Harald Reinl(1908-1986)

German director of commercially successful entertainments, often Heimatfilms, war dramas or crime thrillers. Reinl began in films as a stunt skier for Arnold Fanck in 1930 and then doubled for Leni Riefenstahl in Der weiße Rausch - Neue Wunder des Schneeschuhs (1931). A junior ski champion, he managed a French ski school during the 1930s, before taking up full-time directing just prior to World War II. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1950s and '60s, cleverly anticipating genre trends, especially with his series of Karl May westerns and Edgar Wallace krimis.