Helmut Käutner, who would have turned 100 in March 2008, produced some of his most impressive films paradoxically at the very time when German cinema was polarised between two extremes: the more or less explicit propaganda film and the escapist feature film. Yet Käutner did not comply unconditionally. His films address possibilities of realism in Nazi cinema and form to some extent an anomaly within the production system. Both shot in the midst of the "total war", Große Freiheit Nr. 7, an impressive portrait of a sailor filmed on location with Hans Albers, and Unter den Brücken, the down-to-earth story of two barge skippers, suggest a clear move towards a different German cinema.

Featured Works:

Kitty and the World Conference (Kitty und die Weltkonferenz, 1939); Frau nach Maß (1940); Kleider machen Leute (1940); Anuschka (1942); Wir machen Musik (1942); Romance in a Minor Key (Romanze in Moll, 1943); Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944); Great Freedom No. 7 (Große Freiheit Nr., 7 1944); Under the Bridges (Unter den Brücken, 1945); In Those Days (In jenen Tagen, 1947); The Apple Fell (Der Apfel ist ab, 1948); Epilog: Das Geheimnis der Orplid (1950); Royal Children (Königskinder, 1950); Weiße Schatten (1951); Käpt'n Bay-Bay (1953); The Last Bridge (Die Letzte Brücke, 1954); Portrait of an Unknown Woman (Bildnis einer Unbekannten, 1954); The Devil's General (Des Teufels General, 1955); Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs (1955); Sky Without Stars (Himmel ohne Sterne, 1955); The Captain from Köpenick (Der Hauptmann von Köpenick, 1956); The Girl from Flanders (Ein Mädchen aus Flandern, 1956); The Affairs of Julie (Die Zürcher Verlobung, 1957); Auf Wiedersehen, Franziska! (1957); Love from Paris (Monpti, 1957); Duel in the Forest (Der Schinderhannes, 1958); The Restless Years (1958); The Rest Is Silence (Der Rest ist Schweigen, 1959); A Stranger in My Arms (1959); Without Trumpet or Drum (Die Gans von Sedan, 1959); A Glass of Water (Das Glas Wasser, 1960); Black Gravel (Schwarzer Kies, 1961); The Dream of Lieschen Mueller (Der Traum von Lieschen Müller, 1961); Zu jung für die Liebe? (1961); Redhead (Die Rote, 1962); The House in Montevideo (Das Haus in Montevideo, 1963); Tales of a Young Scamp (Lausbubengeschichten, 1964)

Program information:

Helmut Käutner

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Who Is Helmut Käutner? by Christoph Huber posted Jul. 14, 2008