Jan Stanislav Kolár

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.

Life 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.

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

Selected filmography

Director and screenwriter Year Title Director Screenwriter Notes 1917 Polykarp's Winter Adventure Short film 1918 The Oriental Languages' Teacher Short film1919 Teddy Would Like to Smoke Short film. Considered lost. Lady with the Small Foot Co-directed with Přemysl Pražský. Alois Wins the Lottery Considered lost. Chord of Death Considered lost.1920 The Missing Letters The Song of Gold Considered lost.1921 The Cross by the Brook The Poisoned Light Co-directed with Karel Lamač. The Arrival from the Darkness The Torn Photograph Short film1922 The Maharajah's Pleasure Considered lost. The Dead are Living Considered lost.1925 Parnasie The Sun Disciples 1926 The Three Loves of Řina Sezimová 1928 Eve's Daughters 1929 St. Wenceslas 1937 Blackmailer