Of German and Jewish origin, Ophüls had to leave the country several times because of threats from the Nazis. Even though many times he was forced to stop his projects, he never gave up on his visions and in 25 years made 22 films. He was also active as a theatre critic, making his debut as a theatre play director in
1923 in Dortmund. In 1933 he immigrates to France and soon takes French citizenship. In his films he often brings out the atmosphere of “waltzes and operettas”, shows women as emotional characters who are in contradiction to society’s cruelty. His films are a rare combination of style and content; complexity of camera work, lighting and set design is imbued with intensive illustration of basic human emotions. His most famous film, from the period of his working in US, is Letter from an Unknown Woman with Joan Fontaine. Ophüls closes his career with the film Lola Montes (1955).