Ladislao Vajda

Ladislao Vajda (born Vajda László, ; 18 August 1906 – 25 March 1965) was a Hungarian-Spanish film director who made films in Hungary, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Italy and West Germany.

Biography Vajda was born in Budapest, his father, Ladislaus Vajda, being an actor and screenwriter.

Vajda started his career as film editor (even though he also worked as artistic designer and writer) for different directors, such as Billy Wilder and Henry Koster. Eventually, he undertook his first directorial effort in his native country, Hungary.

Before World War II he became established in Italy, where he directed two movies: La zia smemorata (1940) and (1941). Finally, he moved to Spain, where he continued directing films. The first film from his Spanish period was Se vende un palacio (A Palace for Sale), released in 1943. During the 1940s, Vajda directed several movies in Portugal, United Kingdom and, mainly, in Spain.

However, he would reach his artistic peak in the 1950s. Vajda's movies during this period are clearly influenced by the German director Fritz Lang. His main works during this period are: Miracle of Marcelino (1955), Uncle Hyacynth (1956), Afternoon of the Bulls (1956), The Man Who Wagged His Tail (1957) with Peter Ustinov, and It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958). They were acclaimed by both critics and public: The Miracle of Marcelino and Uncle Hyacynth won different prizes in Cannes Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival; Afternoon of the Bulls was nominated for the Palme d'Or and It Happened in Broad Daylight for the Golden Bear.

During the 1960s, Vajda worked on several different minor works in West Germany and Spain. He died in Barcelona in 1965.

Filmography

The Beggar Student (1931) German The Fate of Renate Langen (1931) German The Woman They Talk About (1931) German My Heart Longs for Love (1931) German Once There Was a Waltz (1932) German A Bit of Love (1932) German Two Lucky Days (1932) German Where Is This Lady? (1932) British Love on Skis (1933) Ball at the Savoy (1935) Austrian-Hungarian Haut comme trois pommes (1935) Hello, Budapest! (1935) Hungarian Sensation (1936) Hungarian The Man Under the Bridge (1936) Hungarian Three Dragons (1936) Hungarian Cafe Moscow (1936) Hungarian Wings Over Africa (1937) British The Wife of General Ling (1937) British The Borrowed Castle (1937) Hungarian My Daughter Is Different (1937) Hungarian Princess Tarakanova (1938) French-Italian Magda Expelled (1938) Hungarian Döntő pillanat (1938) – Hungarian Black Diamonds (1938) Hungarian Rézi Friday (1938) Hungarian La zia smemorata (1940) Italian (1941) Italian A Palace for Sale (1942) Spanish Doce lunas de miel (1944) Spanish Te quiero para mí (1944) Spanish El Testamento del virrey (1944) Spanish O Diabo São Elas (1945) Portuguese Cinco lobitos (1945) Three Mirrors (1947) Portuguese Viela, Rua Sem Sol (1947) Portuguese Barrio (1947) Spanish Call of the Blood (1948) British-Italian The Golden Madonna (1949) British-Italian Sin uniforme (1950) – Spanish The Woman with No Name (1950) British The Seventh Page (1951) Spanish Spanish Serenade (1952) Spanish Doña Francisquita (1953) Spanish Carne de horca (1953) Italian-Spanish Aventuras del barbero de Sevilla (1954) French-Spanish Marcelino pan y vino (1955) Spanish Tarde de toros (1956) Spanish Mi tío Jacinto (1956) Spanish Un ángel pasó por Brooklyn (1957) Spanish-Italian It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958) German The Man Who Walked Through the Wall (1959) West German Maria, Registered in Bilbao (1960) Spanish The Shadows Grow Longer (1961) West German-Swiss The Liar (1961) West German The Lightship (1963) West German A Nearly Decent Girl (1963) West German-Spanish La Dama de Beirut (1965) Italian