Oswald Hafenrichter

Oswald Eduard Hafenrichter (10 April 1899 – 18 May 1973) was an Austrian-British film editor with more than seventy feature film credits. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for The Third Man (1949). He has been called "one of the most important foreign editors to have worked in Britain."[2]

Oswald Hafenrichter
Born
Oswald Eduard Hafenrichter

10 April 1899
Oplotnica, Duchy of Styria
Died18 May 1973 (age 74)[1]
Hounslow, London
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
OccupationFilm editor
Years active1931–1973
Spouse
Edith E. Burbeck
​
(m. 1938)​

Biography

Hafenrichter was born to George and Friedericka Hafenrichter in Oplotniz, Duchy of Styria (today Oplotnica, Slovenia).[3] In the first half of the 1920s, he studied medicine in Graz and Vienna then moved to Berlin, where he became an editor at UFA GmbH in 1926.[4]

A member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), Hafenrichter fell under the radar of the Nazi Party in the 1930s, when he was arrested multiple times. He moved to Vienna, where he met the Italian director and producer Carmine Gallone. He worked on his film Al sole (1936) in Austria, and then followed him back to Italy. He edited ten of Gallone's films, remaining in Rome until 1940, when he fled first to France and then the United Kingdom. Allowed in as a communist refugee from the Nazis, he worked for the Ministry of Information editing propaganda films.[4]

He joined Sir Alexander Korda's London Films after the war, when foreigners were again allowed to work in feature films, and also worked for Carol Reed. His post-war films included An Ideal Husband (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948), and The Third Man (1949), receiving a nomination for Academy Award for Best Film Editing for the latter at the 23rd Academy Awards.[5]

In 1950, Hafenrichter edited the first of more than 20 Brazilian films, mostly for the Vera Cruz production company.[6][7] He returned to England in 1957, and then alternated between Italy and England for the rest of his career, which ended with his death in 1973. He had been editing a series of Hammer horror films.

Personal life

In 1948, he married Londoner Edith Ellen Burbeck (1918–2000). She shared several editing credits on Brazilian films with her husband, and she was the sole editor on several English films after their return to England.[8][9] They had sons Conrad (1949), Stephen (1955), and Roland (1960). Oswald Hafenrichter died in Hounslow in May 1973 after a long illness.[10]

Selected filmography

Credited as the editor except as noted.

References
  1. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995
  2. Perkins, Roy; Stollery, Martin (2019). British Film Editors: The Heart of the Movie. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 9781838714826.
  3. Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965
  4. Weniger, Kay (2011). 'Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben ...' Lexikon der aus Deutschland und Osterreich emigrierten Filmschaffenden 1933 bis 1945: Eine Gesamtübersicht ['In life, more will be taken from you than given ...' Dictionary of German and Austrian Emigrant Filmmakers 1933-1945: A Complete Overview] (in German). ACABUS Verlag. pp. 226–227. ISBN 9783862820498. OCLC 778861913. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  5. McFarlane, Brian (2016). The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. Oxford University Press. p. 187. ISBN 9781526111968. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  6. Barnard, Timothy; Rist, Peter (2010). South American Cinema: A Critical Filmography, 1915-1994. University of Texas Press. p. 163. ISBN 9780292792104. While Verz Cruz attempted various genres, including musicals and comedies, far too much money was lavished on each production, and a certain pretentious Europeanness is thought to have hindered their films' success in the home market. This is not surprising, since many technicians came from outside of Brazil, including, in the case of O Cangaceiro, the Anglo-Argentince cinematographer Chick Fowle and the Austrian editor Oswald Hafenrichter.
  7. "Oswald Hafenrichter*". Portal Brasileiro de Cinema (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  8. Edith Hafenrichter at IMDb.
  9. "Edith Hafenrichter". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022.
  10. "Mr. Oswald Hafenrichter". The Times. 1 June 1973. p. 16.

Further reading
  • Drazin, Charles (2000). "The Fourth Man". In Search of the Third Man. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 98. ISBN 9780879102944. You know, Ossie, it might be a good idea to use this tune whenever Harry Lime is on the screen Drazin recounts that Oswald Hafenrichter convinced Carol Reed to use Anton Karas' zither Harry Lime Theme whenever Harry Lime was on the screen in The Third Man.
  • Hill, Mike (2022). "'Unfilmable': The 'Basement Room' becomes The Fallen Idol". In Hill, Mike; Wise, Jon (eds.). The Works of Graham Greene, Volume 3: Additions & Essays. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 120. ISBN 9781350285743. "Greene was not present at any of the shooting, so his script was left to others to bring to the screen. What was added were the brilliant sets of Vincent Korda, the striking photography of George Perinal, pitch perfect acting from the entire cast, ... and the sharp editing of Oswald Hafenrichter. Shaping it all was Carol Reed as director and producer ... So Greene's unfilmable 'The Basement Room' became The Fallen Idol, one of the finest British films ever made."
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