Original at
Glasgow University
Alfred Junge
Born in 1886, Junge had wanted to be an artist from childhood. Dabbling
in theatre in his teenage years he joined the Gorlitz Stadttheater at eighteen
and was involved in all areas of production, he worked in the theatre for
over fifteen years. Along with many German emigres Junge began his career
in cinema at Berlin's UFA studios, working there as an art director from
1920 until 1926, when he joined the production team of E.A. Dupont who was
relocating to British International Pictures in London. He remained with
BIP at Elstree studios until 1930 when he returned briefly to the continent
to work in Germany and then in France with Marcel Pagnol. From 1932 he remained
based in Britain.
Michael Balcon put him in charge of the new Gaumont-British art department
where his organisational skills as well as talent came into their own, running
a large staff of art directors and craftsmen who worked on any number of
films at one time. After Gaumont Britain's first real supervising art director
moved to MGM's new British operation where he continued until the out-break
of the second world war. After a brief spell spent interned as an enemy
alien on the Isle of Mann Junge returned to London where he began work with
Powell and Presburger in 1939 on Contraband, the first of eight pictures
with them.
In fact he first worked with Powell on The Fire Raisers (1934) and that
was the first of 11 pictures they made together.
- The Fire Raisers (1934)
- The Night of the Party (1935)
- Red Ensign (1935)
- Contraband (1940)
- The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
- The Silver Fleet (1943)
- The Volunteer (1943)
- A Canterbury Tale (1944)
- I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
- A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
- Black Narcissus (1947)
They only parted company when P&P went on to make The Red Shoes
in 1948 and Powell wanted to use Hein Heckroth who had a lighter,
painters' eye for design.
