Batory, Jan

(1921-1981)

   Versatile film director and scriptwriter Batory started his career with a historical drama about the seventeenth-century peasant rebellion, Mountains in Flames (Podhale w ogniu, 1955). During the Polish School period, he made a subtle psychological drama about a marital breakup seen from a child's perspective, President's Visit (Odwiedzinyprezydenta, 1961). His children's film The Two Who Stole the Moon (O dwóch takich, co ukradli księżyc), made in 1962 with twin brothers Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a town's troublemakers, enjoys popularity in contemporary Poland due to the twins' thriving political careers. Batory also directed in the genres of crime film, The Last Ride (Ostatni kurs, 1963); comedy, A Cure for Love (Lekarstwo na miłość, 1966); and suspense drama starring Stanisław Mikulski, The Last Witness (Ostatni świadek, 1970). His melodrama Con amore (1976) enjoyed both critical and popular success in Poland and abroad. In 1981 Batory directed his last film, a crime comedy entitled The Smell of Dog's Fur (Zapach psiej sierści, 1981), featuring Roman Wilhelmi.

   Other films: Meeting with a Spy (Spotkanie ze szpiegiem, 1964), Dancing Party in Hitler's Headquarters (Dancing w kwaterze Hitlera, 1968/1971), The Lake of Mysteries (Jezioro osobliwości, 1973), Karino (1976, also TV series in 1974), Stolen Collection (Skradziona kolekcja, 1979).

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof