Gardan, Juliusz

(Juliusz Gradstein, 1901-1944)

   Prewar film director and screenwriter. After assisting director Henryk Szaro, Gardan began his filmmaking career with several works produced by the film studio Leo-Film and photographed by Seweryn Stein-wurzel. His early films The Final Touch (Kropka nad i, 1928) and The Police Chief Tagiejew (Policmajster Tagiejew, 1929), influenced by German Kammerspielfielm, were very well received by critics. Critics also praised his next films, such as The Beauty of Life (Uroda życia, 1930), A Heart on the Street (Serce na ulicy, 1931), and, in particular, Life Sentence (Wyrok życia, 1933), voted the best film of the 1933/1934 season. Life Sentence was an ambitious melodrama about a young woman (Jadwiga Andrzejewska), portrayed as a victim of hostile circumstances, who is convicted of killing her child and sentenced to death. Gardan's musical comedies with Henryk Wars's music and songs proved to be popular among audiences: Is Lucyna a Girl? (Czy Lucyna to dżiewcżyna, 1934), with Jadwiga Smosarska and Eugeniusz Bodo, and Miss Minister Is Dancing (Pani minister tańczy, 1937), starring Tola Mankiewiczówna and Aleksander Żabczyński.

   Gardan's other films also became popular at the box office and received good reviews. They included melodramas such as The Leper (Trędowata, 1936), based on a popular novel by Helena Mniszkówna, and Heather (Wrzos, 1938), adapted from an equally well-known novel by Maria Rodziewiczówna. The outbreak of World War II interrupted several of Gardan's projects. He died in the Soviet Union.

   Other films: Ten Percent for Me (10% dla mnie, 1933), Halka (1937), Dr. Murek (Doktor Murek, 1939).

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof