Jan S. Kolár (11 May 1896 – 30 October 1973) was a Czech film director, screenwriter, actor and film historian. He directed a big budget historical film St. Wenceslas.

Jan S. Kolár
Born(1896-05-11)11 May 1896
Died30 October 1973(1973-10-30) (aged 77)
NationalityCzech
Occupation(s)Film director
Screenwriter
Actor

Life

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Jan Stanislav Kolár was born Jan Nepomucký Josef Kohn in a Jewish family in Prague. The whole family converted to Christianity and changed their surname to Kolár. He studied law at Charles University and graduated in 1921. His favorite directors of the silent era were D. W. Griffith and Paul Wegener. He started directing films in 1917.

The most important surviving Kolár's films are a crime drama The Poisoned Light, a fantasy horror The Arrival from the Darkness, and a historical film St. Wenceslas. He stopped directing after 1929 and later worked as a studio executive in a nationalized film industry and then as a film historian in Czech Film Archive. He continued to act in supporting roles until his retirement in 1964.[1]

In 2018 a DVD boxset with seven of Kolár's films was released by Czech Film Archive.[2]

Selected filmography

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Director and screenwriter

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Year Title Director Screenwriter Notes
1917 Polykarp's Winter Adventure Yes Yes Short film
1918 The Oriental Languages' Teacher Yes Yes Short film
1919 Teddy Would Like to Smoke No Yes Short film. Considered lost.
Lady with the Small Foot Yes Yes Co-directed with Přemysl Pražský.
Alois Wins the Lottery No Yes Considered lost.
Chord of Death Yes Yes Considered lost.
1920 The Missing Letters No Yes
The Song of Gold Yes Yes Considered lost.
1921 The Cross by the Brook Yes Yes
The Poisoned Light Yes Yes Co-directed with Karel Lamač.
The Arrival from the Darkness Yes Yes
The Torn Photograph Yes Yes Short film
1922 The Maharajah's Pleasure No Yes Considered lost.
The Dead are Living Yes Yes Considered lost.
1925 Parnasie No Yes
The Sun Disciples No Yes
1926 The Three Loves of Řina Sezimová Yes Yes
1928 Eve's Daughters No Yes
1929 St. Wenceslas Yes Yes
1937 Blackmailer No Yes

References

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  1. ^ "Jan S. Kolár". Filmový přehled (in Czech). NFA.
  2. ^ Martin Šrajer (2018). "Otrávené světlo a Příchozí z temnot na DVD". Filmový přehled (in Czech). NFA. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
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