Karl Adolf Kurt Werner Klingler (23 October 1903 – 23 June 1972) was a German film director and actor. He directed 29 films between 1936 and 1968. He was born in Stuttgart and died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany.

Early life

Klingler acquired his first theatre experience in minor acting roles. He

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to the United States, where he played at a

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

theater in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

in 1925. Klingler starred in films, such as

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

' '' Hell's Angels'' and Wilhelm Dieterle's '' The Dance Goes On'' (a German-language version of ''

Those Who Dance ''Those Who Dance'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code crime film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by William Beaudine, and starring Monte Blue, Lila Lee, William "Stage" Boyd and Betty Compson. It is a remake of the 1924 silent fil ...

'').

Career

Klingler met Luis Trenker to film '' Mountains on Fire''. Klingler was assistant director at '' SOS Eisberg'' (1933) and '' The Prodigal Son (1934 film)''. He directed '' The Last Four on Santa Cruz'' (1936). Klingler regressed to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. His new titles included '' Condottieri (1937 film)'', '' Love Letters from Engadin'' (1938), '' Die letzte Runde'' (1940), and '' Wetterleuchten um Barbara'' (1941). Klingler replaced the allegedly executed director,

Herbert Selpin Herbert Selpin (29 May 1904 – 1 August 1942) was a German film director and screenwriter of light entertainment during the 1930s and 1940s. He is best known for his final film, the partly suppressed ''Titanic'', during the production of which h ...

, for ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

''. After the epic film was banned, Klingler's '' Die Degenhardts'' (1944) was banned the following year. Klingler was unable to complete '' The Man in the Saddle'' due to the Battle of Berlin. His postwar credits include ''

Raid Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

'' (1947) and '' Nora's Ark'' (1948). He returned to Hollywood only to be rejected. Klingler directed '' Aus dem Tagebuch eines Frauenarztes'' (1959) and ''

Spy for Germany ''Spy for Germany'' (german: Spion für Deutschland) is a 1956 West German thriller film directed by Werner Klingler that stars Martin Held, Nadja Tiller and Walter Giller. Based on a book by Will Berthold, the film depicts the mission of a Germ ...

'' (1956). Klingler released the film, ' (1961), about the Nazi Eugenics system. He filmed a version of

Bryan Edgar Wallace Bryan Edgar Wallace (1904–1971) was a British writer. The son of the writer Edgar Wallace, Bryan was also a writer of crime and mystery novels which were very similar in style to those of his father. He was named after the American politician W ...

's '' Death Packs a Suitcase'' under the title, '. His last film was '' Straßenbekanntschaften auf St. Pauli'' (1968).

Selected filmography

* '' The Dance Goes On'' (1930) * '' The Last Four on Santa Cruz'' (1936) * '' Home Guardsman Bruggler'' (1936) * ''

Condottieri ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italy, Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other ...

'' (directed by Luis Trenker, 1937) * '' Love Letters from Engadin'' (directed by Luis Trenker, 1938) * '' The Merciful Lie'' (1939) * ''

'' (uncredited, 1943) * ''

The Degenhardts ''The Degenhardts'' (german: Die Degenhardts) is a 1944 German drama film directed by Werner Klingler and starring Heinrich George, Ernst Schröder and Gunnar Möller. Karl Degenhardt, the patriarch of a family in Lübeck, leads his wife and five ...

'' (1944) * '' Anna Alt'' (1945) * ''

'' (1947) * '' Nora's Ark'' (1948) * ''

'' (1956) * '' Doctor Bertram'' (1957) * ' (1957) * ' (1958) * ' (1962) * ''

Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse ''The Testament of Dr. Mabuse'' (german: Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse), also called ''The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse'', is a 1933 German crime-thriller film directed by Fritz Lang. The movie is a sequel to Lang's silent film ''Dr. Mabuse the Gambl ...

'' (1962) * ' (1964) * '' The Dirty Game'' (1965) * '' Street Acquaintances of St. Pauli'' (1968)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klingler, Werner 1903 births 1972 deaths Film directors from Baden-Württemberg German male film actors 20th-century German male actors Film people from Stuttgart