Born to Jewish[2] parents in Kyiv in present-day Ukraine, he began his theatrical training at age 13 in St. Petersburg, where he lived through the end of the Russian Revolution.
In 1936 he directed Mayerling, a film which made French actors Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux international stars.
He returned Swedish star Ingrid Bergman to popularity with American audiences in 1956 with Anastasia, in which she won her second Oscar.
Because of Litvak's ability to speak Yiddish, Ukrainian, Russian, English, German, and French, he supervised the filming of the D-Day Normandy landings.
Litvak remained there through the Russian Revolution, and began his filmmaking career at Nordkino Studios, where he was assistant director and a production designer for nine silent films during the 1920s.
According to film historian Ronald Bowers, Litvak became skilled in using location shooting and realistic documentary effects as early as the 1930s.
[8] Mayerling (1936), which starred French actors Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux, is credited with establishing Litvak's international reputation as a producer and director.
Critics widely praised the film; some reviewers called it "one of the most compelling love stories the cinema has produced," and "a romantic tragedy of the highest order.
In describing Litvak's cinematography style in the film, critic Jack Edmund Nolan writes that it is "replete with the camera trackings, pans, and swoops, techniques which later became the trademark of Max Ophuls.
"[3] The worldwide success of Mayerling brought Litvak invitations from Hollywood; he was offered a four-year contract by Warner Brothers.
[9] He directed such films as The Woman I Love (1937); Tovarich (1937) with Boyer, a comedy celebrating "outmoded values of the ruined Russian aristocracy";[9] The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938); and The Sisters (1938), starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn.
The producers hoped to arouse concern in the United States, where many people wanted to pursue isolation and escape any "European war.
"[12] Biographer Alexander Walker said in his book about Vivien Leigh, that Litvak tried to open Hollywood's eyes to the threat Germany posed to Europe and the world.
She learned from him that the studios were trying to protect their investments in the German box office and did not want to produce films that would offend that country.
"[13] After Castle on the Hudson (1940), Litvak produced and directed All This and Heaven Too, starring Bette Davis and Charles Boyer.
[5] That same year he co-produced and directed City for Conquest, starring James Cagney and supporting actor Elia Kazan.
Litvak, having by then become an American citizen,[3] enlisted in the United States Army at the beginning of US involvement in World War II.
He joined with fellow director Frank Capra to make the Why We Fight war training film series, most of which included newsreel footage.
He was treasurer of the Russian War Relief Association, which sponsored international radio benefits with stars such as Edward G. Robinson and Ronald Colman.
U.S. ambassador to Russia W. Averell Harriman asked Litvak to narrate the English-language film in Russian during the screening.
[14] The films were scripted by Anthony Veiller and narrated by Walter Huston, with music by Dimitri Tiomkin, another Russian-born émigré to Hollywood.
Because of Litvak's ability to speak Russian, German, and French, he subsequently supervised the filming of the D-Day Normandy landings.
"[16] Ending the war as a full colonel, Litvak received special awards from the governments of France, Britain, and the United States for his work.
Among his productions, there was Act of Love (1953) with Kirk Douglas filmed in Paris, and The Deep Blue Sea (1955) with Vivien Leigh and Kenneth More shot in England.
"[20] His last film was The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (1970), a thriller set in the South of France, based on a Sébastien Japrisot novel of the same name.