Helmut Weiss (January 25, 1907 – January 13, 1969) was a German

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. He was notable for directing '' Tell the Truth'', the first film produced after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in what was to become

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. It was made in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

in the

British Zone of Occupation The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom, along with the Commonwealth, was one of the three major Allied po ...

. Much of the film had already been made at the UFA studios in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

shortly before the arrival of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, but Weiss dramatically re-shot it. The film was significant in its use of outdoor locations in common with other post-war

rubble film Rubble film () was an aesthetic choice for those films made directly after World War II dealing with the impact of the battles in the countries at the center of the war. The style was mostly used by filmmakers in the rebuilding film industries o ...

Selected filmography

Actor

* '' Trouble Backstairs'' (1935) * '' Scandal at the Fledermaus'' (1936) * '' Back in the Country'' (1936) * '' Family Parade'' (1936) * '' Nanon'' (1938) * ''

Kitty and the World Conference ''Kitty and the World Conference'' () is a 1939 German comedy film directed by Helmut Käutner and starring Hannelore Schroth, Fritz Odemar and Christian Gollong. It is a screwball comedy set against the backdrop of an international peace conf ...

'' (1939) * '' The Leghorn Hat'' (1939) * '' The Girl from Fano'' (1941) * '' The Gasman'' (1941) * ''

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

'' (1942) * '' Love and Trumpets'' (1954) * ''

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Fanny Hill ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'' – popularly known as ''Fanny Hill'' – is an erotic novel by the English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748 and 1749. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagne ...

'' (1964)

Screenwriter

* ''

I Entrust My Wife to You ''I Entrust My Wife to You'' () is a 1943 German comedy film directed by Kurt Hoffmann and starring Heinz Rühmann, Adina Mandlová, and Werner Fuetterer. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art ...

'' (1943) * '' Hello, Fraulein!'' (1949) * '' Beloved Liar'' (1950) * '' Street Serenade'' (1953) * '' Santa Lucia'' (1956) * '' Paradise for Sailors'' (1959)

Director

* '' Die Feuerzangenbowle'' (1944) * ''

Quax in Africa ''Quax in Africa'' () is a German comedy adventure film produced from 1943–1944 and released in 1947, directed by Helmut Weiss and starring Heinz Rühmann, Hertha Feiler, and Lothar Firmans. It is a sequel to the 1941 film '' Quax the Crash P ...

'' (not completed during the Reich; allied ban in 1945; shown in West Germany in 1953) * '' Tell the Truth'' (1946) * '' King of Hearts'' (1947) * '' Tromba'' (1949) * ''

Don't Dream, Annette ''Don't Dream, Annette'' () is a 1949 German comedy film directed by Eberhard Klagemann and Helmut Weiss and starring Jenny Jugo, Max Eckard and Karl Schönböck. It was made by DEFA in the Soviet Zone of Germany which was soon afterwards to ...

'' (1949) * '' The Secret of the Red Cat'' (1949) * '' The Disturbed Wedding Night'' (1950) * '' My Friend the Thief'' (1951) * '' The Secret of a Marriage'' (1951) * ''

Once on the Rhine ''Once on the Rhine'' () is a 1952 West German comedy drama film directed by Helmut Weiss and starring Maria Paudler, Jupp Hussels, and Paul Henckels. It was shot at the Wiesbaden Studios in Hesse and location shooting, on location Rüdesheim am ...

'' (1952) * '' Hubertus Castle'' (1954) * '' Love and Trumpets'' (1954) * '' The First Day of Spring'' (1956) * ''

Engagement at Wolfgangsee ''Engagement at Wolfgangsee'' (German: ''Verlobung am Wolfgangsee'') is a 1956 Austrian comedy film directed by Helmut Weiss and starring Ingrid Andree, Wolf Albach-Retty and Maria Andergast. The film was shot in Agfacolor at the Schönbrunn Stu ...

'' (1956) * '' Lemke's Widow'' (1957) * '' An American in Salzburg'' (1958) * '' Every Day Isn't Sunday'' (1959) * ' (1959) * ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

'' (1961)

References

Bibliography

External links

* 1907 births 1969 deaths German male film actors Actors from Göttingen 20th-century German male actors Male actors from Lower Saxony {{Germany-film-director-stub