Benjamin Christensen (28 September 1879 â€" 2 April 1959) was a Danish
film director, screenwriter and an actor both in film and on the
stage. As a director he is most well known for the 1922 film Häxan
and as an actor, he is best known for his performance in the film
Michael (1924), in which he plays Claude Zoret, the jilted lover of
the film's title character.Benjamin Christensen was born in Viborg,
Denmark, the youngest of twelve children. He initially studied
medicine, but caught the acting bug and began studies at the Det
Kongelige Teater (Royal Danish Theatre) in Copenhagen in 1901.
Christensen's professional acting career began in Aarhus in 1907, but
after a short stint as actor he abandoned the stage in order to become
a wine salesman. In 1911, Christensen made his debut as a film actor;
all of his pre-directorial efforts are lost, but among such films was
Scenens børn (1913), the only motion picture directed by eminent
Norwegian playwright and stage director Bjørn Bjørnson.In 1913,
Christensen assumed control of the small, Hellborg-based production
company for which he worked and reorganized it as Dansk-Biograf
Kompagnie. The first film he directed, Det hemmelighedsfulde X (The
Mysterious X, 1914), was one of the most astonishing directorial
debuts in film history; although a routine spy melodrama, the
camerawork, cutting and art direction were revolutionary for the
period. Christensen himself played the main role, as he did in his
second film, Hævnens nat (Blind Justice, 1916). Once again,
Christensen portrayed a man wrongly accused of murder, and the
artistic quality of his sophomore effort was equal to his first.
Despite the success of his first two films, Christensen did not find
acceptance within the Danish film industry, and after Blind Justice he
returned to the stage.
film director, screenwriter and an actor both in film and on the
stage. As a director he is most well known for the 1922 film Häxan
and as an actor, he is best known for his performance in the film
Michael (1924), in which he plays Claude Zoret, the jilted lover of
the film's title character.Benjamin Christensen was born in Viborg,
Denmark, the youngest of twelve children. He initially studied
medicine, but caught the acting bug and began studies at the Det
Kongelige Teater (Royal Danish Theatre) in Copenhagen in 1901.
Christensen's professional acting career began in Aarhus in 1907, but
after a short stint as actor he abandoned the stage in order to become
a wine salesman. In 1911, Christensen made his debut as a film actor;
all of his pre-directorial efforts are lost, but among such films was
Scenens børn (1913), the only motion picture directed by eminent
Norwegian playwright and stage director Bjørn Bjørnson.In 1913,
Christensen assumed control of the small, Hellborg-based production
company for which he worked and reorganized it as Dansk-Biograf
Kompagnie. The first film he directed, Det hemmelighedsfulde X (The
Mysterious X, 1914), was one of the most astonishing directorial
debuts in film history; although a routine spy melodrama, the
camerawork, cutting and art direction were revolutionary for the
period. Christensen himself played the main role, as he did in his
second film, Hævnens nat (Blind Justice, 1916). Once again,
Christensen portrayed a man wrongly accused of murder, and the
artistic quality of his sophomore effort was equal to his first.
Despite the success of his first two films, Christensen did not find
acceptance within the Danish film industry, and after Blind Justice he
returned to the stage.
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