Joe Pasternak

Production

Joe Pasternak

Born 1901-09-19 · Szilágysomlyó, Austria-Hungary

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Herman "Joe" Pasternak (September 19, 1901 – September 13, 1991) was an Hungarian-born American film producer in Hollywood. He was born to a Jewish family in Szilágysomlyó, Austria-Hungary (now Șimleu Silvaniei, Romania). His father was a town clerk and Pasternak was one of eleven children. In 1920 he emigrated to the US as a teenager and went to stay with an uncle in Philadelphia. He worked in a factory, punching holes in leather belts, and did a variety of other jobs. He also studied acting in New York. Pasternak became an assistant director at Paramount on The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Several years later he was directing at Universal. In 1928 Universal sent him as an associate producer to Germany. Upon return from Europe he produced a number of hits with new talent such as Deanna Durbin and Gloria Jean, reputedly saving Universal from Bankruptcy. Pasternak also had careers at MGM, Fox and Euterpe. He made mostly musicals. In 1968 he was stricken with Parkinson's Disease. He recovered slightly two years later but made no more films. He said at the time "I am proud that I have produced 105 pictures and not one of them is adults only." In 1980 he estimated his films had earned $400 million. "If I had a percentage I'd be the richest man in town," he said. His career as a film producer spanned 40 years and earned him two Oscar nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations. He retired in 1968, having produced more than ninety feature-length films as well as three Academy Award shows.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Anchors Aweigh poster
6.8

Two sailors on shore leave head out for four days of partying – only to become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer and her precocious nephew.

Anchors Aweigh

1945

Spinout poster
5.6

Band singer/race driver Mike McCoy must choose between marrying a beautiful girl and driving her father's car in a prestigious race.

Spinout

1966

Thousands Cheer poster
6.4

Acrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones, the colonel's pretty daughter. Their romance hits a few snags, including disapproval from her father. Eddie's also plagued by fear of having an accident during his family's trapeze act in the army variety show, which also features a gallery of MGM stars.

Thousands Cheer

1943

No artwork available
4.7

This Hungarian musical comedy (English title: Spring Parade) was produced by Joseph Pasternak, who later remade the picture in Hollywood as a Deanna Durbin vehicle. The original 1934 version stars Franciska Gaal as a Hungarian serving girl who heads to Vienna to visit a relative. Stopping over at an outdoor carnival, Gaal is told by a fortune teller that she will enjoy a happy marriage with a handsome and wealthy stranger. Later on, she finds herself at a fancy dress ball, where a good-looking aristocrat, assuming that our heroine is a countess masquerading as a peasant, falls in love with her. Delighted that the fortune-teller's prophecy seems to be coming true, Gaal finds herself in a dilemma when she falls in love with poverty-stricken soldier Wolf Albach Retty. But things turn out OK when Retty, the regimental drummer, composes a hit song which brings him fame and fortune, thereby neatly fulfilling that prophecy.

Frühjahrsparade

1934

Girl Happy poster
6.5

Chicago mobster Big Frank hires rock & roll singer Rusty Wells and his band to keep an eye on his daughter during Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale.

Girl Happy

1965

On an Island with You poster
5.9

A young navy lieutenant is brought in as technical adviser on a song-dance-and-swim film being made by screen star Rosalind Reynolds. Having once done a number with her at a Forces show, the young lad somehow believes she should be his girl. Her boyfriend is just one of those disagreeing.

On an Island with You

1948

Party Girl poster
6.8

Slick lawyer Thomas Farrell has made a career of defending mobsters in trials. It's not until he meets a lovely showgirl at a mob party that he realizes that there's more to life than winning trials. Farrell tries to quit the racket, but mob boss Rico Angelo threatens to hurt the showgirl if Farrell leaves him.

Party Girl

1958

Summer Stock poster
6.7

To Jane Falbury's New England farm comes a troup of actors to put up a show, invited by Jane's sister. At first reluctant she has them do farm chores in exchange for food. Her reluctance becomes attraction when she falls in love with the director, Joe, who happens to be her sister's fiance.

Summer Stock

1950

The Flame of New Orleans poster
6.6

In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.

The Flame of New Orleans

1941

Seven Sinners poster
6.0

Banished from various U.S. protectorates in the Pacific, a saloon entertainer uses her femme-fatale charms to woo politicians, navy personnel, gangsters, riff-raff, judges and a ship's doctor in order to achieve her aims.

Seven Sinners

1940

The Merry Widow poster
6.3

Marshovia, a small European kingdom, is on the brink of bankruptcy but the country may be saved if the wealthy American Crystal Radek, widow of a Marshovian, can be convinced to part with her money and marry the king's nephew count Danilo. Arriving to Marshovia on a visit, Crystal Radek change places with her secretary Kitty. Following them to Paris, Danilo has a hard time wooing the widow after meeting an attractive young woman at a nightclub, the same Crystal Radek who presents herself as Fifi the chorus girl. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.

The Merry Widow

1952

No artwork available
6.8

In the year 1914: The assistants of cobbler Lehmann compete for the affections of his daughter Frieda. Actually she’s in love with her ambitious cousin Fritz, but the cunning Franz knows how to string her along. When Fritz gets drafted, Frieda gives in and marries Franz. Soon Fritz is declared missing and the old cobbler dies of grief. Along the way Franz, who dodged the military service, earns his money with large-scale racketeering. Frieda is miserable. But then Fritz returns from Soviet captivity, prompting Frieda to divorce Franz. Finally Frieda accepts an inheritance from the USA and marries Fritz. With the money they open up a shoe store.

The Brandenburg Arch

1929

The Courtship of Eddie's Father poster
5.9

Although he's only seven, Eddie's got it all figured out. He wants his father, a widower, to get remarried — to the girl next door. Unfortunately, she's not one of the women that his dad's been dating.

The Courtship of Eddie's Father

1963

Please Don't Eat the Daisies poster
6.2

Drama critic Larry Mackay, his wife Kate and their four sons move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to an old house in the country. While housewife Kate settles into suburban life, Larry continues to enjoy the theater and party scene of New York.

Please Don't Eat the Daisies

1960

Three Daring Daughters poster
5.9

Three young girls try to help their divorced mother find the right husband.

Three Daring Daughters

1948

A Ticklish Affair poster
5.9

A young widow Amy Martin with three young boys is investigated by the Navy after one of her children inadvertently sends out a distress signal in Morse code by the blinds on his upstairs bedroom window. Commander Weedon and crew observe the signal from their ship and investigates. He falls for the young mother and proposes marriage. However, she is reluctant to have her family live out of a suitcase and initially declines. Gramps tries to bring her on board to sail the sea of love with the commander.

A Ticklish Affair

1963

Three Smart Girls Grow Up poster
7.2

Three sisters who believe life is going to be easy, now that their parents are back together, until one sister falls in love with another's fiancé, and the youngest sister plays matchmaker.

Three Smart Girls Grow Up

1939

A Date with Judy poster
6.1

Best friends Judy and Carol compete for the affection of an older man during their high school dance. As Carol tries to rekindle Judy's relationship with Carol's bumbling brother, Oogie, Judy suspects that her father is having an affair with a beautiful dance instructor. The two girls team up to expose Judy's father -- who is only taking innocent dance lessons.

A Date with Judy

1948

The Strip poster
5.9

Drummer Stanley Maxton moves to Los Angeles with dreams of opening his own jazz club, but falls in with a gangster and a nightclub dancer and ends up accused of her murder.

The Strip

1951

Looking for Love poster
5.8

An aspiring young singer unexpectedly gets her big break by inventing a specialized clothes rack.

Looking for Love

1964

In the Good Old Summertime poster
6.8

Two co-workers in a music shop dislike one another during business hours but unwittingly carry on an anonymous romance through the mail.

In the Good Old Summertime

1949

Love Me or Leave Me poster
6.9

A fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder, who helped propel her to stardom.

Love Me or Leave Me

1955

Thrill of a Romance poster
6.6

A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.

Thrill of a Romance

1945

Duchess of Idaho poster
4.9

Ellen Hallit is in love with her playboy boss, Douglas Morrison, but is too timid to do anything about it. To help her, her roommate Chris decides to step in, and devises a plan. Chris follows Morrison on his trip to Sun Valley, Idaho and plays the overattentive female, hoping that he will send for Ellen (who often played his "fiancée" when he had a female he couldn't discourage otherwise.) Complications arise when Chris catches the eye of band leader Dick Layne, and finds herself caught in a triangle between the two men.

Duchess of Idaho

1950