Remembering Helmuth Schneider

Helmuth Schneider was born on December 18, 1920 in Munich, Germany. He studied medicine in Munich in 1938 and attended acting school from 1941 to 1943, at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. In 1942 he made his debut in the comedy Sophie Lund. Sein at the Deutschen Theater as the youthful hero. Helmut had to quit acting during World War II where he was wounded in France.


In 1946 he left Germany and stayed for six years in South and North America, where he played in Argentina, Brazil and the U.S. theater. Under the pseudonym Alexander Carlos, he appeared in several films. 1950 found Schneider in the German version of the adventure film “The Goddess of Rio Beni” as the male lead.

Helmut returned to Germany and played at the Deutsches Theater in Göttingen. Schneider took supporting roles in at that time popular family films where he repeated as a friendly hunter, estate manager etc. By the End of the 1950s he appeared in some adventure films including the Karl May Kara Ben Nemsi film “The Lion of Babylon” (1959). In the 1960s, Schneider settled in Rome and appeared in international films. He appeared as Miles Foreman in the TV series “The Leatherstocking Tales” based on the James Fenimore Cooper characters, and his only Euro-western Joe Caldwell in “The Unholy Four” (1970). He also appeared in a number of war films usually playing unsympathetic Nazi officers. Schneider died in Rio de Janeiro in a traffic accident on March 17, 1972. Today we remember Helmuth Schneider today on what would have been his 90th birthday.

Fate

Fate - U.K. title
Das Schicksal - German title
Fate - English title

A 1911 British production [Natural Color Kinematograph (London)]
Producer: Charles Urban
Director: Theo Bouwmeester (Theodorus Frenkel)
Story: ?
Screenplay: ?
Cinematography: ? [Kinemacolor]
Running time: 19 mnutes

Cast: ?

An Englishman becomes the leader of a tribe of renegade Indians

[First color western]

Remembering Jesus Puente

Jesús Puente Alzaga was born in Madrid, Spain on December 18, 1930. He began studying medicine but abandoned because of his talent for acting which he had exhibited since the 4th grade. He began his career in the theater and worked for several theater companies over the years. At the same time he also worked for the National Radio of Spain and then as a voice dubber on numerous American films and was the Spanish voice of Jimmy Stewart among others. In 1957 he made his film debut in “Muchachas de azul” directed by Pedro Lazaga. At the same time he debuted on Spanish television. In 1989 he directed his first television film “Los ochenta son nuestros”. He was married to the actresses María Luisa Rubio and Licia Calderón. He had one daughter named Chusa. During his career he appeared in 13 Euro-westerns among which were “Apache Fury” (1964), “Adios Gringo” (1965) “Behind the Mask of Zorro” (1966), “Bandidos” (1967) and “Ringo the Lone Rider” (1968). Puente died of a heart attack on October 26, 2000 in Madrid, Spain. Today we remember Jesús Puente what would have been his 80th birthday.

Happy 80th Birthday Armin Mueller-Stahl

Armin Mueller-Stahl was born in Tilsit, Germany on December 17, 1930. His father was a banker and his mother a university professor. His family moved to Berlin during World War II while his father fought on the Eastern Front. Mueller-Stahl enrolled in acting school in East Berlin in 1952. He became a successful stage, film and TV actor appearing in such films as “The Third” (1971) and “Jacob the Liar” (1975). He played the lead character on the spy thriller TV series” Das unsichtbare Visier” from 1973-1979. He was blacklisted by the East German government in 1980 and moved to West Berlin. Armin found plenty of roles in such films as “Lola” (1981) “Veronika Voss” (1982) and “Colonel Redl” (1985). He’s probably best remembered in the U.S. for his role as Jessica Lange’s father in “The Music Box” (1989), and for his role in the TV miniseries “Amerika” (1987). He’s won multiple acting awards in the 2000s and is still active today. During his career he appeared in two Euro-westerns the recently posted “Fatal Error” (1969) and “Kit & Co.” (1974). Today we celebrate Armin Mueller-Stahl’s 80th birthday.

New CD Release

Title: La colt e’ la mia legge (The Colt is My Law) 1965

Composer: Carlo Savina
Label: Digitmovies #CDDM177
Country: Italy
Limited edition 500 copies
Tracks: 18

Track Listing
1) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 1 2:14
2) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 2 3:04
3) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 3 1:47
4) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 4 1:56
5) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 5 2:41
6) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 6 1:29
7) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 7 2:07
8) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 8 2:04
9) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 9 0:57
10) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 10 1:38
11) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 11 2:27
12) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 12 2:12
13) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 13 1:41
14) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 14 2:31
15) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 15 1:40
16) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 16 2:04
17) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 17 1:08
18) La colt e’ la mia legge - Sequence 18 1:40

Total duration: 35:20

RIP Gunter Grabbert

German actor Günter Grabbert has died. The 79-year-old stage and voice actor died on Wednesday, December 15, 2010, after a heart attack in the Leipzig University Hospital, his wife said Thursday. The news agency dpa. reported that the former ensemble member of the Leipziger Schauspielhauses theater was admitted on Monday to the intensive care unit. He had a stroke in the spring, from which he had all but recovered, "said his widow. Grabbert played numerous theatrical, film and television roles in the GDR and after reunification. Günter was the German voice of Daniel Michev in the 1970 DEFA Indian film “Osceola”.

FATAL ERROR

Tödlicher Irrtum - German title

Halálos tévedés - Hungarian title
Blago Indiajanskog Reservata - Yugoslavian title
Fatal Error - English title

A 1969 East German production [DEFA (Potsdam-Babelsburg)]
Producer: Bernd Gerwin
Director: Konrad Petzold
Story: Hans Joachim Wallstein
Screenplay: Günter Karl, Rolf Römer
Cinematography: Eberhard Borkmann [Orwocolor, Totalvision]
Music: Wilhelm Neef
Running time: 103 minutes

Cast:
Shaved Head - Gojko Mitic
Chris Howard - Armin Mueller-Stahl
Caroline - Annekathrin Bürger (Annekathrin Rammelt)
Jessebee - Krystyna Mikolajewska
White Leaf - Kati Bus
Allison - Rolf Hoppe
Lee Garrett - Hannjo Hasse
Hank Jackson - Bruno O’Ya (Bruno Oja)
Ben - Gerry Wolff
McLaurin - Bruno Carstens
Ten Eyck - Stefan Lisewski
Kid Kearny - Rolf Erik Ludwig (Alfred Hoffmann)
Mitch Chandler - Hans Klering
Parker - Hartmut Beer
Bull Head - Mario Marathon
Reynolds - Wilhelm Koch-Hooge
Clifford - Horst Kube
Elmer Guinnes - Werner Röwekamp
Small Eagle - Ricardo Blanco
Scott - Sepp Klose (Josef Klose)
Bill Kane - Bodo Schmidt
carriage dealer - Nico Turoff
townsmen - Günter Berger, Harald Moszdorf, Konrad Petzold
saloon girl - Ingrid Föhr
frau - Hildegard Friese
doctor - Marquard Grundig
Schreiber - Alfred Lux
Burness - Rudolf Napp
Schwarzfels - Djordje Popovic
Black Tomahawk - Slobodan Velimorovic
Hawk-Man - Ferdynand Wójcik

At the end of the 19th century, the Wyoming Oil Company has established a location in the vicinity of Wind River City at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, where they have been illegally pumping oil from Indian territory. One of the company's greedy agents, Mike Allison, kicks out both his white partners and the Indians. He has his some of his associates secretly murdered and blames it on the Indians, who are then killed when they get in the way of his plans. Five chiefs with lifelong shares in the Oil Company die mysteriously as a result. The young chief Shave Head asks his a half-blood brother Chris Howard for help. Chris assumes the post of deputy sheriff and tries to expose Allison and the murderers. When a representative of the Oil Company turns up in Wind River City and exposes Allison's plot, the white inhabitants begin to take sides. Allison does his utmost to defend himself and finally has the oil camp set on fire, passing it off as an act of revenge perpetrated by the Indians. The Indians are helpless against this accusation and Howard must pay for it with his life.

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-ltbRRaA1k