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Charles Vidor

Editor and assistant director with UFA who arrived in the US in 1924 and, after a stint with a Wagnerian opera company and in a Broadway chorus, left for Hollywood. Vidor made his directorial debut in 1931 with the self-financed short, "The Bridge," which landed him a contract with MGM. In 1932 he co-directed his first feature, "The Mask of Fu Manchu," one of the finest screen adaptations of the Sax Rohmer novels. Vidor was noted for his ability to impart a technical fluency to routine subjects; among the best of his prolific output were "Ladies in Retirement" (1941), "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955) and "The Joker Is Wild" (1957). Vidor was also responsible for the trailblazing psychological study, "Blind Alley" (1939), and the two Rita Hayworth vehicles that cemented her stardom: the arresting musical, "Cover Girl" (1944), and the steamy noir thriller, "Gilda" (1946).