''Captain Wronski'' (german: Rittmeister Wronski) is a 1954 West German
spy film
The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond film ...
directed by
Ulrich Erfurth
Ulrich Erfurth (1910–1986) was a German film director.Giesen p.201
Filmography
Director
* ' (1944/1950)
* ''Finale'' (1948)
* '' Not Afraid of Big Animals'' (1953)
* ''Columbus Discovers Kraehwinkel'' (1954)
* '' Captain Wronski'' (1954)
* '' O ...
and starring
Willy Birgel
Willy Birgel (19 September 1891 – 29 December 1973), born Wilhelm Maria Birgel, was a German theatre and film actor.
Career
Birgel began his acting career before World War I on the stage in his native city of Cologne, and came to movies rath ...
,
Elisabeth Flickenschildt
Elisabeth Ida Marie Flickenschildt (16 March 1905 – 26 October 1977) was a German actress, producer and author. She appeared in dozens of German language films and television productions between 1935–1976.
Flickenschildt was born in Hamburg ...
, and
Antje Weisgerber. A Polish officer works undercover in 1930s
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
to discover
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's plans against his homeland.
The film is very loosely based on 's book about
Jerzy Sosnowski. It was shot at the
Tempelhof Studios
The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial back ...
in
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
with sets designed by the
art director Fritz Maurischat
Fritz Maurischat (April 27, 1893 in Berlin – December 11, 1986) was a German production designer. He made his film debut in 1924. Over the next 38 years, he worked on over 70 films, all of them in his native Germany.
He earned an Oscar nominati ...
. The casting of Birgel in the title role referenced his best-known performance during the
Nazi era when he had played another
Rittmeister
__NOTOC__
(German and Scandinavian for "riding master" or "cavalry master") is or was a military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in the armies of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A ''Rittmeister'' is typi ...
in ''
Riding for Germany
''Riding for Germany'' (german: Reitet für Deutschland) is a 1941 German drama film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Willy Birgel, Gertrud Eysoldt and Gerhild Weber. A German cavalry officer, badly injured during the First World W ...
'' (1941).
Cast
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
1954 films
1950s spy drama films
German spy drama films
West German films
1950s German-language films
Films directed by Ulrich Erfurth
Films set in the 1930s
Films set in Berlin
Films set in Poland
Films about Nazi Germany
Films based on non-fiction books
Films shot at Tempelhof Studios
1954 drama films
German black-and-white films
1950s German films
{{1950s-Germany-film-stub