Charles Decroix (born late 19th century; died after 1919) was a French director, film producer and screenwriter whose career reached a peak in Germany in the period before World War I, one of the forgotten pioneers from the early days of European cinema.
Biography
Early successes The son of an Alsatian shoemaker,Richard Abel, Encyclopedia of Early Cinema, Routledge, New York, 2005, p. 241 Decroix joined cinematography in 1899, a field that had barely developed until then. Subsequently, he initially wrote scripts for various companies.
In 1907, Decroix was hired by Pathé, for whom he directed, among other films, Children's Reformatory; a Balzac adaptation of Les paysans; and a short film grotesque with Max Linder, Une conquête.
In the spring of 1910, Decroix came to Berlin and spent the next four years shooting for German production companies. Until the outbreak of World War I, he was one of the leading filmmakers in the early days of German cinematography, providing its first artistic inspirations and technical know-how. Both his dramas and a series of comedies met with critical acclaim.Ein neues Decroix-Genre, advertisement by Monopolfilm-Vertriebs-Ges. mbH, In: Lichtbild-Bühne, No. 21, May 24, 1913; reprint in: Hans-Michael Bock: Der komische Kintopp, Frühe deutsche Komödien, FilmMaterialien 10, CineGraph and Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, Hamburg, Berlin 1997.
In 1912, he went to Italy and worked briefly for Milano Films.
In 1913, he came back to Berlin and founded his own production company, Films Charles Decroix. Decroix was the discoverer of subsequently celebrated silent film stars such as Bernd Aldor and Fern Andra. He was also a mentor to film director Carl Wilhelm. He also worked for Dekage (Deutsche Kinematograph Gesellschaft), Monopol-Film and Continental-Kunstfilm.
Internment in Switzerland A French citizen, Decroix fled Berlin in August 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and the resulting declaration of war by the German Empire on France. At the time, he was in the midst of filming the Andra melodrama Moon Fisherman, which remained unfinished. He set out for Switzerland, where he was interned in the village of Frutigen until the end of the war in 1918. Only in the period between the beginning and the summer of 1917 did he manage to obtain directing assignments for several films in and around Zürich.
Postwar activities After the end of the war, Decroix returned to France. In Alsace he tried to continue his film career in 1919, with the creation of the production company Le film alsacien. However, his stay in Germany before the war brought him fierce hostility and thwarted the realization of his projects.Gaston de Pawlowski, Comoedia, 1919. He then returned to Berlin for two film projects, which he realized with Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers. After these two comedy films starring Leo Peukert and Sabine Impekoven, Decroix was no longer involved in cinema.
Nothing is known of his life subsequently.
Selected filmography as director 1907–1910 in France, 1910–1914 and 1921–1922 in Germany, 1917 in Switzerland:
1907: Children's Reformatory 1908: Pédicure d’amour 1909: La victime 1909: Dans l’Hellade 1909: Les paysans 1909: 1910: 1910: Haine implacable 1910: Affaire d’honneur 1910: 1910: Der Hühneraugenoperateur 1910: Der Leuchtturmwächter 1910: Graf Gallas 1910: Das vierte Gebot 1910: Die Spinne 1910: Weihnachtstränen 1910: Pro Patria 1911: Das Herz einer Gattin 1911: Die neue Gouvernante 1911: Die guten Hosen 1912: Mona Lisa 1913: Freunde 1913: Der Fleck 1913: 1913: 1913: Ave Maria 1913: Die Affaire Dumaine 1913: Die Freuden der Reserveübung 1913: Brutal 1913: Gütertrennung? 1913: Vae Victis! 1914: Die kleine Heiratsvermittlerin 1914: Schwitzbad G.m.b.H. 1914: Die Unschuld vom Lande 1914: Zimmer No. 22 1914: Ein Frauenherz 1914: 1914: Im Liebestaumel 1917: Ein Ausflug der französischen Internierten von Interlaken nach der Schynigen Platte (short documentary) 1917: Seeregatta auf dem Zürichsee (short documentary) 1917: Die sieben Todsünden: Der Zorn 1917: Endlich allein 1917: Grenze besetzt! 1917: Frühlingsmanöver 1921: Der Herr Papa (co-director) 1922: Der Herr Landrat (co-director)
References
External links
Michael Wedel: Decroix, Charles Encyclopedia of Early Cinema, 2009