Arthur Maria Rabenalt(1905-1993)

By the mid-30's, Rabenalt had been tagged by the National Socialists as a 'cultural Bolshevist' and was initially restricted to work in France and Italy. From 1936, he was able to work in Austria and Germany, turning out popular, light entertainments, mainly romantic comedies, adventure films and musicals. At the time, he maintained that he was as an apolitical director, which rang true until he made the propagandist "Achtung! Feind hört mit!" (1940) and "... reitet für Deutschland" (1941), the latter being praised by the regime as 'politically valuable'. After the war, Allied authorities forbade him to work for two years, but Rabenalt managed to reestablish his reputation in the 1950's with operatic films and remakes of classics (as, for instance, "Alraune", in 1952). During the 60's, he was primarily active in television.