Kjeld Abell(1901-1961)

Danish screenwriter and playwright, primarily in the 1930s into the 1950s. Abell was born in Ribe, Denmark, on 25 August 1901. After his classical studies he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen for a short period. He later enrolled at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in economics and commerce in 1927. From 1927 to 1932 he worked in France and in Great Britain as a set designer in various theaters. In 1934 he composed a ballet for the Danish Royal Ballet, and the following year his first theatrical work "Melodien der blev vaek" was performed in Copenhagen. In 1936 he made his debut as a screenwriter. His first film, Millionaerdrengen, was directed by A.W. Sandberg, the great silent director. It was a brilliant comedy that gave him a prestigious start in the industry, despite being a financial disappointment. Abell's most acclaimed screenplay is the one for Tak, fordi du kom, Nick (1941), directed by Svend Methling, which represents a happy attempt at sophisticated comedy, similar to the American ones of the 1930s. The film was a huge success. In the following years Abell wrote the screenplays for two films, directed respectively by Svend Methling and Arne Wiel, which did not reach the artistic Tak, fordi du kom. The writer of several plays with anti-authoritarian themes, Abell was forced into hiding during the German occupation of Denmark. Following the war, his anti-Nazi stances led him to be accused of Communist sympathies, and he largely withdrew from public view. Abell abandoned screenwriting in the early 1950s to concentrate on theatre works, although several films based on his work were released in the 1960s, most of them after his death in 1961. He was inducted into the Danish Academy in 1960. He remains one of Denmark's most lauded playwrights.