Paul Fejos

Pál Fejős, known professionally as Paul Fejos, was born on January twenty-fourth, nineteen ninety-seven, in Hungary. He emerged as a multifaceted talent, excelling as a film director, anthropologist, screenwriter, and university teacher. His early life was marked by a pursuit of medicine, which laid the groundwork for his later anthropological endeavors.

During World War I, Fejos served as a medical orderly for the Imperial Austrian Army, stationed on the Italian front lines. His experiences during the war also included managing a theater that entertained troops, showcasing his early inclination towards the arts. After the war, he returned to Budapest, where he began his cinematic journey with the Orient-Film production company.

Fejos started directing films around nineteen nineteen or nineteen twenty for Mobil Studios in Hungary. However, the political climate forced him to flee in nineteen twenty-three to escape the White Terror and the Horthy regime. His journey took him to New York City and eventually to Hollywood, where he began production on his first American feature film, The Last Moment, in October nineteen twenty-seven. The film's success led to a contract with Universal Studios, marking the beginning of a fruitful career in American cinema.

In nineteen thirty-one, Fejos made the decision to leave America and direct sound films in France. His career took a significant turn in nineteen forty-one when he ceased filmmaking altogether to become the director of research and acting head of the Viking Fund, where he continued to contribute to the fields of anthropology and film until his passing on April twenty-third, nineteen sixty-three.