Karel Lamac

Karel Lamac was born on January 27, 1897 in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary.

In 1919 he directed his first movie, an activity which he practiced regularly from the middle of the 1920s.

From the time he met the actress Anny Ondra in 1920, she normally played leading roles in his movies. Together with the writer Vaclav Wasserman and the cinematographer Otto Heller, they formed an efficient team, which soon got the nickname Der starke Vierer (the strong four).

Karel Lamac was able to make a name in comedies. Among others, he filmed the story of the soldier Schwejk in "Dobry vojak Svejk - Der brave Soldat Schwejk (1926) for the first time.

Together with Anny Ondra, in 1930 he founded the production company "Ondra-Lamac-Filmgesellschaft", which concentrated especially on the market in Germany, Czechoslovakia, France and Austria.

He was a director and actor, known for Wo die Lerche singt (1936), Dobrý voják Svejk (1926) and Svejk na fronte (1926). He was married to Anny Ondra.

With the rise of the National Socialists it became more and more difficult for Lamac to work in Germany. His last movie was "Frühlingsluft" (1938). After that began an odyssey through half of Europe.

In 1943 he came up in England with cinematic works like "They Met in the Dark - Spionagering "M" and "Schweik's New Adventures/It Started at Midnight" (1943).

Karel Lamac shot two more movies in France after the war before he returned to Germany, where he tried to regain a foothold. But he could only make one movie, "Die Diebin von Bagdad" (1952). After that, he died of a stroke.