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Valentin Vaala (1909-1976) was a prolific and highly successful craftsman of the more commercial Finnish cinema that followed a period of political controversy in the 1930s, and one of war followed by subservience to the USSR in the 1940s.He specialized in sophisticated comedies in the style of Clair or Lubitsch, with happy endings where marriage and inheritance are preserved and family and community duties are paid attention to. He was known for his ability to cast actresses in suitable roles, such as a country girl coming to the city for a career and husband, or an older woman in a melodrama of class conflict and unrequited love. Though these works were not known in the US, several were later exhibited in a series, Baby It's Cold Outside, in the spring of 1998 at New York City's prestigious Museum of Modern Art.- Director
- Writer
Boris Dolin was born on 2 August 1903 in Sumy, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Zakon velikoy lyubvi (1945), Vernye serdtsa (1959) and Seryy razboynik (1956). He died on 21 November 1976 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Niles Welch was born on July 29, 1888, in Hartford, Connecticut. He attended Yale and Columbia Universities, where he excelled in athletics. Welch spent two years in France studying literature, languages, painting and drama. He started his career on stage in 1909 in a production at Columbia. After graduation, he began his film career at Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn, under producer Jesse Lasky. Next, he worked for the Kalem Company, and then Metro, where he was leading man for such stars as Mary Miles Minter and Ethyl Barrymore. He also worked for Universal and Goldwyn. While in New York, he met, then married, Elaine Baker, a Broadway actress.
Later in life, Welch began a second career as a radio actor for the Columbia Broadcasting System. His mastery of French and German came in handy when World War II broke out. He was hired by the State Department to work for the Voice of America. In addition to daily short-wave broadcasts to Europe, he also had his own news show. In 1945, he suffered a tragic accident while working at the recording studio. He was carrying a collection of records and other items, and was starting through the heavy studio doors with a companion. An engineer called to him, and he stopped to reply. He then turned to leave, thinking the door was being held for him. But it wasn't, and he smashed his head against it. An examination disclosed that the retinas in both eyes had been detached. Surgery proved unsuccessful, although for a year he had partial sight in one eye. Then he became totally blind. Welch died in California in 1976, at the age of 88.