Conrad Veidt was a name from my early childhood; a name I often heard from my parents, long before I ever saw any of his movies. So it stuck with me ever since.
The more I learned about him, the more fascinated I became with his films. Yet what has absorbed me even more is the man behind the actor, and the intrigue involved with his life. But we'll get to that shortly.
I was about four when I started hearing his name after my parents had seen him as the lead in a British import called, “U-BOAT 29” – its American title. Or, “The Spy in Black”, as it was known to the rest of the world.
By then Conrad Veidt had already been a big star for more than two decades in films throughout Europe. But even though he'd made other movies here in the U.S., he was still relatively unknown until 1940 with the release of “The Thief of Bagdad”.
My parents always spoke fondly of him, and apparently knew him through their friends, the Natzlers.*
While his name may not be familiar to many of you, if you've ever seen either of these two classic movies on late night TV, you'd recognize him instantly. He was the villain in both. The first and most famous was “Casablanca” with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in which he played the Nazi, Major Heinrich Strasser. It was released in 1943, but continues to return like clockwork on Turner Movie Classics.
The second – and my all time favorite – was the Korda Brothers' 1940 epic fantasy, “The Thief of Bagdad” in which he was the villainous magician, Jaffar.
Veidt as Jaffar the evil magician, “Thief of Bagdahd”
As one of the highest paid actors for UFA, the legendary German film studio, Veidt made nearly 120 films, 27 of them in English. His filmography goes all the way back to 1916. But he didn't really reach stardom until his role in the 1920 silent movie classic, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, in which he played the Frankenstein-like somnambulist, Cesare.
Veidt as Cesare the Somnambulist in “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligary”
By 1932 he was already a movie icon, bringing worldwide fame to Germany and its motion picture industry. But he was also having political conflicts with the increasingly powerful National Socialist German Workers' Party, NSDAP, or NAZIS for short.
The following year, 1933, the Nazis reached the pinnacle in their rise to power, when in January, Adolph Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany. By then, Veidt was already on the Nazi black list, in part because of movies he had made against the wishes of the party.
Veidt had starred in two films, “The Wandering Jew”, and “Jew Suss.” Both were sympathetic portrayals of Jews, and a slap in the face to Josef Goebbels, Adolph Hitler, and the Nazi Party.
He further angered the regime when he married Lily Prager, a German Jew. The Nazis did not want the marriage to happen.
Then he further tweaked their noses when he and Lily were making arrangements to get out of Germany and move to England. Out of spite, he filled out the emigration forms as if he were a Jew, although he was not.
This show of defiance angered the Nazis even more, complicating the newlywed's departure.
Goebbels retaliated swiftly, first by issuing press releases condemning the actor and his films. Then as 'payback' for betraying his homeland, Veidt was detained by the Gestapo and his execution was ordered for his anti-Nazi activities.
But then Hitler had second thoughts and eventually allowed him to go free rather than risk international condemnation.
However, the Nazi's change of heart may have simply caused them to refocus their need for vindication on two of Veidt's friends – causing the death of one and the narrow escape of another.
The one who escaped was Dr. Adolph Natzler, who you can read about in my previous blog in the Jewish Journal.
But the one who died was Hans Grohman, an artist and journalist and dear friend of both Veidt and the Natzlers'.
His friend, Hans Grohman sketching Veidt’s portrait
His faults were that he was a journalist who didn't like the Nazis, was gay and a close friend of Veidt's.
The Gestapo murdered him in 1933 and Dr. Natzler had to retrieve his body.
Meanwhile, once Veidt was in England permanently, he became an English citizen and continued to make movies there for the next seven years.
But from the time he left Germany, which was long before WWII, he became known for donating large portions of his earnings to support numerous anti-Nazi/Pro-Jewish causes. This may well have been his way of getting back at the Hitler and his henchmen for what they did to his two friends, and what was happening to his beloved homeland.
Veidt would never return to Germany. But when he first arrived in England, he made arrangements to have his former wife, Felicitas, and their young daughter, Viola, moved to the safety of Switzerland. Viola was the love of his life, and he visited her as often as possible, at least until the war began.
In 1939 in London, he began filming “The Thief of Bagdad,” but it wasn't long before German bombs began falling on London. It was the beginning of the “Blitz” – the Luftwaffe's massive air strikes on the city. It forced the entire movie company to leave London by 1940, and shift production to Hollywood, marking Veidt's final return to America.
His famous role as Major Strasser in “Casablanca” came two years later, in 1942.
Veidt made one more film here in 1943 – “Above Suspicion”, with Joan Crawford and Fred McMurray. That was just before his very premature death, at age 50. He was playing golf at the Riveria Country Club when he collapsed on the course and died of a heart attack.
You can read more about Conrad Veidt and his incredible movie career at these two extremely in depth websites by the very knowledgeable Monica Ilie:
http://conradveidt.wordpress.com/
http://conradveidtforever.wordpress.com/
And you can read more of my blogs at http://ForTheLifeofMe-film.com including *Searching for the Natzlers
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