Wolfgang Staudte (9 October 1906 – 19 January 1984), born Georg Friedrich Staudte, was a German film director, script writer and actor. He was born in Saarbrücken.

After 1945, Staudte also looked at German guilt in the cinema. Alongside Helmut Käutner, he was considered the only German post-war director of any standing who, after 1945, could look back on continuous artistic filmmaking far removed from Heimatfilm and the suppression of history. Staudte's films stood for politically committed cinema as well as for professional craftsmanship, for film art and (good) entertainment with a social claim.

His most important work came in the ten years following World War II, in which he worked with the DEFA in East Germany. The main focus of his work was to highlight the limits of German national pride. His work in anti-Nazi films, such as The Murderers Are Among Us (1946), was also a personal working-through of his film career under the Nazis (he acted in the anti-Semitic film Jud Süß). Following 1956, he worked in West Germany. By the 1970s, his work was no longer considered particularly modern and he moved to television. He appeared on shows such as Der Kommissar and Tatort.

He is the great-uncle of the German-Iranian director and novelist Andy Siege.

Filmography

As director

Film

  • Bravo Acrobat! (1943)
  • ' (1944) — based on a story by Johann von Vásáry
  • ' (1944, lost film, rediscovered 1996)
  • The Murderers Are Among Us (1946)
  • The Adventures of Fridolin (1948) — remake of the lost film Der Mann, dem man den Namen stahl
  • Rotation (1949)
  • Second Hand Destiny (1949)
  • A Tale of Five Cities (1951, anthology film)
  • Der Untertan (1951) — based on the novel Der Untertan by Heinrich Mann
  • Poison in the Zoo (directed by Hans Müller, 1952)
  • ' (premiere: 1952, Überläufer from 1945)
  • Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck (1953) — based on the fairy tale Little Muck by Wilhelm Hauff
  • Leuchtfeuer (1954)
  • Ciske de Rat (Dutch-language, 1955) — based on the novel Ciske de Rat by Piet Bakker
  • Ciske – ein Kind braucht Liebe (German-language, 1955) — based on the novel Ciske de Rat by Piet Bakker
  • ' (1955, unfinished film) — based on Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children
  • Rose Bernd (1957) — based on Rose Bernd by Gerhart Hauptmann
  • Escape from Sahara (1958)
  • ' (1958) — screenplay by Ennio De Concini, Duccio Tessari and W. Staudte
  • The Muzzle (1958) — based on a novel by Heinrich Spoerl
  • Roses for the Prosecutor (1959)
  • The Fair (1960)
  • The Last Witness (1960) — based on a book by Maximilian Vernberg
  • The Happy Years of the Thorwalds (co-director: , 1962) — based on Time and the Conways by J. B. Priestley
  • The Threepenny Opera (1963) — based on Brecht's Threepenny Opera
  • Destination Death (1964)
  • ' (1964) — based on a story by
  • Honour Among Thieves (1966) — based on a play by Charles Rudolph
  • ' (1968)
  • Gentlemen in White Vests (1970)
  • Jailbreak in Hamburg (1971)
  • ' (1978)

Television

  • Die Rebellion (1962, TV film) — based on the novel Rebellion by Joseph Roth<!--13 September 1962-->
  • ' (1966, TV film)<!--4 February 1966-->
  • Die Klasse (1968, TV film) — based on a novel by Hermann Ungar<!--24 September 1968-->
  • Die Gartenlaube (1970, TV film) — based on a play by Hermann Ungar<!--24 March 1970-->
  • Der Kommissar: Messer im Rücken (1970, TV series episode)<!--24 April 1970-->
  • Der Kommissar: ...wie die Wölfe (1970, TV series episode)<!--15 May 1970-->
  • ' (1970, TV series, 5 episodes)<!--4 September 1970-->
  • Die Person (1970, TV film) — based on a story by <!--21 September 1970-->
  • Der Kommissar: Besuch bei Alberti (1971, TV series episode)<!--29 January 1971-->
  • Der Kommissar: Ende eines Tanzvergnügens (1971, TV series episode)<!--26 February 1971-->
  • Der Kommissar: Die Anhalterin (1971, TV series episode)<!--19 March 1971-->
  • Der Kommissar: Lisa Bassenges Mörder (1971, TV series episode)<!--28 May 1971-->
  • Der Kommissar: Tod eines Ladenbesitzers (1971, TV series episode)<!--18 June 1971-->
  • ' (1971, TV miniseries) — based on The Sea-Wolf by Jack London<!--5 December 1971-->
  • Der Kommissar: Ein rätselhafter Mord (1971, TV series episode)<!--17 December 1971-->
  • Der Kommissar: Die Tote im Park (1972, TV series episode)<!--18 February 1972-->
  • ' (1972, TV film) — based on a novel by Raoul Anderland <!--29 September 1972-->
  • Marya Sklodowska-Curie (1972, TV film) — biographical film about Marie Curie<!--13 October 1972-->
  • Der Kommissar: Das Komplott (1973, TV series episode)<!--23 February 1973-->
  • Der Kommissar: Die Nacht, in der Basseck starb (1973, TV series episode)<!--27 April 1973-->
  • Der Kommissar: Ein Funken in der Kälte (1973, TV series episode)<!--8 June 1973-->
  • ' (1973, TV film) — based on a novel by <!--24 August 1973-->
  • Tatort: Tote brauchen keine Wohnung (1973, TV series episode)<!--11 November 1973-->
  • Ein fröhliches Dasein (1974, TV film) — screenplay by Robert Wolfgang Schnell<!--19 October 1974-->
  • Lehmanns Erzählungen (1975, TV film) — based on a story by Siegfried Lenz<!--8 April 1975-->
  • Schließfach 763 (1975, TV film) — screenplay by <!--15 April 1975-->
  • ' (1975, TV series, 13 episodes)<!--16 July 1975-->
  • ' (1975, TV miniseries) — based on Burning Daylight by Jack London<!--21 December 1975-->
  • Tatort: (1976, TV series episode)<!--14 March 1976-->
  • Um zwei Erfahrungen reicher (1976, TV film) — screenplay by Robert Wolfgang Schnell<!--16 March 1976-->
  • Prozeß Medusa (1976, TV film) — based on a novel by <!--1 November 1976-->
  • Tatort: Spätlese (1977, TV series episode)<!--22 May 1977-->
  • MS Franziska (1978, TV miniseries)<!--2 January 1978-->
  • Das verschollene Inka-Gold (1978, TV film) — based on a story by Jack London<!--6 May 1978-->
  • Feuerwasser (1978, TV film) — based on a play by Ulrich Becher<!--24 July 1978-->
  • Tatort: (1979, TV series episode)<!--14 January 1979-->
  • Iron Gustav (1979, TV miniseries) — based on the novel Iron Gustav by Hans Fallada<!--27 August 1979-->
  • Tatort: Schussfahrt (1980, TV series episode)<!--1 June 1980-->
  • Tatort: (1980, TV series episode)<!--16 November 1980-->
  • ' (1982, TV miniseries)<!--28 September 1982-->
  • ' (1983, TV series, 4 episodes)<!--20 February 1983-->
  • Solo Run (1983, TV film) — based on a novel by Hans Herlin<!--17 July 1983-->
  • Tatort: (1984, TV series episode)<!--5 February 1984-->
  • Der Snob (1984, TV film) — based on a play by Carl Sternheim<!--3 March 1984-->
  • So ein Theater (1984, TV film)<!--24 April 1984-->
  • ' (1985, TV miniseries)<!--19 February 1985-->

As screenwriter

  • The Axe of Wandsbek (dir. Falk Harnack, 1951) — based on a novel by Arnold Zweig

As actor

  • The Street Song (1931)
  • Secret of the Blue Room (1932)
  • Tannenberg (1932)
  • Homecoming to Happiness (1933)
  • Grand Duchess Alexandra (1933)
  • The Hymn of Leuthen (1933)
  • Stronger Than Regulations (1936)
  • Susanne in the Bath (1936)
  • Togger (1937)
  • All Lies (1938)
  • The Holm Murder Case (1938)
  • By a Silken Thread (1938)
  • D III 88 (1939)
  • Shoulder Arms (1939)
  • Legion Condor (1939)
  • The Strange Woman (1939)
  • Jud Süß (1940)
  • Friedemann Bach (1941)
  • Riding for Germany (1941)
  • The Big Game (1942)
  • Literature on Wolfgang Staudte