Helmut Käutner

Helmut Käutner 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. He was one of the most influential film directors of German post-war cinema and became known for his sophisticated literary adaptations.

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. One of his early successes was Romanze in Moll, 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. 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 and A Stranger in My Arms. However, neither of them received critical success and Käutner was unhappy with the lack of creative freedom he had, so he returned to Germany. He died in Castellina in Chianti, Italy.

Selected filmography

Director

Feature FilmsKitty and the World Conference Woman Made to Measure Clothes Make the Man Goodbye, Franziska Anuschka We Make Music Romance in a Minor Key

Große Freiheit Nr. 7 Under the Bridges In Those Days The Original Sin Royal Children The Orplid Mystery White Shadows Captain Bay-Bay The Last Bridge Portrait of an Unknown Woman Ludwig II Des Teufels General Sky Without Stars The Girl from Flanders The Captain from Köpenick The Zurich Engagement Love from Paris The Restless Years Der Schinderhannes A Stranger in My Arms The Rest Is Silence The Goose of Sedan A Glass of Water Black Gravel The Dream of Lieschen Mueller Redhead The House in Montevideo ' Die Feuerzangenbowle

Television

' — Romulus der Große — Die Flasche — Robin Hood, der edle Räuber — Leben wie die Fürsten — Die spanische Puppe — Stella — Valentin Katajews chirurgische Eingriffe in das Seelenleben des Dr. Igor Igorowitsch — ' — Tagebuch eines Frauenmörders —
' — Einladung ins Schloß oder Die Kunst das Spiel zu spielen — Der Kommissar: Anonymer Anruf Die seltsamen Abenteuer des geheimen Kanzleisekretärs Tusmann — Ornifle oder Der erzürnte Himmel — Die preußische Heirat — Derrick: Margarete in Aix — Mulligans Rückkehr —

Screenwriter

Wibbel the Tailor Film ohne Titel

''Nights on the Road''

Actor

Cruiser Emden, as SeamanA Far Country, as Sigmund FreudThe Devil and the Good Lord, as Archbishop', as Sir Gordon Towns

', as Dr. BrennerBend Sinister, as Adam KrugDer Kommissar: Messer im Rücken, as Hugo BlasekHauser's Memory, as Dr. Kramer', as Sir Frederic FairlieTatort: , as Professor KemmTemptation in the Summer Wind, as Professor Bomhard
', as CanisiusKarl May, as Karl MayDerrick: , as Paul SeibachDerrick: Auf eigene Faust, as Duktus

Literature

Hans-Jürgen Tast: Helmut Käutner – Unter den Brücken. 1944/45. Schellerten: Kulleraugen, 2007;
Hans-Jürgen Tast: Helmut Käutner – In jenen Tagen. 1947. Schellerten: Kulleraugen, 2007;