Lewis Milestone American film director Date of Birth: 30.09.1895 Country: USA

Biography of Lewis Milestone

Lewis Milestone, an American film director and a classic figure in American cinema, was the first recipient of two Academy Awards. He was born in Kishinev into a wealthy Jewish family. Milestone attended a Jewish school and a technical school in Kishinev. In 1912, he began studying at the University of Ghent in Belgium and later at an engineering school in Mitwaida, Germany. In 1913, he emigrated to the United States and worked as a photographer's assistant.

During World War I, Milestone volunteered for the American army and served in France until the end of the war. It was during his military service that he first participated in filming documentary footage of the war and educational films as part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps photography section. This experience sparked his interest in cinema. In 1919, Milestone became a naturalized American citizen, changed his last name from Milstein to Milestone, and settled in Hollywood.

In Hollywood, Milestone worked as an assistant director for Henry King and William Seiter before becoming an editor at various studios, including Ince, Sennett, Fox, and Warner Brothers. In 1925, he made his directorial debut with the comedy film "Seven Sinners." Two years later, he directed the film "Two Arabian Knights," which was based on war material. The film was a great success both with audiences and critics, and it earned Milestone his first Oscar for Best Comedy Direction at the inaugural Academy Awards in 1929.

In 1930, Milestone's second war-themed film, "All Quiet on the Western Front," based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, achieved enormous success and won the Best Picture Oscar. This made Milestone the first person to win two Academy Awards. He was also the writer and producer of most of his films. His subsequent works, including "The Front Page" (1931) and "A Walk in the Sun" (1945), showcased stylistic and technological innovations, particularly in the realm of sound effects. These innovations had a significant impact on the future development of sound cinema.

In "A Walk in the Sun," for example, voice-over narration is accompanied by a recurring musical leitmotif that interweaves with the thoughts and monologues of individual soldiers, playing a role similar to the chorus in Greek tragedy. The sense of combat is conveyed primarily through sound, mirroring the experiences of actual participants who may not always be visually engaged with the enemy in modern warfare. Instead of a cohesive battle narrative, the film presents the fragmented perceptions of individual soldiers.

Overall, Milestone's most significant achievements were in the genres of comedy, war-themed films, and film noir. In 1946, he testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA) regarding alleged anti-American activities, and he worked in France and Italy until 1954. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, before his retirement in 1964, he primarily directed episodes for television series. Milestone's second cousin was violinist Nathan Milstein. His collaboration with Ilya Ehrenburg and Nathan Altman on the unrealized film adaptation of Ehrenburg's novel "Life and Death of Nikolai Kurbatov" in 1933-1934 is mentioned in Ilya Ehrenburg's memoir "People, Years, Life."