---
name: "Ernest Vajda"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ernest-vajda"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "27 May 1886"
died: "3 April 1954"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 73
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-19T22:18:02.672954+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ernest Vajda

Writer. Born 27 May 1886 in Komárno, Austria-Hungary [now Slovakia]. Died 3 April 1954.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 27 May 1886, Komárno, Austria-Hungary [now Slovakia]
- **Died:** 3 April 1954
- **Active:** 1929–1934
- **Also known as:** Vajda Ernő, Sidney Garrick, Sydney Garrick, Ernst Vajda
- **Frequently works with:** [Claudine West](https://film.one/person/claudine-west.md), [Fredric March](https://film.one/person/fredric-march.md), [Irving Thalberg](https://film.one/person/irving-thalberg.md), [Norma Shearer](https://film.one/person/norma-shearer.md), [Sidney Franklin](https://film.one/person/sidney-franklin.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as writer, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1920s 76 (1), 1930s 72 (3)
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Romance 4, Comedy 2, Drama 2
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Vajda, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1356560, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0883328/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/144423

## Biography

Ernest Vajda was a Hungarian screenwriter, playwright and novelist. Born Ernő Vajda on 27 May 1886 in Pápa, Austria-Hungary, he moved with his family to Komárno after his father's death and later studied at the College of the Benedictine Monks in Pápa. He wrote his first play in 1909 and had several produced in Hungary before emigrating to the United States in 1924.

Vajda worked as a contract writer for Paramount Pictures from the mid-1920s and collaborated on several films with director Ernst Lubitsch. His credits include the story for *The Love Parade* (1929) and the screenplay, co-written with Samson Raphaelson, for *The Smiling Lieutenant* (1931). He later worked at MGM and contributed to *The Merry Widow* (1934) and *Broken Lullaby* (1932). Vajda died on 3 April 1954 in Woodland Hills, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *The Barretts of Wimpole Street* (1934), Fi1m 72, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-barretts-of-wimpole-street.md)
- *Smilin' Through* (1932), Fi1m 67, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/smilin-through.md)
- *The Smiling Lieutenant* (1931), Fi1m 78, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-smiling-lieutenant.md)
- *The Love Parade* (1929), Fi1m 76, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/the-love-parade.md)

## Complete filmography (48)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Stars and Stripes Forever* (1952), Story
- *They Dare Not Love* (1941), Writer
- *He Stayed for Breakfast* (1940), Screenplay
- *Dramatic School* (1938), Screenplay
- *Marie Antoinette* (1938), Screenplay
- *The Great Garrick* (1937), Writer
- *Personal Property* (1937), Screenplay
- *A Woman Rebels* (1936), Screenplay
- *The Merry Widow* (1934), Screenplay
- *The Barretts of Wimpole Street* (1934), Screenplay — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/the-barretts-of-wimpole-street.md)
- *Queen Christina* (1934), as Additional Writing
- *Reunion in Vienna* (1933), Screenplay
- *Payment Deferred* (1932), Screenplay
- *Smilin' Through* (1932), Writer — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/film/smilin-through.md)
- *Mister Albert* (1932), Screenplay, Novel
- *Broken Lullaby* (1932), Screenplay
- *Service for Ladies* (1932), Writer
- *The Guardsman* (1931), Screenplay
- *The Smiling Lieutenant* (1931), Screenplay — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-smiling-lieutenant.md)
- *Son of India* (1931), Writer
- *Tonight or Never* (1931), Screenplay
- *Monte Carlo* (1930), Screenplay
- *Such Men Are Dangerous* (1930), Dialogue, Screenplay
- *The Love Parade* (1929), Story — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/the-love-parade.md)
- *Marquis Preferred* (1929), Story
- *Innocents of Paris* (1929), Writer
- *Manhattan Cocktail* (1928), Story
- *His Private Life* (1928), Story
- *Manhattan Cowboy* (1928), Writer
- *Loves of an Actress* (1928), Story
- *His Tiger Lady* (1928), Scenario Writer
- *A Night of Mystery* (1928), Screenplay
- *Serenade* (1927), Writer
- *The Woman on Trial* (1927), Theatre Play
- *Service for Ladies* (1927), Story
- *You Never Know Women* (1926), Story
- *The Cat's Pajamas* (1926), Story
- *The Crown of Lies* (1926), Story
- *Grounds for Divorce* (1925), Novel
- *Tragedy in the House of Habsburg* (1924), Novel
- *Hotel Potemkin* (1924), Writer
- *Jedermanns Weib* (1924), Writer
- *The Unknown Tomorrow* (1923), Theatre Play, Writer
- *Samson und Delila* (1922), Writer
- *Masters of the Sea* (1922), Writer
- *Die Schuld der Lavinia Morland* (1921), Theatre Play
- *The Parrot* (1913), Screenplay
- *The Merry Widow* (1912), Screenplay

## Gallery

- ![Ernest Vajda](https://film.one/media/person/1224893/gallery-5eb4410c8c85.jpg) Ernest Vajda — Paramount Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Ernest_Vajda_1926.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![George Peredy (Morgan Farley) is enchanted with Mathilde Fay (Emily Stevens) in 'Fata Morgana' (1924)](https://film.one/media/person/1224893/gallery-f7059cf1092d.jpg) George Peredy (Morgan Farley) is enchanted with Mathilde Fay (Emily Stevens) in 'Fata Morgana' (1924) — Nickolas Muray (1892 – 1965), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/%27Fata_Morgana%27_%281924%29_Act_I_Enchantment.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ernest-vajda