Gustav Machatý was born on May 9, 1901, in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, which is now part of the Czech Republic. His initial involvement with the film industry began when he played piano at movie theaters, accompanying silent pictures.
In 1917, he made his acting debut, and in the early 1920s, he emigrated to the United States, settling in Hollywood, where he learned filmmaking under the guidance of renowned directors D.W. Griffith and Erich von Stroheim. After completing a four-year apprenticeship, he returned to Prague to direct his own films.
Machatý's two notable movies, "Erotikon" (1929) and "Ekstase" (1933),brought him international recognition. The latter, released as "Ecstasy" in the United States, was a groundbreaking film that featured Hedy Kiesler, who would later become the famous actress Hedy Lamarr, in a nude scene.
"Ekstase" was nominated for the Mussolini Cup at the Venice Film Festival and was released with the tagline "The Most Talked About Picture in the World." However, the film faced censorship issues in the United States, with the Customs Service seizing the print due to its explicit content.
The film's distributor, Samuel Cummins, appealed the decision, but the Customs agents had destroyed the print, and the appeal was denied. Cummins edited the film to remove explicit content, adding a moralistic voice-over and a new ending, but the State of New York Board of Review refused to license the picture for exhibition.
The film was eventually released in the United States with significant cuts, but it continued to face censorship issues. The Roman Catholic Church's censorship body, the Legion of Decency, condemned the film, making it one of the few foreign films to receive this distinction.
Machatý's work on "Ekstase" also led to the discovery of Hedy Kiesler by Louis B. Mayer, who signed her to a contract and rechristened her Hedy Lamarr. Lamarr would go on to become a famous actress, known as the "Most Beautiful Woman in the World" in the 1940s.
Gustav Machatý died on December 13, 1963, in Munich, Germany.
