Biography
Leontine Sagan was born in 1889 in Vienna as Leontine Schlesinger and began her film career as an actress, Trained by Max Reinhardt, she defied the male-only world of Central European theater direction with her work as a stage director in 1920s Austria. After promoting several female stage authors, she decided to base a film on the drama "Gestern und Heute", by German playwright Christa Winsloe, which had already gained notoriety for its all-female cast. Sagan turned the stage work into her 1931 film, "Mädchen in Uniform" ("Girls in Uniform"), which she directed in Germany.
In 1932, she was asked by the former Austro-Hungarian director, Alexander Korda, to direct "Men of Tomorrow" in England. She also edited the film, which was intended as a star vehicle for Korda's protegee, Merle Oberon. Sagan then moved to South Africa with her husband in 1939, returned to theater direction and co-founded the National Theater of Johannesburg. She died in 1974 without ever approaching the film medium again, except for her contribution to George King's 1946 British musical film, "Showtime".
Source: German Films Service & Marketing GmbH