José Bohr | WatchedThis
José Bohr
Directing
Biography
Born in Germany on November 3, 1901 under the name of Joseph Bohr Elzer, the young José Bohr arrived with his family to colonize southern Chile in 1904. It was in the city of Punta Arenas where he began his precocious cinematographic and musical career, composing songs including the hymn "Punta Arenas", playing the piano for silent films and making his first film works before he was in his twenties. After emigrating to Santiago in 1921, he went to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, hired by the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make a documentary. Later he settled in Buenos Aires, where he composed a good part of the 200 songs that swelled the popular songbook of the time, such as "Y tenía un lunar", "Cascabelito" and "Pero hay una melena", as well as advertising tangos for music houses. He performed for the first time in the United States in 1925, starring in the musical show Gaucho at the Paramount Theater in Broadway. In this country he rubbed shoulders with the stars of the big screen, enjoying bohemian life and success. Shortly thereafter, he starred in the first Spanish-language film produced in Hollywood, Sombras de gloria, for which he received a symbolic Oscar, since the category of best foreign film did not yet exist. In Mexico, where he moved in 1932 and became friends with renowned artists such as Luis Buñuel, Cantinflas and Jorge Negrete, he became one of the pioneers of cinema, shooting more than thirty films. It was there when, in 1936, Claudio Arrau starred in and interpreted the music for his film, which was about the life of Liszt. Upon his return to Chile in 1940, he served as general director of Chile Films and shot 16 films. He composed the music for all of them, as was usual in the sixty films he made during his lifetime. Some of his most famous films are Uno que ha sido marino, Si mis campos hablaran and El gran circo Chamorro. In addition to being named Illustrious Son of the city of Punta Arenas in 1976, the Government decorated him with the Bernardo O'Higgins Order of Merit. In the 1980s he settled in Denmark with his sons Daniel and Eduardo, also dedicated to film and music. He died on May 29, 1994 in Oslo, Norway.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Ex-Flame
A woman's uncontrollable jealousy over her husband's former girlfriend results in her losing not only her house but her young son is taken away from her.
If My Fields Could Talk
The action begins in 1847 with the arrival of the first German settlers in southern Chile. Don Vicente Perez Rosales is in charge of welcoming the immigrants who arrive by boat to the remote areas of Villarica. After the customary speeches promising loyalty to their new homeland, the settlers begin to work the land. Years pass. Frustrated Daniel, his noble brother Simón, and sweet Dora are three of those pioneers whom history revisits in their youth to explore a triangle of love and desire.
Rogue of the Rio Grande
El Malo, notorious Mexican bandit, forces the Mayor of Sierra Blanca, Seth Landport, to open the safe and turn over to him 2,000 pesos, which the bandit gives a promissory note for to the Mayor. Seth rushes to the cantina where Sheriff Rankin is drinking, and the sheriff posts a reward for the capture of El Malo. El Malo informs his men of the reward. The bandit and his sidekick, Pedro, visit the cantina where Pedro resumes a former acquaintance with Dolores, while El Malo has his attention directed to a tango being performed by Carmita. El Malo pushes her dancing partner aside and finishes the dance with Carmita. Since Seth's description of him is not accurate, El May visits the sheriff and promises to deliver the wanted bandit to the cantina the following night. THe following morning, El Malo and Pedro depart, and, halting their horses on a hill, view the stagecoach being held up by a trio of outlaws.
Luponini (El terror de Chicago)
Luponini, a bank employee, becomes a robber due to a broken heart. His criminal career, successful at first, is soon threatened by the betrayal of one of his accomplices and the contempt of Luisa, his ex-wife.
Mi noche alegre
The film tells the adventures of a bohemian who, after a joyful bender, dreams delusions of grandeur that reality brings back down to earth.
Marihuana (El monstruo verde)
An agent of the anti-drug brigade is captured and ends up addicted to marijuana, which causes him to enter the mafia.
Thus is Life
A British ex-Grenadier Guards officer moves to America, but struggles to find work. After he is employed as a chauffeur to a wealthy family, he falls in love with his employer's daughter.
Borrasca humana
A 1940 film directed by José Bohr.
El último guapo
Hercules, a poor individual earns his living as a walking street ad, carrying a gigantic advertising sign on his shoulders. His biggest concern is his daughter Leonor, who helps at home by working as a seamstress. Afflicted by the economic situation, Hercules gets a job as a casino watchman. There he must face a trio of mobsters and a kleptomaniac baroness who tries to seduce him with her vampire airs and whom Hercules ends up falling in love with.
Who Killed Eve?
A murder mystery.
Production
Sonrisas de Chile
After arriving on a ship in Valparaíso, Bohr meets Euríspides Chamorro, with whom he begins a trip through Chile, full of sketches, most of them led by the comedy duo Los Capo- rales.
Sonrisas de Chile
After arriving on a ship in Valparaíso, Bohr meets Euríspides Chamorro, with whom he begins a trip through Chile, full of sketches, most of them led by the comedy duo Los Capo- rales.
Tonto Pillo
El Chepo (Lucho Córdoba) must take care of his six brothers, all laborers on a quiet farm. The arrival of the landlady, with her two daughters and their suitor, upsets the place. After several entanglements, El Chepo must go to Santiago on an errand, but is the victim of the "uncle's story", losing all the money, being forced to perform all the possible tasks to recover it.
P'al otro lado
Desideria, a servant girl, dreams of traveling to Buenos Aires. Incredibly, Blas Pastrana, a relative of her employers, is dying in Argentina and expressly asks them to travel with her. When he arrives at his deathbed, he says that he inherits everything to the employee, confessing that she is his daughter, but on one condition: that in less than two weeks she gets married. Her employers try to convince her to marry the son of the family, Jorge, but Desideria is interested in Tito, a nice porteño. Everything ends in a surprise ending.
One Who's Been a Sailor
Two shoeshine girls and a newspaper vendor survive in the Mapocho neighborhood of Santiago. While looking for better luck, Maruja becomes involved with a businessman who helps her become a famous singer. Meanwhile, the two shoeshine boys happen to come across some money from a bank robbery, changing their luck.
One Who's Been a Sailor
Two shoeshine girls and a newspaper vendor survive in the Mapocho neighborhood of Santiago. While looking for better luck, Maruja becomes involved with a businessman who helps her become a famous singer. Meanwhile, the two shoeshine boys happen to come across some money from a bank robbery, changing their luck.
One Who's Been a Sailor
Two shoeshine girls and a newspaper vendor survive in the Mapocho neighborhood of Santiago. While looking for better luck, Maruja becomes involved with a businessman who helps her become a famous singer. Meanwhile, the two shoeshine boys happen to come across some money from a bank robbery, changing their luck.
The Big Chamorro Circus
The hard-working owner of a circus, Euríspides Chamorro (Eugenio Retes), goes to Santiago in search of his son, a medical student, but finds to his surprise that he has dropped out of school and no one knows his whereabouts. To make matters worse, one of his employees snatches the circus from him, starting an adventure to recover everything and to convince his son to become a doctor.
The Hand of Death
A film that mixes comedy with mystery. A hairdresser (Lucho Córdoba) is a fan of detective novels, to the point of fantasizing while he works, which causes him several problems with his boss. Suddenly he finds himself involved in a plot as if it were taken from one of them.
Tonto Pillo
El Chepo (Lucho Córdoba) must take care of his six brothers, all laborers on a quiet farm. The arrival of the landlady, with her two daughters and their suitor, upsets the place. After several entanglements, El Chepo must go to Santiago on an errand, but is the victim of the "uncle's story", losing all the money, being forced to perform all the possible tasks to recover it.
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