Fraulein (20th Century Fox) (1958)

PRESS PUBLICITY: Dana Wynter receives some rough treatment from Theodore Bikel in this scene from Twentieth Century-Fox’s production of “Fraulein.” The CinemaScope, DeLuxe Color picture based on James McGovern’s best seller also stars Mel Ferrer and Dolores Michaels. It opens Sr es. le pe Pa Theatre. Action is getting rougher and rougher for Hollywood actors and stunt men and women to take the hard knocks are becoming a luxury of the past, according to Henry Koster, who directed “Fraulein,” a hard-hitting drama due soon at the Theatre © 65018: -6 0 0Ne with Dana Wynter, Mel Ferrer and Dolores Michaels as the stars. “Not since the ‘Perils of Pauline’ and the cliff-hangers of silent picture days have stars taken the physical punishment they’re getting in movies today,” Koster explained. He cites Miss Wynter’s role of the harassed German girl in “Fraulein” as a case in point. “In the picture,’ Koster points out, “Dana gets slapped, knocked down, has three tussles with husky soldiers, gets her hair yanked, is forcibly kissed so hard her lips were swollen for hours, and gets dropped, fully clothed fifteen feet into water. And she did every scene herself, without a double.” Koster explained this new trend to star mayhem by saying you can’t fool audiences anymore. They’ve long since learned most of the tricks we used to employ—doubles, faked blows, break-aways and miniatures. In fact, they still can see them in the old movies shown on TV. And if they can spot a double on a 21-inch TV set, how can you fool them on CinemaScope’s giant screen.” Even as he spoke, his words were confirmed on another set at the Twentieth Century-Fox studio where Marlon Brando carried his right arm in a sling, supporting a dislocated shoulder sustained during a scene for “The Young Lions.” In it he did his own headlong fall down a steep mountain slide after being “shot”? by Mont gomery Clift and Dean Martin. “Today the smell of arnica and linament is a familiar one around the studios in Hollywood,” said Koster. ““When you see someone all bandaged up you don’t know whether they’re halfbacks or film stars.” New Star Shines After the comparatively short time of three years in Hollywood, Dolores Michaels, a pert young lady from Kansas City, has been given star billing by Twentieth Century-Fox. As the worldly, but kindly “Lori” in “Fraulein” she has the third and best role of her promising career. She shares acting honors with Dana Wynter and Mel Ferrer in this CinemaScope drama about a young German girl who struggles against the terror of war, suffering from enemy and friend alike. Miss Michaels is one of the first and loveliest products of Twentieth Century-Fox’s talent school which already has given the screen some important new faces. Last year she signed a Twentieth Century-Fox contract and has had two previous roles. Her first appearance was in “The Wayward Bus” and then with Pat Boone in “April Love.” Miss Michaels started her theatrical career at 16 in the national company of “Brigadoon” and after studying dancing and drama in New York she was given a role in “Tobacco Road” at the New York City Center with John Carradine. In 1954 she went to Hollywood to try her luck in pictures, which has been all good so far. “Fraulein” is currently on screen at the Theatre. 0 «ce eletmane Magic Formula Dana Wynter, who co-stars with Mel Ferrer and_ Dolores Michaels in Twentieth CenturyFox’s drama, “Fraulein,” coming soon to the Theatre, has worked out a formula for successfully mixing a career and marriage. Her husband, Attorney Gregson Bautzer has never seen her on the screen. “I want him to think of me as a wife, not as an actress,” she explains. Asked how she could be so sure that her husband hadn’t given in to what would, after all, be only normal curiosity and sneaked out for a _ bootlegged glimpse of his wife on the screen, Miss Wynter replied: “Greg gave me his word.” In line with this divorcement of her career from her home life, Miss Wynter says she will make only one film a year and she hopes that she and Bautzer will be able to spend three months out of the year in Mexico. “We both love it there and have an apartment in Mexico City which is being re-decorated, partly to suit our tastes and partly because there was some earthquake damage,” Dana says. The problem with this plan, Dana admits, is that Bautzer, who is an extremely busy man, says that he hasn’t time for any such project. ees eves Extended E ngagement The manager of the afore eer e 6016 6 Theatre has announced that local interest in the current film attraction, “Fraulein,” based on James McGovern’s best-seller, “Erika,” warrants an extended run of the Twentieth Century-Fox drama for a second week, start ing Starring Dana Wynter, Mel Ferrer and_ Dolores Michaels. “Fraulein” traces the life of a German girl in post-war Berlin and examines the pressures from friend and foe, alike, which leave a lasting impression on her troubled existence. Walter Reisch produced and Henry Koster directed the CinemaScope, DeLuxe Color drama, filmed on location in Germany. Page Two Blonde Status Only Temporary Dana Wynter, who co-stars with Mel Ferrer and Dolores Michaels in “Fraulein,” a turbulent drama of a girl’s struggle to live in post-war Berlin coming’ on to the Theatre, became a blonde for her role of the German fraulein and she says, “they’ll never do eceeee VU UIT «sees ‘this to me again.” Because her raven tresses are so very dark, the original blonding operation required 10 days as hairdressers bleached her hair successively lighter and lighter. And during the filming of the picture she had to have frequent touch-ups to keep in character. She personally did not like the results although they were satisfactory to Director Henry Koster, who wanted her to look like a fragile German girl. But when she went to a party one night with her husband, Attorney Greg Bautzer, and heard one woman say to another: “Greg didn’t bring his wife. He’s here with a blonde!” She declared she’d never be a blonde again. It will be a long time before Miss Wynter forgets her role in “Fraulein,” one of the most strenuous of the five she has had since coming to Hollywood from London three years ago. She was mauled and manhandled by Ferrer, as an escaped American prisoner of war who overpowers her to prevent her from reporting him to_ the Nazis, and by Theodore Bikel, portraying a brutish Russian colonel, who forces his attentions on her. And to make matters worse, her pet, a miniature Yorkshire terrier, disappeared and was never found. On the brighter side, however, Miss Wynter spent her spare time studying for her examination for U.S. citizenship. She was born in England and raised in South Africa, where her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Peter Wynter, now live. Miss Wynter became eligible for citizenship after three years residence because of her marriage a little more than a year ago to an American citizen. “At the time I married I decided to become a U. S. citizen as soon as possible,” Dana explained. “I love England but my home is here now and I want to be part of the life in the United States not just sort of a permanent guest.” Mel Ferrer stars in Twentieth Century-Fox’s “Fraulein” as an American officer who befriends and then falls in love with Dana Wynter in the CinemaScope, De Luxe Color production which is now ‘at the i625 iiged Theatre. Dolores Michaels is also starred in the film which was filmed on location in Germany. For Henry Koster, “Fraulein,” which he directed with Dana Wynter, Mel Ferrer and Dolores Michaels in the starring roles, marked an important milestone in his career. It was the thirtieth picture he has directed since coming to Hollywood from Germany in 1936 and was the start of his eleventh year as a director at the Twentieth Century-Fox studio. “Fraulein,” filmed in Germany in CinemaScope and De Luxe Color, opens ONS. aes ate the ts x. Theatre. oe Synopsis (Not for Publication) During the final weeks of World War II, Captain Foster MacLain (Mel Ferrer) escapes his German captors in Cologne when Erika Angerman (Dana Wynter) hides him in her home. When her father is killed in an air raid, Erika goes to her uncle in Berlin in search of her fiance, Hugo (Helmut Dantine), last reported in a Berlin hospital. Shortly after, the Russians occupy Berlin and Erika is protected from their drunken advances by Col. Dmitri (Theodore Bikel) who takes up residence at her uncle’s home after the latter is killed by the Russians. Erika is forced to flee to escape Dmitri’s violent lovemaking and with the help of Lori (Dolores Michaels), a German entertainer, escapes to the American Zone. To survive, Erika joins a labor gang and encounters the Graubachs, whom she met at her uncle’s home. They take her in to their suspiciously plush quarters. When Erika discovers the true nature of the house she is living in, she again flees. In a night club, Erika finds Lori who helps her get a job in an act. There, MacLain, now a major, recognizes Erika and is thrilled with the reunion. He asks Erika what he can do for her and all she asks is that he help her find her fiance. MacLain takes Erika for a drive which turns out to be a trip to a cluster of shacks, one of which he points out as the home of her long-sought fiance, Hugo. He has lost an arm and is living in the shack with a woman. He asks Erika for his engagement ring so he can sell it. Erika is crushed and turns to MacLain. During a cruise down the Rhine, MacLain succeeds in breaking through the barrier with which Erika has surrounded herself. Finally Erika _accepts his proposal. Back in Berlin, where Erika tells Lori that MacLain wants her to get her papers so she can go to America with him, Lori is forced to tell her that her occupation is registered as “prostitute.” When Erika goes to the Army Security Administration to see just what her papers show, she is befriended by an M.P., who changes her “occupation” to “none listed” and she is free to marry MacLain. Overjoyed, she rushes into MacLain’s waiting arms. Trouble for Dolores Beautiful Dolores Michaels, starring, with Dana Wynter and Mel Ferrer in Twentieth Century Fox’s CinemaScope, De Luxe Color production of “Fraulein,’” which opens ........ at the Theatre, collided head-on with trouble the day after she finished her role. Alone at home, she fell asleep under a powerful sun lamp and awoke to find her face and neck badly burned. After calling the doctor, she decided to smoke a cigarette to calm her nerves. Her long bangs, which she wore in her “Fraulein” role, caught fire and disappeared. Later, Dolores called Director Henry Koster and told him: “Took, if you need me for any retakes, you’d better wait a while, I’ve changed somewhat.” But now, however, Dolores is back to her usual beautiful self. Bikel’s Sights High Theodore Bikel, outstanding British character actor who plays “Colonel Dmitri” in the Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope, De Luxe Color production of “Fraulein,” which stars Dana Wynter, Mel Ferrer and Dolores Michaels, has set only the highest standard for his U.S. film career. He has appeared in such outstanding American films _as eevee evee “The African Queen,’ ‘The Pride and the Passion” and Twentieth’s “The Enemy Be low,” in which he played a key role opposite German star Curt Jurgens. In the Walter Reisch produced, Henry Koster directed film, Bikel’s portrayal of “Dmitri,’ who falls in love with Dana Wynter as “Fraulein,” is one of the major parts of the action of this tense, romantic drama “Fraulein” Drama Captures Impact of War's Aftermath (ADVANCE) _ “Fraulein,” a powerfully moving drama about a young German girl caught in the maelstrom of war, with Dana Wynter, Mel Ferrer and Dolores Michaels as its stars, opens on at the Theatre. The picture was filmed by Twentieth Century-Fox in CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color in the actual locale of the story—Cologne, Berlin and the beautiful Rhine country of Germany. Based on a popular novel by James McGovern, “Fraulein” dramatizes the chaos of Germany as the Allies and Red armies were rushing in on Ber eee ewes AL ULI see seve Michaels tantalizing showgirl in Twentieth Century-Fox’s frank CinemaScope filmization of post-war days in Germany as depicted in Dolores portrays a currently at the Mat 1C Mel Sets Record Mel Ferrer, who shares starring honors with Dana Wynter and Dolores Michaels in Twentieth Century Fox’s CinemaScope drama, “Fraulein,” due at the Theatre cON = asisisen ; is one of Hollywood’s busiest stars these days. Also he is setting up some sort of a long-distance commuting record. Ferrer’s career, since his sophomore year in Princeton when he won the Playwrights’ Award, has been a rather breathless one. He is virtually a one-man studio, with enviable credits in the fields of acting, writing, dancing, directing and producing. Following completion of “Fraulein” in which he has the role of an American army captain who is saved from the Nazis by a young German girl whom he later rescues from the chaotic aftermath of war-ridden Germany, Ferrer chalked up 30,000 miles of air travel. He hopped down to Venezuela twice to scout locations for ‘Green Mansions,” a picture he will direct with his wife Audrey Hepburn as the star, and then flew to Rome and the Belgian Congo to visit his wife on location there for “The Nun’s Story.” During the filming of “Fraulein,” Ferrer flew from Rome to Berlin where much of the Twentieth Century-Fox picture was filmed, and then back to Hollywood for the interior scenes. Between scanning travel folders, Ferrer managed to find time to put the finishing touches to the script for his own picture. “T like to be busy,” the star explained, “and besides, Audrey and I do not like to be separated for long periods, which accounts for the two quick trips to the “Fraulein,” Theatre. weer wear wee tea eh Se $08. See Belgian Congo, where she is working.” With all their world-wide traveling, the Ferrers have finally decided on a_ year-round home. They have leased the Swiss cottage where they spent their honeymoon in 1954 and will spend all their time between pictures in it. “We found we were paying big storage bills in four cities— Rome, Paris, New York and Hollywood,” said Mel. “So we are moving all our belongings to Switzerland —the closest thing to home we have at the present time.” lin in the days that followed the Nazi surrender. It is not a war story, basically, but deals romantically with the problem of a German girl, who aids a captured American officer to escape. The girl falls into the hands of a red troop detachment, escapes to the Allied sector of Berlin and there re-encounters the American officer. Dana Wynter and Mel Ferrer are the chief protagonists and Dolores Michaels, who co-stars with them, has the colorful role of a night club entertainer, who seeks the easiest way to survive in a time of hunger and humiliation. Other members of the supporting cast include Maggie Hayes, Theodore Bikel, in a pivotal role of a Russian colonel, Helmut Dantine, Herbert Berghof, James Edwards, Ivan Trie sault, Blandine Ebinger and Jack Kruschen. Producer Walter Reisch and Director Henry Koster were particularly qualified for their assignment in bringing “Fraulein” to the screen. Both were prominent in German film production before coming to Hollywood. This is Reisch’s second production for Twentieth Century-Fox, having produced “Stopover Tokyo” for the company. Previously he had been a top-flight screen writer, winning an Academy Award for his screenplay of “Titanic” in 1953. Koster will be remembered for his direction of “The Robe,” “A Man Called Peter,” “Harvey,” “Desiree” and others. The stark backgrounds of warravaged Berlin as well as the pastoral beauty of the Rhine Valley were impressively recorded by Leo Tover’s CinemaScope cameras. Leo Townsend is credited with the screenplay for this deeply moving drama. ~ Hit Novel Filmed — Twentieth Century-Fox’s “Fraulein,” the story of a beautiful young German girl caught up in the aftermath of the last war, will open at the Ss ees Theatre. Starring Dana Wynter, Mel Ferrer and Dolores Michaels, the CinemaScope, DeLuxe Color film was produced entirely in Germany by Walter Reisch from a popular novel by James McGovern. The production examines the early days of the Russian and American occupation of Germany and the many incidents which grew out of the chaos at the war’s end. As the frightened, hunted girl, Dana W ynter reaches new dramatic heights and Mel Ferrer plays one of his most attractive roles as the American officer who brings love and a new life to “Fraulein.” Sereen newcomer Dolores Michaels, who was seen in a key role opposite Pat Boone in “April Love,” plays a good-hearted Ger ee eee eee man showgirl who befriends Dana. Others in the cast include Maggie Hayes as “‘WAC Lieutenant Dubbins”; Theodore Bikel, as “Colonel Dmitri” and Helmut Dantine, as “Hugo.” Reverse Switch James Edwards, formerly one of Hollywood’s busiest Negro actors who, two years ago quit acting to write, returns to the screen in an important role in “Fraulein,” the Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope drama starring Dana Wynter, Mel Ferrer and Dolores Michaels, coming soon to the Theatre. Two years ago Edwards turned his back on a very successful acting career in movies and TV to become a screen writer at U-I, where his most recent credits include “Beyond the Pass” and “The. Boy from Korea.” The role of an American M. P. in occupied Berlin lured Edwards back to acting in “Fraulein,’ in which he_ befriends Dana Wynter and aids her escape from a dangerous situation in the Walter Reisch production which Henry Koster directed. Copyright © MCMLVIII Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation