Erich Pommer

Biography

Erich Pommer was born on July 20th 1889 in Hildesheim. After an apprenticeship as an business staffer, he started his career in motion pictures as early as 1907, when he worked for the Berlin office of French film company Gaumont.

After completing military service, Pommer was hired by Eclair in 1912. There he established himself quickly, and in 1915 he became co-founder of Decla-Filmgesellschaft Holz & Co in Berlin. Under his supervision, Decla started to produce serials of a vast variety, including detective stories, melodramas and romances.

After serving – and being wounded – in the First World War, Pommer returned to Berlin in 1916. The following years marked Pommer's raise as an ambitious producer who constantly pushed the envelope: With "Die Spinnen" and "Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" he made Decla the home for exceptionally gifted directors like Fritz Lang and Robert Wiene. To fulfil his aim of establishing a German film industry which could compete with Hollywood on an artistic, technical and commercial level, he continuously was on the look for new talent. His vision led to lasting creative relationships with maverick directors like Lang and Murnau, with whom Pommer shaped the face of Weimar Cinema as it is remembered and renowned today. But after he virtually saved the ailing Ufa during the transition to sound, Pommer was forced out immediately by the company's owners when the Nazi government started prosecuting Jewish personnel in the film industry in 1933.

Forced to leave Germany, he went into exile in France and England, and finally arrived in Hollywood. Pommer continued to work in production, but he could never again fulfil his own ambitions in the way he did during the 1920s. After a brief and disillusioning stint in post-war Germany – where he returned as an US Army officer – he settled in the United States for good.

Erich Pommer, probably the most influential and imaginative producer in the history of German cinema, died on May 8th 1966 in Woodland Hills, California.