Andrew Marton (born Endre Marton; 26 January 1904 – 7 January 1992) was a Hungarian-American film director. In his career, he directed 39 films and television programs, and worked on 16 as a second unit director, including the chariot race in Ben Hur (1959).
Life and career
Marton was born in Budapest, Hungary. After high-school graduation in 1922 he was taken by Alfréd Deésy to Vienna to work at Sascha-Film, mostly as an assistant editor. After a few months, he rose the attention of director Ernst Lubitsch, who convinced him to try Hollywood. Marton returned to Europe in 1927, and worked as the main editor of the Tobis company in Berlin, and later as an assistant director in Vienna. He directed his Two O'Clock in the Morning, first feature film, in 1929 in Great Britain. He joined a German expedition to Tibet in 1934, where he filmed Demon of the Himalayas. Marton cited that he was Jewish as a reason that the film could not be released with his name as director, citing a conversation he had had with Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.[1]
After returning to Hungary, he directed his only Hungarian movie in 1935 in Budapest. Between 1936 and 1939, he worked with Alexander Korda in London. After the outbreak of World War II, he moved to the United States. During the 1940s and 1950s, he worked mostly for MGM Studios. In 1954, he founded his own production company with Ivan Tors, Louis Meyer and László Benedek. Ray worked as both as a feature film director and as a second unit director in many big budget epic films. On 55 Days at Peking, Marton went from second unit direction to act as one of the film's uncredited additional directors, devising the film's opening sequence.[2]
Marton was active until the middle of the 1970s. On January 7, 1992, he died of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California.[3]
Legacy
The works of Andrew Marton are focused on exoticism, nature, and spectacle. Beside feature films, he was also notable in television, creating several nature films and supervising episodes of series like Flipper and Daktari. Remembered for cinematic moments like the chariot race of Ben Hur, or the battle scenes of A Farewell to Arms, he worked as second unit director for Hollywood directors, including William Wyler, Fred Zinneman, Joseph Mankiewicz and Mike Nichols. Director John Landis referred to Marton as his mentor.[4]
^Marton, Andrew; D'Antonio, Joanne. Andrew Marton: Interviewed by Joanne D'Antonio, p. 79. Directors Guild of America, 1991. ISBN0-8108-2472-8. Accessed March 5, 2012. "Marton: I was a Jew, and I could not direct this picture. It could not come out with my name on it. I Had negotiations with Mr. Goebbels in his office where he said, 'I understand that the leading man, the cameraman and your wife who plays the leading lady all say they will not finish the picture unless you direct it."
^Richards, Jeffrey China and the Chinese in Popular Film: From Fu Manchu to Charlie Chan I.B.Tauris, 9 Nov 2016
