Exodus in Red Heels

Abstract

MathildeFoerster suedKertész for child support. Humiliated by the bad publicity, he held a grudge against Foerster. His latest child—a daughter, Sonja—was born to the actress Teresa DallaBona in 1923. Because of the implosion of the European film industry, Kolowrat and Kertész decided to go all in with another biblical epic, The Moon of Israel (1924), based on H. Rider Haggard’s novel. The film, starring his friend’s wife Maria Corda and featuring a climactic parting of the Red Sea, becameKertész’s outstanding silent epic.It was a hit in Europe, but the mogul Adolph Zukor, head of Famous Players Lasky (Paramount), bought the American rights and refused to exhibit the film because of the potential competition with his studio’s The Ten Commandments (1923). Kertész pivoted to direct a new series of films starring Lili Damita, with whom he had a passionate affair but did not marry. His production of Das Spielzeug von Paris (The Toy of Paris)(1925) coincided with the birth of his second son, Michael, with the actress FranziVondrak. He completed two more films with Damita, Fiaker No. 13 and The Golden Butterfly, and thenHarry Warner offered him a contract to direct in Hollywood.