Important German Film Director Passport
I randomly found his passport offered at an antique shop. Unfortunately, the condition is bad and the seller’s price was quite high. However, Käutner is one of the most important directors of the post-WWII area and I am sure you know his movies mentioned below. Here is his passport. Important German Film Director Passport
Helmut Käutner (* March 25, 1908, in Düsseldorf; † April 20, 1980, in Castellina in Chianti, Italy) was a German director, actor, and cabaret artist. He was one of the most influential film directors of post-war German cinema and became known for his ambitious literary adaptations. He also had great success with radio plays at Radio Hamburg (later NWDR). He also appeared as a songwriter for several of his films. Important German Film Director Passport
Käutner was not a member of the resistance, but he was able to maintain a certain independence in his work during the Nazi period. He made Kitty und die Weltkonferenz, a film that was banned by the censors for being pro-British. With Große Freiheit Nr. 7 (cf. Hamburg-Hymne) and Unter den Brücken, he created two films that, in their emphasis on the individual, strongly contradicted the worldview of the National Socialists and that German audiences did not get to see until after the end of National Socialism. The films Kleider machen Leute and Romanze in Moll also deviated from patterns of National Socialist film ideals.
In 1947, he made his first film after the World War with In jenen Tagen, a rubble film describing post-war reality. In the next few years, he did not succeed with films like Der Apfel ist ab (1948) or Königskinder (1950). In 1954, he succeeded with the anti-war film The Last Bridge at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival and received the Prix International for it. In the following years, he had great success with films such as Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs, as well as the Zuckmayer adaptations Des Teufels General with Curd Jürgens in 1955, 1956, and 1958, Der Hauptmann von Köpenick with Heinz Rühmann and Der Schinderhannes, again with Curd Jürgens. In 1959, he filmed Ein Fremder in meinen Armen (A Stranger in My Arms) in the USA, with Charles Coburn and Sandra Dee, among others. Important German Film Director Passport
