Emanuel Gregers (28 December 1881 â€" 22 March 1957) was a Danish
actor, screenwriter and film director. Gregers made 36 films during a
career which extended during four decades from the Danish golden age
of silent film until 1949. Critics often dismissed his work as
dependable yet uninspired, however many of his light-hearted comedies
achieved great popularity in Denmark. Gregers most notable films were
romantic comedies starring his wives Bodil Ipsen and Marguerite
Viby.Emanuel Gregers was born on 28 December 1881 in Horsens, Denmark.
At the age of 16 years Gregers debuted at the Horsens summer theater
and performed in local theaters for the next 10 years. Around 1909, he
moved to Copenhagen and performed in the larger theaters including
Norrebros Teater and the Betty Nansen Teatret. Although he quickly
shifted to working in film in 1912, Gregers maintained a lifelong
attachment to stagework: he owned the Casino theater in Copenhagen and
managed it from 1921 to 1931, then continued as a stage director into
the 1940s.In 1912, Gregers debuted on screen with Olaf Fønss in the
silent film Bryggerens datter (The Brewer's Daughter) written by Carl
Th. Dreyer. The following year he began work with the Filmfabriken
studio, where he performed in another Dreyer story
Krigskorrespondenter (The War Correspondent), and became the studio's
upcoming star. But by 1914, Gregers interest had shifted to working
behind the camera. He directed himself in a couple of smaller films,
then moved to Nordisk Film where he devoted his full attention to
writing and directing. In the early 1920s, Gregers directed a series
of films with his wife at the time Bodil Ipsen in the role. Most
notable was the melodramatic crime story Lavinen, in which Greger's
employed an elaborate flash-back structure to relate how the lead
character's past leads to a murder. It was also at this time that
Gregers was part of Nordisk Film's push for larger films based on
literary works. In 1920, Greger's filmed Den flyvende Hollænder (The
Flying Dutchman) based on the 1839 novel The Phantom Ship and, in
1922, he made Den sidste af Slægten (The Last of the Family Tree)
based upon a novel by the later Nazi writer Edvard Nielsen-Stevns. For
the later film, Gregers ran into trouble with Danish censors. In the
climatic ending the villain, a depraved artist, falls to his death
from scaffolding inside a church. The censors objected and removed the
ending.Gregers eventually directed 36 films. The most notable were his
folk comedies: the wacky 1937 romantic comedy Mille, Marie of mig
(Milly, Maria and Me), in which his then current wife, Marguerite
Viby, and the most popular Danish comedienne of the 1930s, played
three roles ; 1938's Bolettes brudeafærd (Bolettes Bridal Party),
which starred his former wife Bodil Ipsen as a sharp-tongued spinster;
the witty period comedy Sørensen og Rasmussen which starred both his
former wives, Viby and Ipsen; and the 1941 backstage musical, Alle
gaar rundt og forelsker sig (Everyone's Falling in Love) -- in which a
small part was played by Greger's next wife, Ruth Saabye.
actor, screenwriter and film director. Gregers made 36 films during a
career which extended during four decades from the Danish golden age
of silent film until 1949. Critics often dismissed his work as
dependable yet uninspired, however many of his light-hearted comedies
achieved great popularity in Denmark. Gregers most notable films were
romantic comedies starring his wives Bodil Ipsen and Marguerite
Viby.Emanuel Gregers was born on 28 December 1881 in Horsens, Denmark.
At the age of 16 years Gregers debuted at the Horsens summer theater
and performed in local theaters for the next 10 years. Around 1909, he
moved to Copenhagen and performed in the larger theaters including
Norrebros Teater and the Betty Nansen Teatret. Although he quickly
shifted to working in film in 1912, Gregers maintained a lifelong
attachment to stagework: he owned the Casino theater in Copenhagen and
managed it from 1921 to 1931, then continued as a stage director into
the 1940s.In 1912, Gregers debuted on screen with Olaf Fønss in the
silent film Bryggerens datter (The Brewer's Daughter) written by Carl
Th. Dreyer. The following year he began work with the Filmfabriken
studio, where he performed in another Dreyer story
Krigskorrespondenter (The War Correspondent), and became the studio's
upcoming star. But by 1914, Gregers interest had shifted to working
behind the camera. He directed himself in a couple of smaller films,
then moved to Nordisk Film where he devoted his full attention to
writing and directing. In the early 1920s, Gregers directed a series
of films with his wife at the time Bodil Ipsen in the role. Most
notable was the melodramatic crime story Lavinen, in which Greger's
employed an elaborate flash-back structure to relate how the lead
character's past leads to a murder. It was also at this time that
Gregers was part of Nordisk Film's push for larger films based on
literary works. In 1920, Greger's filmed Den flyvende Hollænder (The
Flying Dutchman) based on the 1839 novel The Phantom Ship and, in
1922, he made Den sidste af Slægten (The Last of the Family Tree)
based upon a novel by the later Nazi writer Edvard Nielsen-Stevns. For
the later film, Gregers ran into trouble with Danish censors. In the
climatic ending the villain, a depraved artist, falls to his death
from scaffolding inside a church. The censors objected and removed the
ending.Gregers eventually directed 36 films. The most notable were his
folk comedies: the wacky 1937 romantic comedy Mille, Marie of mig
(Milly, Maria and Me), in which his then current wife, Marguerite
Viby, and the most popular Danish comedienne of the 1930s, played
three roles ; 1938's Bolettes brudeafærd (Bolettes Bridal Party),
which starred his former wife Bodil Ipsen as a sharp-tongued spinster;
the witty period comedy Sørensen og Rasmussen which starred both his
former wives, Viby and Ipsen; and the 1941 backstage musical, Alle
gaar rundt og forelsker sig (Everyone's Falling in Love) -- in which a
small part was played by Greger's next wife, Ruth Saabye.
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