Anatole Litvak: a unique figure among émigré filmmakers in 1930s French cinema.

Anatole Litvak, a Russian Jew who began his career at Ufa in Berlin, was one of the German émigrés who settled in France after Hitler came to power. His case is little known, yet it is both singular and emblematic of the career of émigré filmmakers in France. Litvak established himself early in France, where he made four films between 1931 and 1935: Coeur de lilas/Lilac (1932), Cette vieille canaille ('This Old Rascal', 1933), L'Équipage/Flight into Darkness (1935) and Mayerling (1936), the triumph of the latter opening the door to Hollywood. Above all, his success was 'curious' compared to the difficulties faced by his colleagues: this first French period was one of the most fruitful of his career. This article looks back at Litvak's career to highlight his unique place in French cinema in the first half of the 1930s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]