KLK Calling PTZ – The Red Orchestra
KLK Calling PTZ – The Red Orchestra
| KLK an PTX – Die Rote Kapelle | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Horst E. Brandt |
| Produced by | Heinz Herrmann, Wolfgang Rennebarth |
| Written by | Wera and Claus Küchenmeister |
| Starring | Horst Drinda, Irma Münch, Horst Schulze |
| Music by | Helmut Nier |
| Cinematography | Günter Haubold |
| Edited by | Erika Lehmphul |
Production company | DEFA |
| Distributed by | PROGRESS-Film Verleih |
Release date | 25 March 1971 |
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | East Germany |
| Language | German |
| Budget | 6,600,000 East German Mark[1] |
| KLK an PTX – Die Rote Kapelle | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Horst E. Brandt |
| Produced by | Heinz Herrmann, Wolfgang Rennebarth |
| Written by | Wera and Claus Küchenmeister |
| Starring | Horst Drinda, Irma Münch, Horst Schulze |
| Music by | Helmut Nier |
| Cinematography | Günter Haubold |
| Edited by | Erika Lehmphul |
Production company | DEFA |
| Distributed by | PROGRESS-Film Verleih |
Release date | 25 March 1971 |
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | East Germany |
| Language | German |
| Budget | 6,600,000 East German Mark[1] |
Plot
After Hitler's rise to power in 1933, a group of regime opponents from various backgrounds consolidated under the leadership of Harro Schulze-Boysen and Arvid Harnack. They gather intelligence and pass it on to other countries. After the outbreak of the Second World War, and especially after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, they intensify their work. In August 1942, the Gestapo arrests Boysen and soon after cracks down on the spy ring.
Cast
Horst Drinda: Arvid Harnack
Irma Münch: Mildred Harnack
Horst Schulze: Adam Kuckhoff
Barbara Adolph: Greta Kuckhoff
Klaus Piontek: Harro Schulze-Boysen
Jutta Wachowiak: Libertas Schulze-Boysen
Harry Pietzsch: Walter Küchenmeister
Karin Lesch: Dr Elfriede Paul
Marylu Poolman: Elisabeth Schumacher
Eberhard Esche: Kurt Schumacher
Katharina Lind: Oda Schottmüller
Günther Simon: John Sieg
Jessy Rameik: Sophie Sieg
Ursula Karusseit: Hilde Coppi
Manfred Karge: Hans Coppi
Leon Niemczyk: Vincente Douglas
Siegfried Weiss: Wilhelm Canaris
Alfred Müller: Wolfgang Langhoff
Hannjo Hasse: guest in the American Embassy
Alfred Struwe: Bellini
Peter Sturm: Krapotschkin
Horst Giese: Schröder
Production
Writer Claus Küchenmeister and his wife Wera began conducting interviews with former members of the Red Orchestra during 1966. Claus, son of the executed organization member Walter Küchenmeister, intended to make a documentary about the activities of his father. When officials in the Ministry of State Security's Department of Agitation heard of his project, he was granted full government support and access to previously undisclosed materials in the Ministry's archives. Rather than documentary, a full-length feature film was commissioned.[4]
Reception
On 4 October 1971, director Horst E. Brandt, cinematographer Günter Haubold and the Küchenmeister couple were awarded the National Prize 1st class for their work on the film.[7] They, dramatist Anne Pfeuffer and actors Horst Drinda, Irma Münch, Horst Schulze, Klaus Piontek, Barbara Adolph, Jutta Wachowiak, Manfred Karge, Ursula Karusseit, Harry Pietzsch, Eberhard Esche and Günther Simon were all granted the Art Prize of the Free German Trade Union Federation in the same year.[3]
Daniela Bergahn noted that, while the film still "inflated" the role of the communists in the resistance to the Nazis, it "at least acknowledged" the participation of other groups.[5] In 1972, the West German story version was disseminated in the television mini series "Die rote Kapelle".