vampire Count Dracula and fight him to save the poor girl.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

It was not Universal's best horror film, however, it enjoyed sufficient success with the public, which allowed Shiodmak to move on to the production of better and more expensive movies [6].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's first category A film, his first color film “The Woman of the Cobra” (1944), made “in the flashy bright Technicolor”, was no less commercially successful.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

This adventure film takes place on islands in the southern latitudes of the Pacific Ocean, where on the eve of her wedding with Ramu, the beautiful Tolley is kidnapped and taken to the mysterious island of Cobra.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

It is ruled by her twin sister, insidious, greedy and ambitious Naja, who torments her people and distorts their faith.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Tolley and Naja fight both for power on the island and for Rama, with whom they are both in love.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

As a result, Tollea must choose between love for Ram and duty, fate and her right to power [7].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Although this essentially primitive film did little to Shiodmak creatively, “it revealed his propensity for experimenting with color and visual aesthetics” [8], and was also a noticeable success with public.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Best films noir: 1944—1949


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak reached his creative peak at Universal Studios, “creating skillful noir thrillers such as Ghost Lady (1944), Suspect (1945), Uncle Harry's Strange Thing (1945), The Dark One mirror “(1946) and an outstanding pair of crime dramas “Crisscross” (1949) and “The Crying of the Big City” (1949). The main thing in the success of these paintings was Shiodmak's ability to create an ominous atmosphere and fear from every dark shadow, while maintaining a tense and fascinating narrative” [1].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's American films, according to Andrew Sarris, “were even more German than his German films, they were filled with dark atmospheres. All of them contain seriously disturbing quality in subsequent views” [6].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Immediately after completing work on Cobra, Shiodmak was commissioned to stage Ghost Lady (1944), a film that many consider the first truly iconic noir “[3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The focus of the film, based on the novel by the famous author of “cool detectives” Cornel Woolrich, was the search for a mysteriously disappeared witness, led by a young and charming employee architectural bureau (Ella Raines) in order to save her boss from the death penalty for the murder of his wife.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“The film maintained suspense throughout its entire length and rapid pace, using gloomy lighting and clever little touches, such as an unusual hat that makes it possible to find a key witness. Siodmak also showed the ability to get strong performance from actors, especially Francho Tone as a killer” [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“The film created Shiodmaku the position of one of the highest hierarchs of the genre, Siodmak's noir films became an archetype” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Others, including David Shipman, argued that Shiodmak's obsession with the genre “not only did not strengthen his reputation, but literally destroyed it”, turning it into a type of director [9].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Following the success of this film, Siodmak directed Christmas Holiday (1944) based on the 1939 novel of the same name by the famous English writer and playwright Somerset Maugham, which moved to the United States during the Second World War.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

On his way home in New Orleans, a young lieutenant meets a cabaret singer (Dina Durbin), who tells him the story of her unfortunate marriage to an aristocrat from the southern states (Gene Kelly).


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

He turned out to be a gamer, mentally dependent on his mother, and also committed a murder.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

She defended him for a long time, but after refusing to confirm his alibi, her husband received a life sentence.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Durbin, who usually played “simple and understandable girls with a good voice”, this time got a really dramatic role and coped with it very well.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

However, it is eclipsed by another future musical star Kelly, who creates a convincing portrait of a vicious psychopath, literally devoured by his inner demons.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Music author Hans Salter won an Oscar nomination for his work on this film.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's next great film noir was the melodrama Suspect (1944), which takes place in London at the beginning of the 20th century.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Charles Lawton starred in the main role of a respectable man who kills first his grumpy wife and then a blackmailer to save the honor of an innocent girl (Ella Raines) [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In Uncle Harry's Strange Case (1945), a charming designer in a small town in New England (George Sanders), who lives with two unmarried sisters, decides to marry, one of the sisters tries his best destroy this marriage by driving the brother to the point where he is ready to kill his sister.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The lady of the heart of the protagonist in this film was again played by Ella Raines, which was her third collaboration with Siodmak.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The stylish thriller “Spiral Staircase” (1945), the result of a joint production of the RKO studio and independent producer David O. Selznik, “is widely recognized as a masterpiece of Shiodmak”.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film takes place in a Gothic manor house in New England in 1906 against the backdrop of an ever-growing thunderstorm and tells the story of a series of murders of disabled girls by a mad perfectionist scientist.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film is rich in historical details and details, Shiodmak actively uses unusual angles, flickering lights, reflections and disorienting mirror images to convey horror, “just like Murnau did this in his silent classic horror film Nosferatu, Symphony of Horror (1922) [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Actress Ethel Barrymore received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Role [10].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Having firmly established himself as a director of category A films, Siodmak began producing The Killers (1946), a high-class noir film based on the 1927 story by Ernest Hemingway years.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Recognized today as one of the best in its genre, “The Killers” is mostly covered with a veil of shadows, which, combined with a narrative built almost entirely on flashbacks and scenes shot from above, causes a feeling of claustrophobia and impending misfortune.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film “Killers” touches on literally every main theme of the noir... the haunting woman fatale (Ava Gardner), the idea-rich robbery scene, psychiatric portraits of a group of professional gangsters, devastating double deception, a spirit of severe fatalism, and a tough protagonist doomed to his existential fate (Bert Lancaster).


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Each motif is designed precisely and stylishly [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Killers was a milestone in the development of the film noir genre and played a key role in the beginning of the careers of Bert Lancaster and Ava Gardner, and firmly transferred Siodmak to category A [6].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film was nominated for four Oscars, including Shiodmaku as lead director.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1964, director Don Siegel staged a fairly successful remake of the film of the same name, starring John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson and Lee Marvin.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak then directed the psychological thriller Dark Mirror (1946) about two identical twins (played by Olivia de Havilland), one of whom is a psychopathic killer.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

However, neither the police nor witnesses can definitely say which sister is committing crimes, as they are indistinguishable outwardly.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“Today, the film is one of the most highly appreciated films noir” [6].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Vladimir Pozner was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Story on which the script is based [11].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak continued to work in the same direction, directing the crime thriller “Crying of the Big City” (1948) about a police detective in New York (Victor Mattheur) who pursues his school friend, who became a murderer (Richard Conte) [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Cruel, full of suspense crime melodrama Crisscross (1949) tells the story of a respectable, but morally weak driver of a collector armored car (Bert Lancaster), who is so blinded love passion for his ex-wife (Yvonne de Carlo), that she commits a crime for her and colludes with gangsters [6].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“The heroine plays with his fatalistic passion for her, realizing that she can manipulate him for her own material gain. Their relationship is impossible, and yet they know that they must participate in destroying them in order to satisfy their own selfish desires. For him, these desires are carnal, for her it is financial” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Although Crisscross was somewhat weaker than Siodmak's classic film The Killers, it is nevertheless filled with a stylish atmosphere, intriguing and unexpected plot twists, and a demonstration of human vices and fatalism, demonstrating fully the defining features of film noir.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

A remake of this film called “There Inside” (1995) was directed by the famous American director Steven Soderbergh.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In the stylish film noir “The Thelma Jordon Case” (1950), the mysterious femme fatale Thelma Jordon (Barbara Stanwick) involves an assistant district attorney in an illegal love affair, and deceives him, destroys evidence related to the murder of her rich aunt by her accomplice and lover.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“Barbara Stanwick appears in all her glory as a ruthless, manipulating femme fatale in the spirit of Phyllis Dietrichsen or Martha Ivers” [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

However, unlike the cold and dispassionate femme fatale in other noir films, Thelma has both a heart that can love and a desire to do good.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Stanwick fully understands the ambiguity and complexity of his character and plays one of his best roles.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film contains many other characteristic features of the film noir, this is a twisted plot, and the tragic blunders of the main characters, and doomed, erotic overtones, and stylish black and white cinematography with impeccable staging and almost physically perceptible tension in everything.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“By the end of the 1940s, Siodmak had developed a reputation as a master of suspense and horror, second only to Hitchcock” [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Recent Hollywood works: 1949—1952


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's last four films before the end of his Hollywood period were The Great Sinner (1949), The Deported (1950), The Whistle to Eton Falls (1951) and The Red Corsair (1952).


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The drama “The Great Sinner” (1949) is based on the novel “The Gambler” by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1867).


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Gregory Peck plays the role of a young Russian aristocrat and writer who meets on a Paris train and falls in love with a lady (Ava Gardner) who is due to marry the owner of a casino in Monte Carlo.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

He starts playing for her, loses all his money, loses friends, and ends up stealing from a poor church.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The crime drama “Deported” (1950) told the story of an Italian gangster expelled from the United States, who, returning home, engaged in fraud, robbery and murder, fighting like a local mafia , as well as with the authorities.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951) was an uninteresting drama about an industrial conflict between the administration and unions at a plastics factory in New Hampshire.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

These three films generally did not live up to expectations and were noticeably inferior in quality to Siodmak's noir films.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Ironically, his last American film was The Red Corsair (1952) with Burt Lancaster, a costume satire with elements of a farce that was as good as his thrillers [6].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film was in stark contrast to Siodmak's usual works, it was a strong, multicolored, fun pirate film with impressive action scenes, “which had no equal in this genre until Pirates The Caribbean Sea “half a century later. It was Siodmak's swan song in Hollywood” [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

“When noir passed its zenith in the early 1950s, the basis of Siodmak's work in Hollywood began to melt” [3].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1953, he worked for five months with novelist Budd Schulberg on a script that later resulted in the drama At the Port (1954).


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

But since Schulberg maintained ties with the Communists, the work was interrupted.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Producer Sam Spiegel bought the rights to the script, inviting Elia Kazan as a director.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The released film achieved wide recognition and won eight Oscars.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak sued Spiegel for copyright infringement for $100,000 and won the trial, but his name and contribution were never credited to the film “[12].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Successful career in Europe: 1953—1958


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1953, Siodmak left America and resumed his career in Europe, first in France, and then in Germany, England and Spain, where he made 16 more films until 1965.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

His first European work after his return was the French romantic and slightly mystical drama The Big Game (1954), a remake of Jacques Fader's 1934 film of the same name.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

It tells the story of a young lawyer who enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and went to serve in the Sahara, where in one of the tribes he met a girl like two drops of water like his sweetheart.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

She did not remember anything about herself, and with his stories he gradually began to shape her past, but at that moment his lover came from France.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Italian star Gina Lollobrigida played a double role in this film.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak returned to Germany, where he directed several interesting films, the most significant of which were “deep, masterful and beautiful German melodramas” [1] “Rats” (1955) with Maria Shell in the role a homeless pregnant 20-year-old girl in the nightmare world of burned post-war Berlin; and The Devil Came at Night (1957), the story of a serial killer in Hamburg starring Mario Adorf, reminiscent of Fritz Lang's M (1931), this strong, intense film stood out for its realistic interpretation of the plot [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The socio-political drama Rats (1955) is based on the 1911 play of the same name by the famous German playwright Gerhart Hauptmann, which was moved to Berlin in the early 1950s.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film tells the story of a girl in East Germany who dreams of getting a fake passport in order to go to the West.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

To get the money, she sells her illegitimate child to another woman who hopes that the child will bring her closer to her husband and improve her family life.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Rats run around in the frame and gnaw at the pillars, but in this case we are talking about human rats, first of all, referring to a sneaky swindler who left a young girl who became pregnant with him [13] .


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1955, the film won Siodmak the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, and Goran Strindberg won the German Film Award for Best Cinematography [14].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The political crime thriller “The Devil Came at Night” (1958) is staged on real material.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In Hamburg, in the last months of Hitler's regime, there has been a series of rapes and suffocations of young women.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The case is being investigated by an SS officer and a non-partisan police detective.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Quite quickly, they manage to find out that the criminal is a mentally ill Bruno Ludke, who turns out to be a member of the Nazi Party.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

To hide this fact, the SS accuses and executes an innocent person of crimes.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In addition to its fascinating plot, the film perfectly conveyed the atmosphere that reigned in German cities on the eve of the collapse of the Nazi regime.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1958, the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and Siodmak won the Best Director Award for the film at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film also won nine German film awards, including the Outstanding Film Award and the Shiodmaku Award for Best Director [15].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

European walk-through film series: 1958-1969


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1957, Siodmak directed one of the films of the British television series OSS (1957-58), which described the work of an American intelligence officer in occupied France during World War II wars.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Later, “he staged mostly not outstanding paintings until the 1960s” [1], such as Dorothea Angermann (1958) and Katya the Uncrowned Queen (1959).


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In the drama Dorothea Angermann (1958), Hauptmann's play tells “a rather old-fashioned story of a woman” accused of murdering her abusive husband, whom she married against her will.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Katya the Uncrowned Queen (1959) was an unreliable costume melodrama set at the court of Tsar Alexander II, in which the main role was played by the popular Austrian actress Romy Schneider.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Filmed in the UK, the noir drama Rough and Tender (1959) tells the story of an archaeologist engaged to the daughter of a wealthy publisher who leaves his bride on the eve of the wedding for a “nymphomaniac with masochistic tendencies”, which he accidentally meets in a pub.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

An attempt to tear her out of destructive ties with a scum and a rude man eventually leads to disastrous consequences for him.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak himself had an extremely low opinion of the film, saying that he “saw films worse, but not much worse” [16].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The films “My School Friend” (1960), “The Nina B. Affair” (1961) and “Escape from East Berlin” (1962) each covered the history of modern Germany in their own way.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The tragicomic satire “My School Friend” (1960) tells how modern Germany is overcoming the consequences of the Nazi past.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The post-noir political thriller Nina B. Affair (1961) is dedicated to a mysterious stranger's struggle for power in a large German corporation he waged with a group of former Nazis.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The most famous film of this period was Escape from East Berlin (1962), which tells in a semi-documentary way the story of the real escape in January 1962 of 29 residents of East Berlin through a specially dug tunnel under the Berlin Wall.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In the mid-1960s, Siodmak shot three minor adventure films: The Yellow Devil (1964), which takes place in Albania, as well as Aztec Treasures (1965) and Pyramid of the Sons of the Sun ( 1965), which takes place in Mexico in the middle of the 19th century.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's last notable films were international projects: The Last Feat (1967), which starred in Spain with Robert Shaw in the title role; and Battle for Rome I (1968) with Lawrence Harvey and Orson Wells.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Neither film was a success [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Filmed in Spain, the international western “The Last Feat” (1968) is dedicated to the hero of the North-South War and the Indian Wars, Cavalry General George Caster.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film had its own interesting moments, especially in terms of staging large-scale battle scenes, but it clearly lacked the harmony, credibility and integrity necessary for a good historical Western [6].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Siodmak's last film work was the two-part historical epic Battle for Rome (1968-69), dedicated to the siege of Rome by the Goths in 526.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The film, which is 3 hours in full, featured a stellar cast of performers and especially mass filming of combat battles, in which six squadrons of Romanian cavalry were involved.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

However, in general, the film looked old-fashioned, mannered and not fascinating.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

In 1973, a 94-minute version of the film was edited.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

The last years of life


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Robert Siodmak retired from the film industry in 1970 [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

His last public appearance was an interview for Swiss television, recorded at his home in Ascona in 1971.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Robert Siodmak died on March 10, 1973, seven weeks after the death of his wife, of a heart attack in a hospital in Locarno, Switzerland [2].


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Filmography


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

filmmaker


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1930 — Men on Sunday/Menschen am Sonntag


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1930 — Farewell /Abschied


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1931 - A man who is looking for his murderer /Der Mann, der seinen Mörder sucht


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1931 — Preliminary Investigation/Voruntersuchung


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1931 — Around one investigation/Autour d'une enquête


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1932 — Assault on Passion/Stürme der Leidenschaft


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1932 — Bustle/ Tumultes


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1932 — Quick/Quick


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1933 - Burning Mystery/Brennendes Geheimnis


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1933 — Weaker sexe/Le Sexe faible


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1934 — The crisis is completed/La Crise est finie


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1936 — Parisian life/La Vie parisienne


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1936 - Mr. Flow/Mister Flow


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1937 — White cargo/Cargaison blanche


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1938 — Molenar/Mollenard


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1938 — Ultimatum/Ultimatum


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1939 — Trap/Pièges


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1941 — West Point Widow/West Point Widow


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1942 — Night flight/Fly-By-Night


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1942 — The Night Before the Divorce


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1942 — My Heart Belongs to Daddy My Heart Belongs to Daddy


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1943 — Remember Someone/Someone to Remember


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1943 - Son of Dracula/Son of Dracula


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1944 - Ghost Lady/Phantom Lady


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1944 - Cobra Woman/Cobra Woman


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1944 — Christmas Holiday/Christmas Holiday


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1944 — The Suspect/The Suspect


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1945 - Uncle Harry's Strange Affair/The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1945 — Spiral Staircase/The Spiral Staircase


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1946 - The Killers/The Killers


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1946 - Dark Mirror/The Dark Mirror


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1947 — Since time immemorial, Time Out of Mind


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1948 — The Big City Cry/Cry of the City


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1949 — Criss Cross/Criss Cross


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1949 - The Great Sinner


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1950 - The File on Thelma Jordan case/The File on Thelma Jordan


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1950 — Deported/Deported


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1951 — Whistle at Eton Falls/The Whistle at Eaton Falls


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1952 - Red Corsair/The Crimson Pirate


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1954 - The Big Game/Le Grand jeu


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1955 — Rats/Die Ratten


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1956 - My dad, actor/Mein Vater, der Schauspieler


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1957 - The devil came at night/Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1959 - Dorothea Angermann/Dorothea Angermann


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1959 — Katya — uncrowned queen/Katia


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1959 - The Rough and the Smooth


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1960 — Willy-nilly Mad/Mein Schulfreund


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1961 — Nina B.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

L'affaire Nina B.


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1962 — Escape from East Berlin/Escape from East Berlin


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1964 — Yellow Devil /Der Schut


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1965 — Aztec Treasures/Der Schatz der Azteken


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1965 — Pyramid of the Sons of the Sun/Die Pyramide des Sonnengottes


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1967 — The Last Feat/Custer of the West


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1968 — Battle for Rome/Kampf um Rom I


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1969 — Battle for Rome-2 /Kampf um Rom II — Der Verrat


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Awards and nominations


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1947 — Oscar nomination for Best Director for the film “The Killers” (1946)


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1947 — Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Picture (The Killers)


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1954 — Nominated at the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival for the film “The Great Game” (1954)


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1955 — Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for his film “Rats” (1955)


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1958 — German Film Award for Best Director for The Devil Came at Night (1957)


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1958 — Best Director Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for the film “The Devil Came at Night” (1957)


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

1971 — Honorary award at the German Film Award for many years of personal contribution to German cinema [17]


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Notes


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

References


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

on the Senses of Cinema website


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

on Allmovie website


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

on the Turner Classic Movies website


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

on the Kinopoisk website


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Category:Immigrated to France from Germany


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Category:German immigrants to the United States


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Category:Film directors noir


Question: How many films noir did Robert Siodmak direct in total?

Robert Siodmak

Category: Laureates of the Berlin Art Prize


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Lenin and chess is a topic that has repeatedly become the subject of analysis not only by historians, but also by professional chess players.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

It is reflected in the notes of Lenin himself, is widely represented in memoirs (relatives, associates in the Bolshevik Party, even in the memoirs of political opponents), in scientific and popular biographies head of the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet government.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Books specifically devoted to this topic have been published [1] [2].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

For most of his life, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was engaged in chess: he played chess, solved chess problems and sketches, was actively interested in the events of chess life in Russia and beyond borders, met with well-known chess players of his time.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In his political speeches and articles, he used images and vocabulary familiar to chess players.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

There are dozens of works of painting and graphics on this subject (most of them were created in the USSR in the 1930s and 1970s), and a number of photographs have been preserved that captured Vladimir Ulyanov for chess game [1].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Lenin's passion for chess was actively used in the USSR to popularize this game throughout the 1920s and 80s of the XX century [1].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In 2010, this topic again became relevant in Europe and the United States due to the appearance at auctions of rarities that are associated by some art critics and historians with the name of Lenin and can be attributed to his chess studies [3].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Sources


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Chess occasionally appears in Lenin's letters and is sometimes mentioned in his theoretical and revolutionary works.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Lenin himself, in a letter from exile in Shushensky to Mark Elizarov (who, as Lenin mentions in the letter, won a game against Emanuel Lasker in a simultaneous game) pays attention to the part of his correspondent , which he sent him in his previous letter, and notes that Elizarov began to play much stronger [4].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In another letter, he regrets that he did not take chess into exile [5].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In another letter, Lenin and Krupskaya call chess one of Lenin's main entertainments in exile [6].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Lenin and Krupskaya again mention chess in their letter only in 1907 [7].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

A large number of references to this topic are contained in letters and memoirs of close relatives of Lenin and his wife.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

His younger brother Dmitry Ulyanov published memories of Lenin's passion for chess [8].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In 1926, his article “How Lenin Played Chess” [9] [10] appeared.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Nadezhda Krupskaya briefly mentions in her letter from Shushensky about Lenin's games against Lepeshinsky, about making a chess set with his own hands - Lenin carved figures from the bark and consulted with wife, what form to give them [11].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In his memoirs, Krupskaya adds that sometimes Lenin even shouted in a dream, announcing his move to an imaginary enemy.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

She talks about playing chess in the Ulyanov family circle [12].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Almost verbatim, such stories were perceived in anthologies popular in the USSR and containing fragments from various articles and works by Krupskaya about Lenin, in particular, such an anthology is the book “O Vladimir Ilyich Lenin” [13].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In two more letters, she mentions that they played chess from morning to evening, and Lenin wins over everyone [14] [15].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In a letter to M. A. Ulyanova Krupskaya reports that a well-known chess player may arrive for permanent residence in the village of Yermakovskoye (located near Shushensky), who can become a good opponent for Vladimir Ilyich [16].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Among Lenin's friends and associates who left memories of Ulyanov-Lenin's chess hobby, stands out Panteleimon Lepeshinsky (1868-1944), a professional revolutionary, party leader, writer .


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In the 1920s and 1930s, he was actively and professionally engaged in the history of the Bolshevik movement (in 1927-1930 he was director of the Historical Museum, in 1935-1936 he was director of the Museum of the Revolution).


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Lenin met him in exile in the village of Shushenskoye.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Lepeshinsky was a good chess player, but Lenin usually gave him a head start — an easy figure.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

He published several articles on the topic “Lenin is a chess player” [17]; “How Vladimir Ilyich played chess” [18].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Several valuable comments on the topic belong to Maxim Gorky, including in Lenin's obituary, written in 1924.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

While in the original version of this obituary chess is briefly mentioned only once, Gorky inserted into the final version a story about Lenin's games against Alexander Bogdanov in Italian Capri Island [19].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

A series of amateur photographs taken in Capri in 1908 (between April 10 (23) and 17 (30)), when Vladimir Lenin was visiting Gorky, has been preserved.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

The photographs were taken from various angles and captured Lenin playing with Gorky and Alexander Bogdanov, a famous Marxist revolutionary, doctor and philosopher [20].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

The author of all these photographs (or at least two of them) was Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky, the son of Maria Andreeva, actress of the Moscow Art Theater, and Gorky's stepson, and in the future, a major Soviet cameraman, director and screenwriter.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

At the time, he was a 20-year-old boy [21].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

There is a small mention of Lenin and chess in the memoirs book of the last Minister of Agriculture of Tsarist Russia Alexander Nikolaevich Naumov “From Surviving Memories. 1868—1917” (1868—1950):” The only thing he recognized and loved as entertainment was a game of chess, in which he usually remained the winner even when fighting several opponents at the same time” [22].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Mensheviks Nikolai Valentinov and Dmitry Sverchkov left mentions of this size and content [22], a fairly detailed story is an active participant in the Union for the Liberation of the Working Class Vasily Starkov [23].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Fake and dubious sources on the topic “Lenin and Chess” are widely represented.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

“Chess Game: Lenin with Hitler — Vienna 1909” (English: A Chess Game: Lenin with Hitler — Vienna 1909, sometimes referred to as English: Hitler playing chess with Lenin) - the infamous etching by artist Emma Löwenstamm (German: Emma Löwenstamm), which, according to some art critics and historians, depicts the scene of a chess match between the two politicians that took place in Vienna in 1909 [3].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Most, however, date the etching to a later time and do not recognize the possibility of such a meeting [24].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Writer and journalist Igor Sinitsyn in his biographical book “Andropov is near. Memories of the thaw and stagnation” claims that the famous Soviet director Grigory Alexandrov told him orally, as if he had information that Lenin played chess with the future fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in Zurich while in exile.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

When he told this story to Andropov, he “waved his hands at me and said that this chatter could not be supported by anything” [25].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Lenin was credited with the slogan “Chess is a gymnastics of the mind” in Soviet times.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In fact, Lenin never wrote or uttered this phrase, and it is now believed that it was attributed to Lenin by chess player Yakov Rokhlin in the 50s of the XX century, trying to strengthen the position of chess in the sports system of the USSR (in 1980, to confirm the reliability of this phrase, he referred to the certificate of A. F. Ilyin-Zhenevsky, who died 40 years earlier).


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

He claimed that in September 1920, the head of Vsevobuch Nikolai Podvoisky was preparing a chess Olympiad in Moscow.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

“... The proposal is interesting,” Lenin said in an interview with him, “because chess is a gymnastics of the mind.”


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

The phrase was first uttered in relation to chess on May 6, 1853 in Manchester at the founding congress of the Chess Association of North and Central England.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Allen Duval, a portrait painter and chairman of the Manchester Chess Club, called chess “not only a gymnastics of the mind, but also a gymnastics of the spirit.”


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

At the same time, he used an expression that already existed in Germany.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Since the end of the 18th century, logic, mathematics and ancient languages have been called “Gymnastics of the Mind” there [10] [26].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Historiography


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In 1932, Mikhail Kogan, a Soviet chess historian and writer, author of articles and books on the history of chess in the USSR, published a short book “V. AND. Lenin and Chess”, in which he collected and analyzed memories of the role of chess in Lenin's life [27] [2].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In 1938, a significant part of the information from this monograph was repeated in his other book, Essays on the History of Chess in the USSR [28].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Chess publications in the late 1920s and 30s of the XX century published a number of small materials analyzing the role of chess in the life of V. AND. Lenina.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Among these materials are Lev Gugel's articles “V. AND. Lenin and Chess” [29] and Abram Gurvich “On Lenin's Chess Talent” [30].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In 1960, a book by Soviet (later Swedish) chess composer, Doctor of Philology, Professor Alexander Gerbstman “Chess from Birch Bark” from the series “Stories of Lenin” was published, also dedicated to this topic.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

A. Herbstman is a literary critic, teacher, international chess master [31].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In Soviet times, it was considered necessary to mention Lenin's passion for chess in popular textbooks for beginners, chess reference books, and books on the history of chess development.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In particular, a separate article is contained in the reference book “Chess Player's Dictionary”, published in 1929 [32].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

The book by Polish historian Jerzy Gizycki contains a small fragment on the relevant topic [33].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

The analysis of chess terminology in Lenin's political works was devoted to a short article by the Soviet bibliographer and historian Nikolai Sakharov “Chess Expressions in Lenin's Works”, published in No. 8 (296) Riga magazine “Shakhmaty” for 1972 [34].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In 1988, Isaac Linder's book “Making the Best Move... Chess in Lenin's Life” was published, entirely dedicated to Lenin's passion for chess [1].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Article by Alexander Danilevsky, Doctor of Philosophy, “Memoirs of D. AND. Ulyanov as a pretext of “Protection of Luzhin” was published in 2009 [35].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

The article was devoted to a comparison of the last years of Lenin's life in the description of his younger brother and individual episodes of the biography of the hero of the book Vladimir Nabokov.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Israeli historian and philologist Saveliy Dudakov devoted a whole chapter to Lenin's passion for chess in his book Lenin as the Messiah [22].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

A series of books was devoted to this topic by international master Kormishkin A. M.: “They played with Ulyanov — Lenin. Political associates are opponents in chess” [36], “Chess in the Ulyanov family. Lenin and his chess partners” [37].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

The last book is a chronologically arranged literary montage of excerpts from many dozens of books dedicated to V. AND. Lenin in the part that reveals his passion for chess.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

There is no separate article on this topic in chess encyclopedias published in the 2000s, although there are sketchy references to Lenin's game of chess.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

Journalist Lev Navrozov even tried to challenge the claim about Lenin's success in chess, arguing that he played no stronger than the third category [38].


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

In honor of Lenin's chess hobby, the international tournament “Capri Island — Vladimir Lenin” was held on Capri Island in 2015.


Question: When did Lenin start playing chess?

Lenin and chess

It was won by Serbian grandmaster Mirolub Lazic [39].