Jiří Weiss

Biography

Jiří Weiss (29 March 1913 – 9 April 2004) was a Czech film director, screenwriter, writer, playwright and pedagogue. Jiří Weiss was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Prague. His father was a Czech patriot and named his son after Czech king Jiří of Poděbrady.His parents were Emil Weiss (1880–1942) and Martha Weissová (née Fuchsová; 1882–1944). Emil Weiss owned a liqueur factory in Libeň district. Since his youth, Jiří was an staunch communist, which was at the heart of disputes with his capitalist parents. As a young boy he was friends with Franz Kafka's niece Marianne Pollaková and thanks to her he was able to read the books of then-unknown writer Kafka in the 1920s. Weiss was interested in studying at film school, but his parents wished he studied law. While still a minor, he left his home and lived with his friend K. M. Walló [cs]. Weiss started to work as a copywriter in advertising. His father, who disagreed with his life choices and could still make decisions about his underage son, had him institutionalized in a mental hospital. Weiss never spoke to his father ever again. In his early twenties, he started working as a copywriter for the Prague branch of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer…

Directed

1. Romeo, Juliet and Darkness (1960) — Director
2. 90° in the Shade (1965) — Director
3. The Golden Fern (1963) — Director
4. Wolf Trap (1958) — Director
5. The Coward (1962) — Director
6. Murder Czech Style (1967) — Director
7. Spravedlnost pro Selvina (1968) — Director
8. Song of Ruthenia (1937) — Director
9. The Last Shot (1950) — Director
10. A Life at Stake (1956) — Director
11. Můj přítel Fabián (1955) — Director
12. The Stolen Border (1947) — Director
13. Martha and I (1990) — Director
14. Punta and the Four-Leaf Clover (1955) — Director
15. That Kind of Love (1959) — Director
16. Dejte nám křídla (1936) — Director
17. Wild Beasts (1948) — Director
18. Vstanou noví bojovníci (1951) — Director
19. We Will Remain Faithful (1945) — Director
20. Píseň o sletu – I. část – Mládí (1949) — Director
21. Days of Joy (1951) — Director
22. Who Killed Jack Robins? (1940) — Director
23. Wie man seinen Gatten los wird (1970) — Director
24. Waterloo (1969) — Director
25. Die Herberge (1970) — Director
26. The Rape of Czechoslovakia (1939) — Director
27. Before the Raid (1944) — Director
28. 100,000,000 Women (1942) — Director
29. The Illusion Factory (1938) — Director
30. Eternal Prague (1940) — Director
31. Promiňte, omyl! (1963) — Director
32. Píseň o sletu – II. část – Bratři a sestry (1949) — Director
33. The Other RAF (1942) — Director
34. The Sun Shines On The River Lužnicí (1937) — Director
35. Night and Day (1945) — Director
36. John Smith Wakes Up (1941) — Director

Also appeared in

1. That Kind of Love (1959) — Concert attendant
2. The Illusion Factory (1938) — Self