Stefan Markus

A well-read man, which is how some define Stefan Markus. Not wrong but a bit thin for a man of so many talents. Born in Zurich in 1884, young Stefan soon proved a fertile mind as well as a consummate reader. It comes as no surprise to find him studying literature... and history... and political economy. In 1909, with his Ph. D. in his pocket, he left Berlin where he had been a student and came back to Switzerland. That same year, he founded the Hertenstein Open Air Theater in Weggis and started writing plays and novels. In addition to these activities, he wrote articles for Swiss, German and Austrian newspapers. In the early 1920s, Markus tried his luck in yet another venture, namely film production. After putting two movies together in his native country, he moved to Paris where for five years running he was the driving force behind a series of silent movies, the best being Sables (1928). Back in Zurich in 1933, Stefan Markus launched an ambitious film company, Mentor Film, designed to produce film adaptations of major works of Swiss literature. Only one project came about though, due to the fact that The Kidnapping (1934) was a box office flop. Not because it was a bad movie, far from that: Dimitri Kirsanoff, who had previously directed 'Sables' for Markus, had actually graced his adaptation of Ramuz' novel with a splendid cinematography and allowed Arthur Honegger and Arthur Hoérée to provide a magnificent film score and a revolutionary sound design, but it may be the film's very artistry that kept viewers away. Despite such a setback, Markus' enterprising spirit remained uncurbed: in 1936, he was back in Paris, producing Jeunes filles de Paris (1936), the first feature film in color ever made in France. At the outbreak of World War II, Markus came back one more time to Switzerland where, until he retired in 1948, he wrote and/or produced several additional films. Undeniably an important figure of Swiss culture, Stefan Markus died in 1957 after a full and productive life.