Known for Directing
Henry Koster (May 1, 1905 – September 21, 1988), born Hermann Kosterlitz, was a German-born film director, who worked in Europe as well as in Hollywood. Although he never won an Oscar, Koster directed six different actors in Oscar-nominated performances. In 1932, Koster directed his first film in Berlin, the comedy Thea Roland. In the midst of directing his second film Das häßliche Mädchen, Jewish Koster had been the subject of antisemitism, and knew he had to leave the country. He left Germany for France, where he was rehired by director Curtis Bernhardt, who had also fled. Eventually Koster went to Budapest, where he met and married Kató Király in 1934. There he also met Joe Pasternak, who represented Universal in Europe, and directed three films for him. Through his friend Gabriel Levy he ended up directing Dutch sound film De Kribbebijter, released internationally as The Cross-Patch, which proved a success both in the Netherlands - where it played in cinemas for no less than seven years - and in the UK. Soon after, Koster signed a deal with Universal Pictures in Hollywood and moved to the United States. Although Koster did not speak English, he convinced the studio to let him make Three Smart Girls, for which he personally coached to-be star Deanna Durbin. This picture, a big success, pulled Universal out of bankruptcy. Koster's second Universal film, One Hundred Men and a Girl, also was successful. After this, Koster discovered Abbott and Costello at a nightclub in New York. He returned to Hollywood and convinced Universal to hire them. Their first picture was One Night in the Tropics; the female lead, Peggy Moran, became Koster's second wife in 1942. Ironically, despite Koster's escape from Nazi Germany, when the United States entered World War II Koster was considered an enemy alien and had to stay in his house in the evening. Actor Charles Laughton would visit Koster and play chess with him. Nonetheless, Koster's postwar career proved equally successful. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Bishop's Wife (1947). In 1950, he directed his biggest success: the James Stewart comedy Harvey. He directed Richard Burton's first U.S. film, My Cousin Rachel, and then in 1953, he was given The Robe, the first CinemaScope film. His last picture was The Singing Nun in 1965. Koster retired to Leisure Village in Camarillo, California, where he painted a series of portraits of the movie stars with whom he worked.
Born
May 1, 1905
Died
September 21, 1988 (age 83)
Birthplace
Berlin, Germany
Filmography
88 films


The Singing Nun
1966 · 1h 37m · US
Belgian nun Sister Ann is sent to another order where she's at first committed to helping troubled souls, like Nichole and little Dominic. When Father Clementi hears Sister Ann's uplifting singing style, he takes her to a talent contest. Sister Ann is signed to a record deal and everyone is listening to her lighthearted songs. She is unprepared for her newfound fame (like appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show) and unwanted side effects, including a wrongful attraction to an old friend.


Dear Brigitte
1965 · 1h 40m · US
Professor Leaf, an absent-minded poet with a prejudice against the sciences, is forced to face the fact that his son is a math prodigy with little artistic talent of his own.


Take Her, She's Mine
1963 · 1h 38m · US
After reluctantly packing up his daughter, Mollie, and sending her away to study art at a Paris college, Frank Michaelson gives new meaning to the term "concerned parent." Reading Mollie's letters describing her counter-culture experiences and beatnik friends, Frank eventually grows so paranoid that he boards a plane to Paris to see firsthand the kind of lessons his daughter is learning with her new artist amour.


Marilyn
1963 · 1h 23m · US
This 1963 documentary, released less than a year after Marilyn Monroe's death, showcases the star in memorable scenes from her 20th Century Fox films, including wardrobe tests and clips from her last, uncompleted project, "Something's Got To Give". Hosted and narrated by Rock Hudson.


Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
1962 · 1h 56m · US
Banker Roger Hobbs wants to spend his vacation alone with his wife, Peggy, but she insists on a family vacation at a California beach house that turns out to be ugly and broken down. Daughter Katey, embarrassed by her braces, refuses to go to the beach, as does TV-addicted son Danny. When the family is joined by Hobbs' two unhappily married daughters and their husbands, he must help everyone with their problems to get some peace.


Flower Drum Song
1961 · 2h 13m · US
A young woman arrives in San Francisco's Chinatown, from Hong Kong, with the intention of marrying a rakish nightclub owner, unaware he is involved with one of his singers.


The Story of Ruth
1960 · 2h 12m · US
Ruth is one of two Moabite women who marry the sons of Elimelech and Naomi. When Elimelech and sons Mahlon and Chillion die, leaving Naomi a widow with two widowed daughters-in-law, Naomi decides to return to Israel. One daughter-in-law, Orpah, bids her goodbye. Daughter-in-law Ruth however says she will not desert her.


The Naked Maja
1958 · 1h 51m · IT
A historical fiction based on the lives of the artist Goya and the Duchess of Alba.


Fraulein
1958 · 1h 35m · US
A Nazi's fiancee helps an escaped U.S. soldier, then meets him in postwar Berlin.


My Man Godfrey
1957 · 1h 32m · US
The eccentric Bullock household again need a new butler. Daughter Irene encounters bedraggled Godfrey Godfrey at the docks and, fancying him and noticing his obviously good manners, gets him the job. He proves a great success, but keeps his past to himself. When an old flame turns up Irene's sister Cordelia starts making waves.


The Power and the Prize
1956 · 1h 38m · US
An ambitious executive jeopardizes his career to marry a European refugee.


D-Day the Sixth of June
1956 · 1h 46m · US
En route to Normandy, an American and a British officer reminisce in flashback about their romances with the same woman.


Good Morning, Miss Dove
1955 · 1h 47m · US
Miss Dove is a prim New England school teacher who is treasured by her students in the small town of Liberty Hill. When she falls ill, a kindly doctor, who is a former student of Miss Dove's, comes to her aid. As many of her pupils, present and past, come to see her in the hospital, they reveal how Miss Dove has greatly impacted their lives over the years. These visitors include a police officer, a playwright, a banker, a convict, and an unmarried mother.


The Virgin Queen
1955 · 1h 32m · US
Sir Walter Raleigh overcomes court intrigue to win favor with the Queen in order to get financing for a proposed voyage to the New World.


A Man Called Peter
1955 · 1h 59m · US
Based on the true story of a young Scottish lad, Peter Marshall, who dreams of only going to sea but finds out there is a different future for him when he receives a "calling" from God to be a minister. He leaves Scotland and goes to America where after a few small congregations he lands the position of pastor of the Church of the Presidents in Washington, D.C. and eventually he becomes Chaplain of the U.S. Senate.


Désirée
1954 · 1h 50m · US
In Marseilles, France in 1794, Desiree Clary, a young millinery clerk, becomes infatuated with Napoleon Bonaparte, but winds up wedding General Jean-Baptiste Berandotte, an aid to Napoleon who later joins the forces that bring about the Emperor's downfall. Josephine Beauharnais, a worldly courtesan marries Napoleon and becomes Empress of France, but is then cast aside by her spouse when she proves unable to produce an heir to the throne.


The Robe
1953 · 2h 15m · US
Drunk and disillusioned Roman, Marcellus Gallio, wins Jesus' robe in a dice game after the crucifixion. Marcellus has never been a man of faith like his slave, Demetrius, but when Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus experiences disturbing visions and feels guilty for his actions. Convinced that destroying the robe will cure him, Marcellus sets out to find Demetrius — and discovers his Christian faith along the way.


My Cousin Rachel
1952 · 1h 38m · US
A young man plots revenge against the woman he believes murdered his cousin, but his plans are shaken when he comes face to face with the enigmatic beauty.


Stars and Stripes Forever
1952 · 1h 30m · US
A film biography of the composer John Philip Sousa, from his early days in the Marine Corps Band through the Spanish-American War in 1898.


O. Henry's Full House
1952 · 1h 57m · US
Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".


Elopement
1951 · 1h 22m · US
Two sets of parents frantically race to stop their eloping children's wedding.


Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
1951 · 1h 27m · US
Posing as a man over 70, a lecturer (Clifton Webb) enters an old-folks home to prove age is a state of mind.


No Highway in the Sky
1951 · 1h 38m · US
James Stewart plays aeronautical engineer Theodore Honey, the quintessential absent-minded professor: eccentric, forgetful, but brilliant. His studies show that the aircraft being manufactured by his employer has a subtle but deadly design flaw that manifests itself only after the aircraft has flown a certain number of hours. En route to a crash site to prove his theory, Honey discovers that he is aboard a plane rapidly approaching his predicted deadline.


Harvey
1950 · 1h 44m · US
The story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.


My Blue Heaven
1950 · 1h 35m · US
Radio star Kitty Moran, long married to partner Jack, finds she's pregnant, but miscarries. For a change, the couple turn their act into a series on early TV and try to adopt a baby. Finally they acquiring a girl in a somewhat back alley manner.


Wabash Avenue
1950 · 1h 32m · US
Andy Clark discovers he was cheated out of a half interest in partner Mike's business, now a thriving dance hall in 1892 Chicago. Unable to win it back, Andy schemes to make Mike's position untenable. He also hopes to turn Ruby Summers, Mike's motor-mouthed burlesque queen, into a classier entertainer, and incidentally to make her his own. But at the last minute, Andy's revenge comes unravelled.


The Inspector General
1949 · 1h 41m · US
An illiterate stooge in a traveling medicine show wanders into a strange town and is picked up on a vagrancy charge. The town's corrupt officials mistake him for the inspector general whom they think is traveling in disguise. Fearing he will discover they've been pocketing tax money, they make several bungled attempts to kill him.


Come to the Stable
1949 · 1h 34m · US
Two nuns arrive unannounced in the small New England town of Bethlehem, where they recruit various townspeople to help them build a children's hospital.


The Luck of the Irish
1948 · 1h 39m · US
Following American reporter Stephen Fitzgerald from Ireland to New York, a grateful leprechaun acts as the newsman's servant and conscience.


The Bishop's Wife
1947 · 1h 49m · US
An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family's affections, as Christmas approaches.


The Unfinished Dance
1947 · 1h 41m · US
Meg, a young ballet student, idolizes the school's top ballerina, the shallow Ariane Bouchet. Meg is distressed when she learns visiting prima ballerina Darina rather than Bouchet will play the lead in the school's production of "Swan Lake." So on opening night, Meg arranges an accident which nearly kills Darina and ends her dancing career. As a result, Bouchet becomes a star, while Meg is torn with guilt. This is a remake of the 1937 French film "Ballerina", based on a short story by Paul Morand.


Two Sisters from Boston
1946 · 1h 52m · US
Abigail Chandler has written her stuffy Boston relatives that she's a successful opera singer in New York. In reality, she works at a burlesque house and is billed as High-C Susie. When her sister Martha comes for a visit, Abigail tries to hide the truth from her.


Music for Millions
1944 · 1h 57m · US
Six-year-old "Mike" goes to live with her pregnant older sister, Babs, who plays string bass in José Iturbi's orchestra. And the orchestra is rapidly turning completely female, what with the draft. As the orchestra travels around the country, Babs' fellow orchestra members intercept and hide her War Office telegram to protect the baby.


Between Us Girls
1942 · 1h 25m · US
A 20-year-old stage actress takes on her most challenging role when she pretends to be her own mother's 12-year-old daughter.


It Started with Eve
1941 · 1h 30m · US
A young man asks a hat check girl to pose as his fiancée in order to make his dying father's last moments happy. However, the old man's health takes a turn for the better and now his son doesn't know how to break the news that he's engaged to someone else, especially since his father is so taken with the impostor.


Spring Parade
1940 · 1h 29m · US
In this light and lovely romantic musical, a Hungarian woman attends a Viennese fair and buys a card from a gypsy fortune teller. It says that she will meet someone important and is destined for a happy marriage. Afterward she gets a job as a baker's assistant. She then meets a handsome army drummer who secretly dreams of becoming a famous composer and conductor. Unfortunately the military forbids the young corporal to create his own music. But then Ilonka secretly sends one of the drummer's waltzes to the Austrian Emperor with his weekly order of pastries. Her act paves the way toward the tuneful and joyous fulfillment of the gypsy's prediction.


First Love
1939 · 1h 24m · US
In this reworking of Cinderella, orphaned Connie Harding is sent to live with her rich aunt and uncle after graduating from boarding school. She's hardly received with open arms, especially by her snobby cousin Barbara. When the entire family is invited to a major social ball, Barbara sees to it that Connie is forced to stay home. With the aid of her uncle, who acts as her fairy godfather, Connie makes it to the ball and meets her Prince Charming in Ted Drake, her cousin's boyfriend.


Three Smart Girls Grow Up
1939 · 1h 30m · US
Three sisters who believe life is going to be easy, now that their parents are back together, until one sister falls in love with another's fiancé, and the youngest sister plays matchmaker.


The Rage of Paris
1938 · 1h 18m · US
Nicole has no job and is several weeks behind with her rent. Her solution to her problems is to try and snare a rich husband. Enlisting the help of her friend Gloria and the maitre'd at a ritzy New York City hotel, the trio plot to have Gloria catch the eye of Bill Duncan, a millionaire staying at the hotel. The plan works and the two quickly become engaged. Nicole's plan may be thwarted by Bill's friend, Jim Trevor, who's met Nicole before and sees through her plot.


One Hundred Men and a Girl
1937 · 1h 24m · US
The daughter of a struggling musician forms a symphony orchestra made up of his unemployed friends and through persistence, charm and a few misunderstandings, is able to get Leopold Stokowski to lead them in a concert that leads to a radio contract.


Three Smart Girls
1936 · 1h 24m · US
The three Craig sisters – Penny, Kay, and Joan – go to New York to stop their divorced father from marrying gold digger Donna Lyons and reunite him with their mother.


Catherine the Last
1936 · 1h 29m · AT
Story of a naive kitchen maid who falls in love with a wealthy womanizer.


Affairs of Maupassant
1935 · 1h 26m · AT
A story of the romance of Maria Baschkirtzeff and Guy de Maupassant beginning with their first meeting leading to other meetings and the development of their ill-fated romance.


The Ugly Girl
1935 · 1h 38m · HU
Dr. Halmi has very strict principles towards women. He only employs ugly women in his office. So what can a poor unemployed secretary do? With the help of a wig and a pair of glasses, disguised as an old ugly woman, she soon becomes the lawyer's indispensable secretary.


The Crosspatch
1935 · 1h 26m · NL
Willy, the son of baron Van Hergershuizen, finds himself disinherited after he marries an untitled girl. His wife decides to take action and applies for the job of the baron's housekeeper.


Little Mother
1935 · 1h 30m · HU
A girl from a boarding school finds a baby and has to keep it because she seems to be the real mother to everyone.


Peter
1934 · 1h 25m · AT
Starring Francisca Gaál in a breeches role. Dressed as a boy, a street musician gets a job pumping gas. When s/he starts to have feelings for her patron, watch out for complications in this comedy shot in German in Budapest.


The Private Secretary Gets Married
1933 · 1h 12m · DE
An unattractive secretary is hired so the men in the office will focus on their work, but comic complications ensue.


Married by the Stork
1932 · DE
A modernist lady sculptor seeks a model for a statue to be put in front of a Berlin hospital, and finds him in the form of a London policeman-boxer. She's also interested in having a child.