Fridrikh Ermler (1898-1967)
Born Vladimir Markovich Beslav in the Latvian town of Rēzekne, Fridrikh Ermler knew from a young age that he wanted to work in films. It first occurred to him at the age of 12, when he used to sneak off from his job as a druggist’s errand-boy to watch movies at his local theatre. In 1915, Ermler traveled to Moscow to pursue his dream of being in movies, only to be put on a train by authorities and sent back to Rēzekne.
After a career as a spy for the Revolutionary Military Commissariat, he joined the Party in 1919, first working in intelligence for the Cheka (State security). In 1923, he went to the Leningrad Institute of Screen Arts to study action and, as legend has it, skipped the selection process by brandishing his Browning pistol and saying, “This has selected me.”
In 1924, Ermler realized his dream when he was cast in two films. However, he was disappointed with his performances and quickly switched to directing. He organized the Experimental Cinema Workshop (KEM), a production collective of his own. Emrler had no aspiration to make “art,” his attitude toward filmmaking was simple and pragmatic—he approached it as a craft.
After two early misfires, Scarlet Fever (1924) and Children of the Storm (1926), Ermler truly began his directing career with the melodrama Katka the Apple Seller (1926).
In his later career, Ermler became one of the Soviet propaganda filmmakers whose chief concern was to glorify Stalin and his success as a leader. As a result, he was a four-time recipient of the Stalin Prize.
Ermler died in Leningrad, July 12, 1967.
Sources
After a career as a spy for the Revolutionary Military Commissariat, he joined the Party in 1919, first working in intelligence for the Cheka (State security). In 1923, he went to the Leningrad Institute of Screen Arts to study action and, as legend has it, skipped the selection process by brandishing his Browning pistol and saying, “This has selected me.”
In 1924, Ermler realized his dream when he was cast in two films. However, he was disappointed with his performances and quickly switched to directing. He organized the Experimental Cinema Workshop (KEM), a production collective of his own. Emrler had no aspiration to make “art,” his attitude toward filmmaking was simple and pragmatic—he approached it as a craft.
After two early misfires, Scarlet Fever (1924) and Children of the Storm (1926), Ermler truly began his directing career with the melodrama Katka the Apple Seller (1926).
In his later career, Ermler became one of the Soviet propaganda filmmakers whose chief concern was to glorify Stalin and his success as a leader. As a result, he was a four-time recipient of the Stalin Prize.
Ermler died in Leningrad, July 12, 1967.
Sources
ESSENTIAL FILMOGRAPHY
1926 – Katka the Apple Seller
1929 – A Fragment of the Empire
1943 – No Greater Love
Complete Filmography
1929 – A Fragment of the Empire
1943 – No Greater Love
Complete Filmography