Deutsche London Film
Deutsche London Film or Deutsche London-Film was a West German film distribution company active from 1940 to 1956. Handling both domestic productions and imports, and concentrating on popular film genres, it established itself as one of the bigger distributors. This took place during the economic recovery of the German film industry in the post-Second World War period, as audiences reached peak numbers by the mid-1950s.
It was founded in Hamburg by Karl Julius Fritzsche, a former head of production at the major studio Tobis Film, but lost momentum following his death in 1954. Located in what had been placed into the British Zone it released productions by Alexander Korda's London Films, including That Hamilton Woman, Lydia, An Ideal Husband, The Winslow Boy, The Third Man and Hobson's Choice. In 1950, it distributed a wartime Austrian film The Heart Must Be Silent starring Paula Wessely. As German production levels rose, it handled a growing number of German-made films.
In 1955 the company stated that few German crime films were made anymore due to a lack of popular demand. A few years later the genre was revived by the rival Rialto Film's series of Edgar Wallace's adaptations.