- Founder of Saturn Studio in Javornik, he specialized in children and family portraits and, later, in erotic photography. In late 1906, after the success of "Herrenabende" ("night shows for men") organized in Austrian cinemas, he became interested on the subject and produced and directed the first Austrian erotic feature films, with basic plots (artist and model, bath scene) allowing for voyeurism and female nudity but not pornography.
- The director Johann Schwarzer learnt the profession of a chemist and photographer.
- With the outbreak of World War I he joined the army and was already killed in one of the first battles.
- Besides his activity as a director he also was responsible as a cinematographer, producer and cutter for some of his movies.
- Because of the huge demand of erotic pictures Johann Schwarzer recognized the possibilities of the new arising film business and he expanded his business. He already realised numerous erotic short movies from 1906 where naked women played the leading role. To these movies belong "Schleiertanz" (1907), "Weibliche Ringkämpfer" (1907), "In der Garderobe" (1907), "Diana im Bade" (1907), "Eine lustige Geschichte am Fenster" (1908), "Aufregende Lektüre" (1910) and "Lebender Marmor" (1910).
- After 1910 he concentrated to his career as a photographer again.
- He opened his own photo studio and became established as a photographer - not only with portrait pictures but also with the than very popular erotic nude photos.
- He founded the first filmproduction company in Austria in 1906 with "Saturn-Film" and he realised more than 50 movies in the next few years.
- Schwarzer was an army reservist who was called up with the outbreak of World War I on 28 July 1914. He was made a second lieutenant by the time he perished in battle at Wirballen, Poland on 10 October of that year.
- Unlike his predecessors, Schwarzer conducted his business as a public company, advertising in local newspapers, motion picture trade journals and adding a logo to his films like any other European producer.
- Filmarchiv Austria has included four of Schwarzer's works in the Europa Film Treasures site; Das Sandbad (1906), Baden Verboten (1906), Das Eitle Stubenmädchen (1908) and Beim Fotografen (1908).
- His Saturn-Film also published a regular film catalog within its first couple years of existence. Despite this effort, Saturn-Films often appeared shorn of their logos and rendered anonymously like other, similar subjects once they got further afield of Vienna.
- To supplement his income, Schwarzer began making erotic photos which were used on naughty postcards common to the era.
- Schwarzer produced and directed erotic feature films, with basic plots (artist and model, bath scene) which allowed for voyeurism and female nudity but not, he insisted, pornography. Each film contained young local women fully nude.
- In 1906, he became interested in the men's-only theatre nights organized in Austrian cinemas that showed adult films, so-called Herrenabende ("night shows for men"). Seeing that money could be made from these types of films, Schwarzer organized the Saturn-Film company in 1906 to produce such films in competition to the French product then being exclusively shown. Before Schwarzer's productions, erotic films in Austria were supplied by the French Pathé brothers.
- Schwarzers Saturn-Film was the first native film production company based in Austria.
- In 1911, Schwarzers Saturn-Film was raided and closed down by the police as a part of a crackdown on erotic materials in Vienna. The authorities destroyed the main film vault which at that time consisted of 52 productions. Censorship prevented Saturn from rising again.
- Despite the destruction of the main film vault in 1911 about a half of the 52 films produced by the company still exist in archives throughout Europe.
- Johann Schwarzer tried to get a fresh start in film distribution, but without the 'spicy' films he had become famous for. After three months, he abandoned the effort and left Vienna for Africa. He resurfaced in April 1914, when he married the young Olga Emilie Jarosh-Stehlik.
- Saturn-Film consciously chose to advertise its films as being erotic, rather than pornographic. A quote from its 1907 catalog, probably written by Schwarzer, states "our films are of a purely artistic tendency, and we avoid tasteless subjects in favor of beauty." Schwarzer's adult films were more professional in quality then their French and Argentine counterparts and were the most widely distributed and popular adult films made in the first decade of the 20th century.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content