Helmut Käutner

Helmut Käutner (25 March 1908 – 20 April 1980) was a German film director active mainly in the 1940s and 1950s. He entered the film industry at the end of the Weimar Republic and released his first films as a director in Nazi Germany. Käutner is relatively unknown outside of Germany, although he is considered one of the best filmmakers in German film history.^[1] He was one of the most influential film directors of German post-war cinema and became known for his sophisticated literary adaptations.

Helmut Käutner
Helmut Käutner (1960)
Born	(1908-03-25)25 March 1908 Düsseldorf, Rhine Province, Prussia, Germany
Died	20 April 1980(1980-04-20) (aged 72) Castellina in Chianti, Province of Siena, Italy
Occupation(s)	Film director, actor
Years active	1940–1976

Biography

He was born in Düsseldorf, Germany. Käutner started out as a director in the Nazi era, but his films remained largely free of National Socialist propaganda.^[2] One of his early successes was Romanze in Moll (1943), an adaptation of Guy du Maupassant's short story "Les Bijoux". Other remarkable films were Große Freiheit Nr. 7 and Under the Bridges.

His 1956 film Der Hauptmann von Köpenick was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 29th Academy Awards.^[3] Three years later, his film The Rest Is Silence was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival. Käutner made two films for Universal Pictures in Hollywood: The Restless Years (1958) and A Stranger in My Arms (1959). However, neither of them received critical success and Käutner was unhappy with the lack of creative freedom he had, so he returned to Germany.^[4] He died in Castellina in Chianti, Italy.

Selected filmography

Director

Feature Films

• Kitty and the World Conference (1939)
• Woman Made to Measure (1940)
• Clothes Make the Man (1940)
• Goodbye, Franziska (1941)
• Anuschka (1942)
• We Make Music (1942)
• Romance in a Minor Key (1943)
• Große Freiheit Nr. 7 (1944)
• Under the Bridges (1946)
• In Those Days (1947)
• The Original Sin (1948)
• Royal Children (1950)
• The Orplid Mystery (1950)
• White Shadows (1951)
• Captain Bay-Bay (1953)
• The Last Bridge (1954)
• Portrait of an Unknown Woman (1954)
• Ludwig II (1955)
• Des Teufels General (1955)
• Sky Without Stars (1955)
• The Girl from Flanders (1956)
• The Captain from Köpenick (1956)
• The Zurich Engagement (1957)
• Love from Paris (1957)
• The Restless Years (1958)
• Der Schinderhannes (1958)
• A Stranger in My Arms (1959)
• The Rest Is Silence (1959)
• The Goose of Sedan (1959)
• A Glass of Water (1960)
• Black Gravel (1961)
• The Dream of Lieschen Mueller (1961)
• Redhead (1962)
• The House in Montevideo (1963)
• Tales of a Young Scamp [de] (1964)
• Die Feuerzangenbowle (1970)

Television

• Das Gespenst von Canterville [de] (1964, TV film) — (based on The Canterville Ghost)
• Romulus der Große (1965, TV film) — (based on Romulus the Great)
• Die Flasche (1965, TV film) — (based on a story by Joachim Ringelnatz)
• Robin Hood, der edle Räuber (1966, TV film) — (Musical based on Robin Hood)
• Leben wie die Fürsten (1966, TV film) — (based on La Belle Vie [fr] by Jean Anouilh)
• Die spanische Puppe (1967, TV film) — (based on The Double Doll by Giles Cooper)
• Stella (1967, TV film) — (based on Goethe's play)
• Valentin Katajews chirurgische Eingriffe in das Seelenleben des Dr. Igor Igorowitsch (1967, TV film) — (based on a play by Valentin Kataev)
• Bel Ami [de] (1968, TV film) — (based on Guy de Maupassant's Bel-Ami)
• Tagebuch eines Frauenmörders (1969, TV film) — (screenplay by István Békeffy)
• Christoph Kolumbus oder Die Entdeckung Amerikas [de] (1969, TV film) — (based on a play by Walter Hasenclever and Kurt Tucholsky)
• Einladung ins Schloß oder Die Kunst das Spiel zu spielen (1970, TV film) — (based on Invitation to the Castle)
• Der Kommissar: Anonymer Anruf (1970, TV series episode)
• Die seltsamen Abenteuer des geheimen Kanzleisekretärs Tusmann (1972, TV film) — (based on a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann)
• Ornifle oder Der erzürnte Himmel (1972, TV film) — (based on a play by Jean Anouilh)
• Die preußische Heirat (1974, TV film) — (based on Zopf und Schwert by Karl Gutzkow)
• Derrick: Stiftungsfest [de] (1974, TV series episode)
• Margarete in Aix (1976, TV film) — (based on a play by Peter Hacks)
• Mulligans Rückkehr (1978, TV film) — (based on a novel by Hans Frick [de]) (final film)

Screenwriter

• Wibbel the Tailor (1939, directed by Viktor de Kowa)
• Film ohne Titel (1948, directed by Rudolf Jugert)
• Nights on the Road (1952, directed by Rudolf Jugert)

Actor

• Cruiser Emden (1932, directed by Louis Ralph), as Seaman
• A Far Country (1967, TV film, directed by Ida Ehre), as Sigmund Freud
• The Devil and the Good Lord (1967, TV film, directed by Peter Beauvais), as Archbishop
• Ein Mann namens Harry Brent [de] (1968, TV miniseries, directed by Peter Beauvais), as Sir Gordon Towns
• Babeck [de] (1968, TV miniseries, directed by Wolfgang Becker), as Dr. Brenner
• Bend Sinister (1970, TV film, directed by Herbert Vesely), as Adam Krug
• Der Kommissar: Messer im Rücken (1970, TV, directed by Wolfgang Staudte), as Hugo Blasek
• Hauser's Memory (1970, TV film, directed by Boris Sagal), as Dr. Kramer
• The Woman in White [de] (1971, TV miniseries, directed by Wilhelm Semmelroth), as Sir Frederic Fairlie
• Tatort: Der Richter in Weiss [de] (1971, TV, directed by Peter Schulze-Rohr), as Professor Kemm
• Temptation in the Summer Wind (1972, directed by Rolf Thiele), as Professor Bomhard
• Van der Valk und die Reichen [de] (1973, TV film, directed by Wolfgang Petersen), as Canisius
• Karl May (1974, directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg), as Karl May
• Derrick: Nur Aufregungen für Rohn [de] (1975, TV, directed by Wolfgang Becker), as Paul Seibach
• Derrick: Auf eigene Faust (1976, TV, directed by Zbyněk Brynych), as Duktus

Literature

• Hans-Jürgen Tast: Helmut Käutner – Unter den Brücken. 1944/45. Schellerten: Kulleraugen, 2007; ISBN 978-3-88842-033-7
• Hans-Jürgen Tast: Helmut Käutner – In jenen Tagen. 1947. Schellerten: Kulleraugen, 2007; ISBN 978-3-88842-034-4