Wolfgang Schleif (14 May 1912 – 21 August 1984) was a German

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and film editor.

Life and career

Wolfgang Schleif studied philosophy, psychology and pedagogy at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. In 1934 he passed the State Examination for teachers at the

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary ...

. But then he took classes at the Acting School of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, where he was trained in directing. Schleif began working in film in 1935. By 1938, he was an assistant director. In 1939, he became a screenwriter and eventually an editor. Among his assignments, he was one of the editors of the propaganda films '' Jud Süß'' (1940) and '' Kolberg'' (1945). In 1947, Schleif was joined the DEFA film studio, making his directorial debut in 1948 with the anti-capitalist production '. This was followed by the 1949 film biography of

Johann Friedrich Böttger Johann Friedrich Böttger (also Böttcher or Böttiger; 4 February 1682 – 13 March 1719) was a German alchemist. Böttger was born in Schleiz and died in Dresden. He is normally credited with being the first European to discover the secret of th ...

, '' The Blue Swords''. After 17 June 1953, Schleif emigrated to West Germany. With ' 1955 he managed an extraordinary success, which laid down his work but also for years on the production of such substances. He made several hit movies starring Freddy Quinn, but also war films such as ''Rommel ruft Cairo'' and crime films such as '' Der rote Rausch'' and, in the early seventies, back to the Immenhof films, ''Die Zwillinge von Immenhof'' (''Twins from Immenhof'') and ''Frühling im Immenhof'' (''Spring in Immenhof''). Since the mid-sixties Schleif worked extensively for television. He often led directed series and mini-series, particularly 1967 five episode series ''Bürgerkrieg in Rußland''. (''Civil war in Russia''). He is buried in the Dahlem cemetery in Berlin.

Selected filmography

* '' The Journey to Tilsit'' (director:

Veit Harlan Veit Harlan (22 September 1899 – 13 April 1964) was a German film director and actor. Harlan reached the highpoint of his career as a director in the Nazi era; most notably his antisemitic film '' Jud Süß'' (1940) makes him controversia ...

, 1939) * ''

The Buchholz Family ''The Buchholz Family'' (german: Familie Buchholz) is a 1944 German drama film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Henny Porten, Paul Westermeier, and Käthe Dyckhoff. It is a family chronicle set in late nineteenth century Berlin. It is based ...

'' (director:

Carl Froelich Carl August Hugo Froelich (5 September 1875 – 12 February 1953) was a German film pioneer and film director. He was born and died in Berlin. Biography Apparatus builder and cameraman From 1903 Froelich was a colleague of Oskar Messter, one of ...

, 1944) * '' Marriage of Affection'' (director:

, 1944) * ' (1948) * '' The Blue Swords'' (1949) * '' The Immenhof Girls'' (1955) * '' My Children and I'' (1955) * '' Heroism after Hours'' (1955) * ' (1957) * ' (1958) * '' Rommel Calls Cairo'' (1959, the German-language version of ''

Foxhole in Cairo ''Foxhole in Cairo'' is a 1960 British war film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and based on a novel by Leonard Mosley itself based upon the real-life Operation Salaam. It starred James Robertson Justice, Adrian Hoven, Fenella Fielding and Henry ...

'') * '' Freddy, the Guitar and the Sea'' (1959) * '' The Blue Moth'' (1959) * ''

Freddy and the Melody of the Night Freddy or Freddie may refer to: Entertainment *Freddy (comic strip), a newspaper comic strip which ran from 1955 to 1980 *Freddie (Cromartie), a character from the Japanese manga series''Cromartie High School'' *Freddie (dance), a short-lived 1960 ...

'' (1960) * '' You Must Be Blonde on Capri'' (1961) * ' (1961) * '' Der rote Rausch'' (1962) * ''

Between Shanghai and St. Pauli ''Between Shanghai and St. Pauli'' (German: ''Zwischen Schanghai und St. Pauli'', Italian: ''I rinnegati di Capitan Kidd'') is a 1962 West German-Italian crime adventure film directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero and Wolfgang Schleif and starring ...

'' (1962) * ''Der Fall Harry Domela'' (1965, TV film) — (docudrama about

Harry Domela Harry Domela (1905 – 4 October 1979) was a Russian Empire-born impostor who pretended to be a deposed German crown prince. Biography Harry Domela was born to German parents in 1905 in Kurland, Russian Empire. At the age of fifteen he fought in ...

) * '' Der Forellenhof'' (1965–1966, TV series) * ' (1967–1968, TV miniseries) — (docudrama about the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

) * ''Der Fall Wera Sassulitsch'' (1968, TV film) — (docudrama about

Vera Zasulich Vera Ivanovna Zasulich (russian: link=no, Ве́ра Ива́новна Засу́лич; – 8 May 1919) was a Russian socialist activist, Menshevik writer and revolutionary. Radical beginnings Zasulich was born in Mikhaylovka, in the Sm ...

) * ''Sir Basil Zaharoff – Makler des Todes'' (1969, TV film) — (docudrama about Basil Zaharoff) * ''Der irische Freiheitskampf'' (1969, TV film) — (docudrama about the Easter Rising) * ' (1970) * '' The Twins from Immenhof'' (1973) * '' Spring in Immenhof'' (1974) * ''Die Koblanks'' (1979, TV series)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schleif, Wolfgang 1912 births 1984 deaths Mass media people from Saxony Nazi propagandists Film people from Leipzig Propaganda film directors