The Quiet Heroism of German Actor Conrad Veidt
Is He Good or Evil?
By Barbara Peterson, published Jun 22, 2005
Published Content: 66 Total Views: 34,874 Favorited By: 3 CPs
I myself spent the day in front of the tv, watching baseball. The broadcast station did a brief tribute - listing their choice of the top ten American athletes who had served the US during wartime.�Marine Corps pilot Ted Williams led the list, which was only right and proper, but I was shocked to see that millionaire football player-turned-soldier Pat Tilman didn't even rate an honorable mention.
Perhaps the various movie channels did tributes to actors who volunteered for service (quite a few stars and future stars saw combat and should justly be called heroes.) But it probably never occurred to them to do a tribute to a German actor named Conrad Veidt. Yet in his own way he was just as heroic as anyone who picked up a rifle and went into battle against evil.
If you're an average classic movie buff, you'll recognize Conrad Veidt, even if you don't remember the name. He made over 100 films. 21 of them were in English, filmed after he'd emigrated to England in 1933. Of these the most popular were his starring turns in the Powell and Pressburger films Contraband and Spy in Black, and the ambitious but lovelorn Grand Vizier Jaffar in The Thief of Bagdad.�
And of course not a month goes by somewhere in the world that the classic Humphrey Bogart film, Casablanca, is shown, with Veidt in the small but pivotal role of the Nazi Major Strasser. It was one of his last roles - he died of a heart attack at the early age of 50, in 1943.
So what did he do that was so heroic, you're asking yourself.
To understand that, you need to know a bit about Veidt's background. He was born in Germany in 1893, served briefly as a soldier in World War I, and broke into films in 1916. He was the sleepwalker, Cesare, in the classic Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, released in 1919. This wasn't his first film, but it was the one that made him a star. In 1933 his star was still on the ascendant - he was more popular than ever before.
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Takeaways
- Conrad Veidt came to America in 1927 to star opposite John Barrymore in The Beloved Rogue. www.geocities.com/Nocturne_CVS/ - the Official Conrad Veidt Society homepage www.gildasattic.com/conradveidt.html�- hear Conrad Veidt sing!
- Veidt made 3 silent movies in America, but returned to Germany with the advent of sound in 1928. www.geocities.com/Nocturne_CVS/ - the Official Conrad Veidt Society homepage www.gildasattic.com/conradveidt.html�- hear Conrad Veidt sing!
- In his first sound movie in English, Veidt played Zurta, a jewel thief, opposite Cedric Hardwicke. www.geocities.com/Nocturne_CVS/ - the Official Conrad Veidt Society homepage www.gildasattic.com/conradveidt.html�- hear Conrad Veidt sing!
Did You Know?
Veidt was considered for the role of Charlie Chan in The Black Parrot, but lost it to Sojin.
www.geocities.com/Nocturne_CVS/ - the Official Conrad Veidt Society homepage
www.gildasattic.com/conradveidt.html�- hear Conrad Veidt sing!
Resources
- Memorial Day 2005 has come and gone. To most people, it's not a Memorial day but a holiday, not a day of remembrance or mourning but a day off from work. (Thank the Uniform Monday Holidays Act of 1971, which established the concept of the three-day-weekend, for this). I myself spent the day in front of the tv, watching baseball. The broadcast station did a brief tribute - listing their choice of the top ten American athletes who had served the US during wartime.�Marine Corps pilot Ted Williams led the list, which was only right and proper, but I was shocked to see that millionaire football player-turned-soldier Pat Tilman didn't even rate an honorable mention. Perhaps the various movie channels did tributes to actors who volunteered for service (quite a few stars and future stars saw combat and should justly be called heroes.) But it probably never occurred to them to do a tribute to a German actor named Conrad Veidt. Yet in his own way he was just as heroic as anyone who picked up a rifle and went into battle against evil. If you're an average classic movie buff, you'll recognize Conrad Veidt, even if you don't remember the name. He made over 100 films. 21 of them were in English, filmed after he'd emigrated to England in 1933. Of these the most popular were his starring turns in the Powell and Pressburger films Contraband and Spy in Black, and the ambitious but lovelorn Grand Vizier Jaffar in The Thief of Bagdad.�And of course not a month goes by somewhere in the world that the classic Humphrey Bogart film, Casablanca, is shown, with Veidt in the small but pivotal role of the Nazi Major Strasser. It was one of his last roles - he died of a heart attack at the early age of 50, in 1943. So what did he do that was so heroic, you're asking yourself. To understand that, you need to know a bit about Veidt's background. He was born in Germany in 1893, served briefly as a soldier in World War I, and broke into films in 1916. He was the sleepwalker, Cesare, in the classic Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, released in 1919. This wasn't his first film, but it was the one that made him a star. In 1933 his star was still on the ascendant - he was more popular than ever before. Conrad Veidt was of the premier rank of German actors, playing heroes and villains with equal felicity. Ladies - and gentlemen - swooned over his �evil eyes' and dreamt that they would be the one to turn his characters onto the path of good. Germany was Veidt's oyster. But in 1933, Adolph Hitler and the Nazis come to power, and life in Germany very quickly became intolerable for various people, from Communists to Gypsies to Jews. Although the Nuremberg Laws, stripping Jews of their German citizenship, did not take place until 1935, the boycotting of Jewish businesses and the ill treatment of Jewish people began after April, 1933. Conrad Veidt was not a Jew, but he was in love with one, Lily Prager. He married her, and took her to England when he emigrated. But that's not what he did that was so heroic. When Veidt arrived in England, he made two movies quite quickly. The Wandering Jew and Jew Süss. They were both propaganda films, featuring sympathetic portrayals of Jews, and were intended to fight the anti-Semitism that was prevalent, not only in Germany but in the rest of the world. They were also a slap in the face to Josef Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Culture, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. A German actor who left Germany was bad enough...but to make two movies in which he starred as a sympathetic Jew? Conrad Veidt's rebuttal of Nazi policies was quite clear.Josef Goebbels' reaction was swift and characteristic. He issued a press release condemning the films...and the actor. "Conrad Veidt was paid back for this betrayal of his country by the praise of the Jewish public. With that, there will no longer be any reason for a single finger in Germany to point to him in praise." All Veidt films, past, present and future, were banned in Germany. This was done in 1933, remember, five years before the Munich Agreement and any thought of war. Because of his stand, Veidt would never be allowed to return to his homeland while the Nazis were still in power, and as far as he knew they always would be in power. Meanwhile, he was an emigrant in a foreign land...and while he had some popularity in England because of his past works, there was no guarantee that he would continue to find roles. A homegrown actor's life was iffy enough, let alone that of an emigrant whose command of the language needed work. But Conrad Veidt made his stand. And it all turned out well. Veidt became as popular in England as he had been in Germany. In 1939 he moved to the United States (if the Nazis had managed to successfully invade England, he would have been one of the first people to be rounded up and executed as a traitor to his country) where he was for the most part typecast in villainous, not to say Nazi, roles. Who can say what would have happened if he hadn't died in 1943? He was only 50...there were lots of roles he could have played...especially after the war ended, that would have cemented him much more brightly in the firmament of stars. As it is, he will always be remembered by those in the know as a great actor and a great humanitarian. The Conrad Veidt Society, celebrating his memory, has been in existence for many years, with branches in both England and the United States. There are many websites devoted to him.�Most of his English films are available commercially, as are the silent classics Cabinet of Caligari, Waxworks, The Beloved Rogue (with John Barrymore), The Man Who Laughs (as Gwynplaine), and The Student of Prague. Recently restored and available are The Indian Tomb and Anders Als Die Anderen (Different From The Others), a sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality, in response to Germany's law making homosexuality illegal.Postcards, cigarette cards, magazines containg feature articles and his films are always for sale on Ebay.Author John Soister has recently had published The Films of Conrad Veidt, containing a biography by Pat Wilkes Battle. Dedicated fans trade his German movies amongst themselves - you can get in contact with them on the Conrad Veidt mailing list (linked on the Conrad Veidt Society home page.) Film enthusiast Anne Sharp made what is perhaps the definitive definition of the art of Conrad Veidt: "[Francois] Truffaut was so wrong when he said that the art of cinema is pointing a camera at a beautiful woman. That's not cinema, that's fashion photography. The art of cinema is pointing a camera at Conrad Veidt.\"Conrad Veidt came to America in 1927 to star opposite John Barrymore in The Beloved Rogue.Veidt made 3 silent movies in America, but returned to Germany with the advent of sound in 1928.In his first sound movie in English, Veidt played Zurta, a jewel thief, opposite Cedric Hardwicke.Veidt was considered for the role of Charlie Chan in The Black Parrot, but lost it to Sojin.The Films of Conrad Veidt, by John Soister www.geocities.com/Nocturne_CVS/ - the Official Conrad Veidt Society homepage www.gildasattic.com/conradveidt.html�- hear Conrad Veidt sing!
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Posted on 06/22/2005 at 5:06:00 PM