Known For
Directing
Born
Dec 19, 1900
Died
Apr 28, 1989
Place of Birth
Arad, Austria-Hungary (now Romania)
Credits
82 titles
Géza von Cziffra
Biography
Géza von Cziffra (19 December 1900 – 28 April 1989) was a Hungarian and Austrian film director and screenwriter. Cziffra was a Banat German in origin, born in 1900 in Arad in the Banat region, at that date in the Kingdom of Hungary, now in Romania. Cziffra made films from the 1930s onwards, at first in Hungary, and from 1936 in Germany as well, where he was initially more active as a screenwriter. In 1945, in Prague, then occupied by the Germans, he made the film Leuchtende Schatten ("Glowing Shadows"). As adviser for the criminal police, he was assigned SS-Sturmbannführer Eweler, a member of the SD and brother of the actress Ruth Eweler. After some time, Cziffra banned Eweler from the studios for excessive and obstructive criticism. Shortly afterwards, he was arrested and taken to the Prague Gestapo Headquarters in the Pecec Palace, where he was accused of having eaten several times in the Czech restaurant "Neumann" without using ration stamps. He was eventually dispatched to Pankrác Prison, the remand and interrogation prison of Prague, and sentenced to six months' imprisonment, beginning on 12 February. He was released from detention on 19 April, shortly before the end of the war. In 1945, in Vienna, Cziffra founded the first post-war Austrian film production company: Cziffra-Film. Principally, and for preference, he made light entertainment and musical films, with well-known German and Austrian actors such as Peter Alexander, Rudolf Platte, Senta Berger and Hubert von Meyerinck. Through the input of musicians like Bill Ramsey or Bully Buhlan, the films mostly progressed to being musical revues with a local Austrian slant and flavour (Heimatfilme). Cziffra also worked as an actor himself, and later in his life published a number of books. He was married to the actress Ursula Justin, who starred in six of his films in the 1950s. He died on 28 April 1989 in Diessen am Ammersee in Bavaria. His remains are interred in the crematorium in the Ostfriedhof, Munich.
Known For
Filmography
Bruised Celluloid
Himself
Wetten, dass..?
Self
Heut' abend
Self
NDR Talk Show
Self
The Three Superguys
Screenplay
Wetterleuchten über dem Zillertal
Screenplay
Je später der Abend
Self
Should a Schoolgirl Tell?
Director
Das Go-Go-Girl vom Blow-Up
Screenplay
Paradies der flotten Sünder
Director
An der Donau, wenn der Wein blüht
Director
Ein Ferienbett mit 100 PS
Story
Lana: Queen of the Amazons
Director
Das Haus der Schlangen
Director
Charley's Aunt
Director
Frauen sind keine Engel
Director
Nachts ging das Telefon
Director
Der Vogelhändler
Director
The Sweet Life of Count Bobby
Director
Die Fledermaus
Director
Ein Stern fällt vom Himmel
Director
Junge Leute brauchen Liebe
Director
Die Abenteuer des Grafen Bobby
Director
Kauf Dir einen bunten Luftballon
Director
Hauptmann - deine Sterne
Director
Kriminaltango
Director
Als geheilt entlassen
Director
Salem Aleikum
Director
Ich bin kein Casanova
Director
Bobby Dodd intervenes
Director
Peter schießt den Vogel ab
Director
Schlag auf Schlag
Director
So ein Millionär hat's schwer
Director
Wehe, wenn sie losgelassen
Director
Nachtschwester Ingeborg
Director
Der müde Theodor
Director
Tante Wanda aus Uganda
Director
Das haut hin
Director
Crazy Otto
Director
Die Beine von Dolores
Director
Mädchen mit schwachem Gedächtnis
Director
Die gestohlene Hose
Director
Musikparade
Director
Bandits of the Highway
Director
Der falsche Adam
Director
Tanz in der Sonne
Director
Geld aus der Luft
Director
Die Blume von Hawaii
Director
Das singende Hotel
Director
Tanzende Sterne
Director