
Directing
Josef von Sternberg
Born — Died
1894-05-29 — 1969-11-22
Place of birth
Vienna, Austria
Known for
Directing
Credits
52 titles
Josef von Sternberg, born Jonas Sternberg (29 May 1894 – 22 December 1969) was an Austrian-born film director and is among the few whose career successfully spanned the transition from the silent to the sound era. He is considered one of the earliest 'auteur' filmmakers, having filled many other roles on his films including those of cinematographer, screenwriter, and editor. Sternberg's style influenced later directors, particularly those of the film noir period. He is particularly noted for his distinctive mise en scène, use of lighting and soft lens, and collaboration with actress Marlene Dietrich. Among his most important works are The Blue Angel (1930), Morocco (1930), Shanghai Express (…
Known for
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German Film Award
1951
8.4A 1980 documentary series exploring the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and its impact on 1920s culture.
Hollywood
1980
5.5U.S. Air Force aviator Jim Shannon is tasked with escorting a Soviet pilot claiming -- at the height of the Cold War -- that she wants to defect. After falling in love with and marrying her, Shannon learns from his superiors that she's a spy on a mission to extract military secrets. To save his new wife from prison and deportation, Shannon devises a risky plan.
Jet Pilot
1957
7.3Prim professor Immanuel Rath finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is filled with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry the young woman. However, his marriage to a coquette -- whose job is to entice men -- proves to be more difficult than Rath imagined.
The Blue Angel
1930
6.5Mogador, Morocco. Late 1920s. A complex romance develops between a womanizing Legionnaire and a disillusioned Parisian cabaret singer.
Morocco
1930
7.0A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
Shanghai Express
1932
Film credits
1960s · 5 titles
6.9The story of the aborted 1937 filming of "I, Claudius", starring Charles Laughton, with all of its surviving footage.
The Epic That Never Was
1969
9.0An interview with film director Josef von Sternberg, produced for Belgium television.
Josef von Sternberg, A Retrospective
1969
NRInterview with Austrian-American director, Josef von Sternberg, recorded for Swedish television in 1968.
Josef von Sternberg Interview
1968
Made for BBC Television in 1967, this 20-minute documentary features a rare interview with the director and a unique demonstration of his lighting techniques.
The World of Josef von Sternberg
1967
Speaking as scenes from Anatahan are shown, for which he directed, photographed, wrote, and provided voiceover narration, film director Josef von Sternberg takes the viewer on a fantastic filmmaking journey in this presentation of Cinéastes de notre temps: Josef von Sternberg - From Silence Comes Another.
Josef von Sternberg - From Silence Comes Another
1967
1950s · 1 titles
Series credits
Behind the camera
5.5U.S. Air Force aviator Jim Shannon is tasked with escorting a Soviet pilot claiming -- at the height of the Cold War -- that she wants to defect. After falling in love with and marrying her, Shannon learns from his superiors that she's a spy on a mission to extract military secrets. To save his new wife from prison and deportation, Shannon devises a risky plan.
Jet Pilot
1957
7.3Prim professor Immanuel Rath finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is filled with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry the young woman. However, his marriage to a coquette -- whose job is to entice men -- proves to be more difficult than Rath imagined.
The Blue Angel
1930
7.3Prim professor Immanuel Rath finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is filled with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry the young woman. However, his marriage to a coquette -- whose job is to entice men -- proves to be more difficult than Rath imagined.
The Blue Angel
1930
6.5Mogador, Morocco. Late 1920s. A complex romance develops between a womanizing Legionnaire and a disillusioned Parisian cabaret singer.
Morocco
1930
7.0A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
Shanghai Express
1932
6.4In the carnival in Spain in the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the exiled republican Antonio Galvan comes from Paris masquerade to enjoy the party and visit his friend Capt. Don Pasqual 'Pasqualito' Costelar. However, he flirts with the mysterious Concha Perez and they schedule to meet each other later. When Antonio meets Pasqualito, his old friend discloses his frustrated relationship with the promiscuous Concha and her greedy mother and how his life was ruined by his obsession for the beautiful demimondaine. Pasqualito makes Antonio promise that he would not see Concha. However, when Antonio meets Concha, she seduces him and the long friendship between Antonio and Pasqualito is disrupted
The Devil Is a Woman
1935
6.4In the carnival in Spain in the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the exiled republican Antonio Galvan comes from Paris masquerade to enjoy the party and visit his friend Capt. Don Pasqual 'Pasqualito' Costelar. However, he flirts with the mysterious Concha Perez and they schedule to meet each other later. When Antonio meets Pasqualito, his old friend discloses his frustrated relationship with the promiscuous Concha and her greedy mother and how his life was ruined by his obsession for the beautiful demimondaine. Pasqualito makes Antonio promise that he would not see Concha. However, when Antonio meets Concha, she seduces him and the long friendship between Antonio and Pasqualito is disrupted
The Devil Is a Woman
1935
6.3A gambling queen uses blackmail to stop a British financier from closing her Chinese clip joint.
The Shanghai Gesture
1941
6.3A gambling queen uses blackmail to stop a British financier from closing her Chinese clip joint.
The Shanghai Gesture
1941
6.8In an effort to be able to afford expensive treatment for her gravely ill American husband, a retired German entertainer returns to the cabaret as Blonde Venus and catches the eye of a wealthy politician.
Blonde Venus
1932
6.8In an effort to be able to afford expensive treatment for her gravely ill American husband, a retired German entertainer returns to the cabaret as Blonde Venus and catches the eye of a wealthy politician.
Blonde Venus
1932
6.8In an effort to be able to afford expensive treatment for her gravely ill American husband, a retired German entertainer returns to the cabaret as Blonde Venus and catches the eye of a wealthy politician.
Blonde Venus
1932
6.3Nick Cochran, an American in exile in Macao, has a chance to restore his name by helping capture an international crime lord. Undercover, can he mislead the bad guys and still woo the attractive singer/petty crook, Julie Benson?
Macao
1952
7.0A blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
The Docks of New York
1928
7.0A blue-collar worker on New York's depressed waterfront finds his life changed after he saves a woman attempting suicide.
The Docks of New York
1928
6.9During the 18th century, German noblewoman Sophia Frederica, who would later become Catherine the Great, travels to Moscow to marry the dimwitted Grand Duke Peter, the heir to the Russian throne. Their arranged marriage proves to be loveless, and Catherine takes many lovers, including the handsome Count Alexei, and bears a son. When the unstable Peter eventually ascends to the throne, Catherine plots to oust him from power.
The Scarlet Empress
1934
6.9During the 18th century, German noblewoman Sophia Frederica, who would later become Catherine the Great, travels to Moscow to marry the dimwitted Grand Duke Peter, the heir to the Russian throne. Their arranged marriage proves to be loveless, and Catherine takes many lovers, including the handsome Count Alexei, and bears a son. When the unstable Peter eventually ascends to the throne, Catherine plots to oust him from power.
The Scarlet Empress
1934
6.3Former student Raskolnikov is pushed to murder when struggling to pay the rent on his apartment. When the murder is being investigated by the police, Raskolnikov struggles between trying to hide his guilt and the pressure to confess.
Crime and Punishment
1935
7.4A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.
The Last Command
1928
7.0The Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.
Dishonored
1931
7.0The Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.
Dishonored
1931
6.0A peasant girl goes to great lengths to protect her child in 19th century Vienna. The film is considered lost, and only four minutes of footage are known to remain.
The Case of Lena Smith
1929
7.1Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
Underworld
1927
8.0Adapted by Alice Duer Miller from a novel by Alden Brooks, the film concerns a young man who forsakes the humdrum business world for the bohemian life of an artist. Josef von Sternberg had been the original director of Exquisite Sinner, but MGM was dissatisfied with the picture and refused to release it. When the film finally surfaced in 1926 (a full year after its completion), it had been radically altered by staff director Phil Rosen.
The Exquisite Sinner
1926
8.0Adapted by Alice Duer Miller from a novel by Alden Brooks, the film concerns a young man who forsakes the humdrum business world for the bohemian life of an artist. Josef von Sternberg had been the original director of Exquisite Sinner, but MGM was dissatisfied with the picture and refused to release it. When the film finally surfaced in 1926 (a full year after its completion), it had been radically altered by staff director Phil Rosen.
The Exquisite Sinner
1926
5.7A criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl, without knowing of their relationship. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.
Thunderbolt
1929
6.8From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.
Anatahan
1953
6.8From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.
Anatahan
1953
6.3A social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.
An American Tragedy
1931
6.3A social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.
An American Tragedy
1931
6.3A social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.
An American Tragedy
1931
7.5A dedicated police officer is torn between family and duty when his son turns to a life of crime.
Sergeant Madden
1939
6.0Princess is destined to marry the Emperor, until her sister steps in.
The King Steps Out
1936
10.0An American millionaire wants to reform a Parisian cabaret singer who moonlights as a jewel thief.
The Masked Bride
1925
10.0An unfinished 1937 film adaptation of life and times of the Roman Emperor, Claudius. The production was dogged by adverse circumstances, culminating in a car accident involving co-star Merle Oberon that caused filming to cease before completion.
I, Claudius
1937
6.0The Town was a short propaganda film produced by the Office of War Information in 1945. It presents an idealized vision of American life, shown in microcosm by Madison, Indiana. It was created primarily for exhibition abroad, to provide international audiences a more well-rounded view of America, and was therefore produced in more than 20 translations. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
The Town
1944
6.5Compilation of lighting and costume tests from various films, most notably Sternberg's "The Devil Is a Woman" (1935).
The Fashion Side of Hollywood
1935
Joan and Magdalen are the daughters of a fisherman. Magdalen leaves her fiancé, Peter, to run off to the big city. Joan and Peter marry. Magdalen's return years later causes trouble for the marriage, but Joan and Peter remain together in the end.
A Woman of the Sea
1926
Joan and Magdalen are the daughters of a fisherman. Magdalen leaves her fiancé, Peter, to run off to the big city. Joan and Peter marry. Magdalen's return years later causes trouble for the marriage, but Joan and Peter remain together in the end.
A Woman of the Sea
1926
6.5Captain Timothy 'Two Gun' Nolan is appointed head of the New York detective force, and as his first act, rounds up every criminal in town. Gang boss 'Dapper' Frank Trent stands bail for all of them as independent minor gang-leader. Setting out to get Trent, Nolan moves in on his hideout, assisted by his friend 'Shakespeare.' Trent kills Shakespeare, but makes Nolan believe it is his shot that has done so. Nolan resigns his commission and becomes a drunk. Found unconscious by Trent, he is offered as the pièce de résistance at a gangland banquet which 'The Magpie' attends. A lost film.
The Drag Net
1928




