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Joe, Mia & Eva May played an important role in the history of the
German movie.
Joe didn't have a permanent job but rather had one job after the other, e.g. he was a car dealer and sales representative for lighters. Otherwise he lived off the interest of a fortune, inherited from his parents. In 1902 he married the operetta singer Maria Pfleger, who appeared under the stage name Herma Angelot. After their marriage she took a break for some years and under normal circumstances you would neither have seen or heard from him or her if Joe May hadn't lost his whole fortune by speculating unsuccessfully. For this reason his wife accepted an engagement in Hamburg, where she took part in the operetta "Clo-Clo." At this time she assumed the stage name Mia May. Joe followed her and this was the step which led him to a great film career. Because the play in which Mia acted had very long breaks as a result of reconstruction between the acts, the public was irritated and unsure if the play had finished or if there was a continuation. So people left the theater in crowds too early. Joe had the idea of entertaining people during the waiting period with a movie starring the actors of the play. Although unexperienced, he was able to realize this project. This movie paved his way to Continental-Filmkunst GmbH where he realized his first real movie as a writer and director - "in der Tiefe des Schachtes" (1912) - where Mia May also made her first debut as a film actress. Since his wife was already well known as Mia May, Joe decided to adopt her stage name. Joe May was born. This is one of the rare cases where a husband adopts the stage name of his wife. At the end of 1913 Joe May launched the remarkable successful detective
serial "Stuart Webbs" (with Ernst Reicher in the leading role. The part In 1915 May and Reicher split up after a dispute therefore Joe was forced to create a new detective figure. After that "Joe Dobbs" conquered the screen, this time acted by Max Landa. Later Joe May set up on his own as a director and producer and established the May-Film GmbH in 1915. After World War I the movie "Veritas Vincit" was performed in the cinemas.
In this movie there were linked episodes from the period of the Romans,
from the Middle Ages and the present. All three leading roles were personified
by Mia May.
He marked a new milestone with the production of "Das indische Grabmal" (1921) derived from a script by Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang. But then a momentous blow hit the May family. In the middle of the shooting
of "Der Farmer aus Texas" the message about the suicide of his daughter
Eva reached Joe May. As a pro he was forced to organize all the necessary
things so that the shooting during his absence could continue smoothly.
The film business was merciless, millions were at stake and Joe May knew
it.
In the period following he plunged himself more into his work, he shot and produced many movies, which were well received by the public, among other things his first sound film as director for "Ihre Majestät die Liebe." In the late twenties Joe May also wrote scripts under the pen name Fred Majo. In 1934 May was engaged by Hollywood, where he shot "Music in the Air." This movie was, like "Confession" (1937), a failure. He captured "The Invisible Man Returns" and "You're Not So Tough" (both 1940) on the screen. His last work as a director he delivered with "Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More" (1944). "What makes a movie successfull" Joe May defined in 1928 as follows:
Joe May died in 1954.
Mia May was born in 1884 in Vienna. She gained her first theater experiences at the age of 5 and performed in several plays until the age of 14. In her film debut she was responsible for the leading role as well as co-author. For a time Mia was manageress of the May-Film GmbH and was also active as a cutter. As a result of her acting talent Mia May advanced to become one of the
first German stars and her name was spoken in the same breath as Asta Nielsen,
Henny Porten and Pola Negri. In 1920 she retired somewhat from film work
partly to make room for her daugther.
The dreadful shock of the death of her daughter destroyed any hope that Mia would perhaps still make another film. In 1934 she went with Joe May to America where she lived till her death
in 1980.
Eva May was born in 1902. Because her parents were already involved in film business it was natural that she would follow suit. She was very often in her father's studio and caught the bug very early. In 1917 she acted for the first time in a Joe-Dobbs-Detective filme called "Der lebendige Tote." From 1918 she worked exclusively for the Ring-Film GmbH managed by her fist husband Manfred Liebenau. They created their own Eva-May-Serial for which Eva also wrote the scripts. She was treated kindly by the press and rose to "Jedermanns Liebling" because of her nice roles. After 1920 she worked again together with her father but also with many other directors like Karl Grune and Max Mack. As a result of her lifestyle, temper and method of working there were more and more quarrels between her and Joe May. Her third marriage to director Manfred Noa ended after a short time. In the night of the 9th to 10th September 1924 Eva May brought her life to an end with a gun shot. It wasn't the first attempted suicide. One year earlier she had cut open her arteries. |
made
him so famous that he autographed pictures with his name together with
Stuart Webbs
