Paul Davidson (producer)
Paul Davidson ( born March 30, 1867 in Lötzen, East Prussia, † July 18, 1927 in Eberhausen, Upper Bavaria ) was a German film producer.
Life
He began at the age of 16 years, a business training and subsequently worked in the garment industry. When visiting a magic theater in Paris, he became aware of the new cinematography. On 7 April 1904, he decided to go into the movie business.
In 1905 he founded with a share capital of 20,000 Reichsmarks the General cinematograph theater mbH in Frankfurt am Main. On 21 March 1906 he opened his first cinema, the Union Theatre in Mannheim. In 1907, he became the owner of the Union Theatre at Alexanderplatz in Berlin, which he opened on September 4, 1909. On August 21, 1910, the still more magnificent Union Theatre followed Unter den Linden. On October 3, 1913 Davidson opened the U.T. Kurfürstendamm and had now 56 cinemas in Germany, Belgium and Hungary.
1909/10 he changed his Frankfurt company in the projection -AG "Union" ( PAGU ), the first German film corporation. In 1910 he began with the film distribution and film production in 1912 with the Berlin -Tempelhof.
In August 1915 he sold his chain of cinemas to the Danish Nordisk Film. Davidson focused on film production, in the Ernst Lubitsch to his star rise. As with the assistance of the Supreme Command, the universe was formed film (Ufa ) in November 1917, also Davidsons PAGU went a few months later in her.
1916 Davidson received as Director General of PAGU by Prince and Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria for the film Bogdan Stimoff the Officer's Cross of the Order of Alexander.
Davidson, together with Karl Bratz General of Ufa discovered Besides Ernst Lubitsch and he promoted Emil Jannings, Pola Negri and Asta Nielsen. On April 7, 1921, he gave up his post at the Ufa and was co-founder of the European Film Alliance ( EFA). After the failure of this project he founded on September 17, 1924, the Paul -Davidson AG under the umbrella of Ufa early 1927, he retired completely from the Ufa and committed suicide a few months later.