David Oliver- Imprisoned in the U.K

by UFA Man on January 21, 2021January 21, 2021

1940-A recently discovered portrait of David Oliver by fellow Austrian/Galician exile Ascher Susser

The Story of Ibérica Films

by UFA Man on November 29, 2012July 3, 2016

A group of Jewish film professionals flee Nazi Germany for a new life in Spain. Determined to continue with their careers, David Oliver and director cum theatre manager Kurt-Louis Flatau form “Ibérica Films” in Barcelona, 1934. The expertise they bring with them will leave an indelible mark on Spanish Cinema.

Raquel Rodrigo, star of "Doña Francisquita" — Raquel Rodrigo, star of “Doña Francisquita”

A production still from the Ibérica Films production Doña Francisquita (1935). My grandmother (and production chief) Edith Oliver sits in the foreground . Having to work on shoestring budgets forced Ibérica Films to operate very much as a family affair. Directly behind her stands the film’s director, Hans Behrendt. Both are dressed in the ubiquitous UFA work uniform…a white lab coat.

Bomb on Unter den Linden-1934

by UFA Man on October 22, 2012March 6, 2015

Erwin Schulze..A house painter (and apparent Communist) framed by the Nazis for throwing a grenade at the car of “Austrian Jew” David Oliver

Theatre Owner

by UFA Man on October 22, 2012December 13, 2014

Built by David Oliver in 1926. Designed by Hans Poelzig.

One of many theatres owned by Oliver, the Capitol was destroyed during the war.

International Producer

by UFA Man on October 20, 2012December 13, 2014

Ibérica Films operated as a sort of Spanish “underground railroad” for Jewish film makers on the run from Nazi Germany.

Produced in affiliation with Sascha Films (Vienna)

Bruno Kastner, Dorrit Weixler und Frida Richard im Stummfilm %22Dorittchens Vergnügungsreise%22 von Paul Heidemann. Oliver-Film, 1921 — Film still from “Die Jagd Nach Dem Glück”

In 1936, Ibérica is dissolved under Franco, and Oliver moves to England to work with Alexander Korda at Denham Studios. Oliver commissioned and built Denham’s film laboratories, a Bauhaus building now protected by Britain’s National Trust.

The Vanished World of the Oliver Family-44, Königin Augustastrasse-1928

by UFA Man on October 11, 2012March 1, 2016

A wedding party is under way. Can you recognize the guests? David Oliver is sitting at the right hand side of the dinner table in the background. The little boy standing on its far left is his son, Herbert. His half English mother, Edith is sitting just in front of him.