Carl Jaffe
Encyclopedia
Carl Jaffe was a German Jewish actor. Jaffe trained on the stage in his native Hamburg
, Kassel
and Wiesbaden
before moving to Berlin
, where his career took off.
In 1933 Jaffe changed his stage name to Frank Alwar in an attempt to minimise problems arising from his Jewish surname, but in 1936, with the situation for Jews in Germany rapidly deteriorating, he made the decision to join the exodus of Jewish actors from Germany to the United Kingdom. He remained in the UK for the rest of his life and enjoyed a prolific career, appearing in over 50 films and many television productions.
Throughout his British career he was almost invariably cast as German or Central European characters, usually in supporting roles, and often with a war, crime or espionage setting. His more notable films include The Lion Has Wings
, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
, Two Thousand Women
, Operation Amsterdam
and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
. Jaffe's television credits included Danger Man
, Dad's Army
and Oh, Brother!
.
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
and Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
before moving to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where his career took off.
In 1933 Jaffe changed his stage name to Frank Alwar in an attempt to minimise problems arising from his Jewish surname, but in 1936, with the situation for Jews in Germany rapidly deteriorating, he made the decision to join the exodus of Jewish actors from Germany to the United Kingdom. He remained in the UK for the rest of his life and enjoyed a prolific career, appearing in over 50 films and many television productions.
Throughout his British career he was almost invariably cast as German or Central European characters, usually in supporting roles, and often with a war, crime or espionage setting. His more notable films include The Lion Has Wings
The Lion Has Wings
The Lion Has Wings is a 1939 British, black-and-white, documentary-style, propaganda, war film. The film was directed by Adrian Brunel, Brian Desmond Hurst, Alexander Korda and Michael Powell...
, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a 1943 film by the British film making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger under the production banner of The Archers. It stars Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. The title derives from the satirical Colonel Blimp comic strip by David...
, Two Thousand Women
Two Thousand Women
Two Thousand Women is a 1944 British comedy-drama war film about a camp of interned British women in Occupied France. Three RAF aircrewmen whose bomber had been shot down enter the camp and are hidden by the women from the Germans...
, Operation Amsterdam
Operation Amsterdam
Operation Amsterdam is a 1959 British action film, directed by Michael McCarthy, and featuring Peter Finch, Eva Bartok and Tony Britton. It is based on a true story as described in the book Adventure in Diamonds, by David E Walker. The action of the story covers a few days in May 1940 when the...
and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is a 1961 British film made by Seven Arts-Warner Bros. It was directed by José Quintero and produced by Louis De Rochemont with Lothar Wolff as associate producer. The screenplay was written by Gavin Lambert and Jan Read and based on the novel by Tennessee Williams...
. Jaffe's television credits included Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
, Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
and Oh, Brother!
Oh, Brother!
Oh, Brother! was a British television sitcom originally broadcast from 1968 to 1970.Oh, Brother! may also refer to:* Oh, Brother! , by Bob Weber Jr...
.
Partial filmography
- Over the MoonOver the Moon (film)Over the Moon is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Merle Oberon, Rex Harrison, Ursula Jeans and Herbert Lomas. A wealthy heiress becomes involved with a penniless doctor....
(1939) - The Saint in LondonThe Saint in LondonThe Saint in London is an American crime film, the third in a series of films featuring the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint".The film starred George Sanders as Templar and was produced by William Sistrom. John Paddy Carstairs directed...
(1939) - The Lion Has WingsThe Lion Has WingsThe Lion Has Wings is a 1939 British, black-and-white, documentary-style, propaganda, war film. The film was directed by Adrian Brunel, Brian Desmond Hurst, Alexander Korda and Michael Powell...
(1939) - GasbagsGasbagsGasbags is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Walter Forde and Marcel Varnel and starring The Crazy Gang.-Plot summary:The film brims with British comedy talent of the period. The Crazy Gang’s mobile fish and chip shop is accidentally tied to a barrage balloon and the gang is carried to Nazi...
(1941) - UncensoredUncensored (film)Uncensored is a 1942 British World War II drama, directed by Anthony Asquith for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Eric Portman and Phyllis Calvert...
(1942) - Squadron Leader XSquadron Leader XSquadron Leader X is a 1943 British World War II spy drama, directed by Lance Comfort and starring Eric Portman and Ann Dvorak. The screenplay was adapted by Miles Malleson and Wolfgang Wilhelm from a short story by Emeric Pressburger.-Plot:...
(1943) - The Life and Death of Colonel BlimpThe Life and Death of Colonel BlimpThe Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a 1943 film by the British film making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger under the production banner of The Archers. It stars Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. The title derives from the satirical Colonel Blimp comic strip by David...
(1943) - The Night InvaderThe Night InvaderThe Night Invader is a 1943 British, black-and-white, drama, thriller, war film, directed by Herbert Mason and starring Ronald Shiner as Witsen, Anne Crawford and David Farrar. It was produced by Warner Brothers First National Productions...
(1943) - Warn That ManWarn that ManWarn That Man is a 1943 British thriller film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Gordon Harker, Raymond Lovell and Finlay Currie. It was based on a play by Vernon Sylvaine. During the Second World War, the niece of a peer is kidnapped and an impersonater takes her place as part of a...
(1943) - Two Thousand WomenTwo Thousand WomenTwo Thousand Women is a 1944 British comedy-drama war film about a camp of interned British women in Occupied France. Three RAF aircrewmen whose bomber had been shot down enter the camp and are hidden by the women from the Germans...
(1944) - The Man from MoroccoThe Man from MoroccoThe Man from Morocco is a 1945 action adventure film directed by Mutz Greenbaum. The film was produced by Welwyn Studios in Great Britain.-Plot:...
(1945) - I Didn't Do ItI Didn't Do ItI Didn't Do It is a 1945 British comedy crime film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring George Formby, Dennis Wyndham and Carl Jaffe. An actor staying at a theatrical boarding house is framed for a murder....
(1945) - CounterblastCounterblast (film)Counterblast is a 1948 British drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Robert Beatty, Mervyn Johns and Nova Pilbeam.-Plot:A Nazi scientist experiments with biological warfare with which he intends to wage the next war against Britain.-Cast:...
(1948) - Lilli MarleneLilli Marlene (film)Lilli Marlene is a 1950 British historical drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Hugh McDermott, Lisa Daniely and Stanley Baker...
(1950) - State SecretState SecretState Secret is a 1950 British drama film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns and Herbert Lom. It was released in the United States under the title The Great Manhunt.-Cast:...
(1950) - The Black RoseThe Black RoseThe Black Rose is a 1950 20th Century-Fox film starring Tyrone Power and Orson Welles, loosely based on Thomas B. Costain's book. It was filmed partly on location in England and Morocco which substitutes for the Gobi Desert of China...
(1950)
- A Tale of Five CitiesA Tale of Five CitiesA Tale of Five Cities is a 1951 British-Italian drama film directed by Romolo Marcellini and five other directors.-Cast:* Bonar Colleano - Bob Mitchell* Barbara Kelly - Lesley - American Magazine Editor* Anne Vernon - Jeannine Meunier...
(1951) - IvanhoeIvanhoe (1952 film)Ivanhoe is a 1952 historical film made by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman. The cast featured Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie and Felix Aylmer...
(1952) - Appointment in LondonAppointment in LondonAppointment in London is a 1952 war film starring Dirk Bogarde and set during World War II. The film was directed by Philip Leacock from a screenplay by John Wooldridge and Robert Westerby and based on an original story by Wooldridge...
(1952) - Desperate MomentDesperate MomentDesperate Moment is a 1953 British thriller film directed by Compton Bennett and starring Dirk Bogarde, Mai Zetterling and Philip Friend.-Plot:...
(1953) - Park Plaza 605Park Plaza 605Park Plaza 605 is a 1953 British crime film. A B movie, it starred Tom Conway, Eva Bartok and Sid James. It was based on the Norman Conquest series of novels by Berkeley Gray, the film sees a private investigator summoned to room 605 of the Park Plaza Hotel to meet a mysterious foreign blonde...
(1953) - BetrayedBetrayed (1954 film)Betrayed is a 1954 war drama film made by MGM. It was directed by Gottfried Reinhardt, from a screenplay by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel. The music score was by Walter Goehr and Bronislau Kaper, the cinematography by Freddie Young....
(1954) - Port of EscapePort of EscapePort of Escape is a 1956 British thriller film starring Googie Withers, John McCallum, Bill Kerr and Joan Hickson. Two American sailors kicked off their ship when it docks in London, go on a killing spree....
(1956) - Rockets Galore! (1957)
- The TraitorThe Traitor (1957 film)The Traitor is a 1957 British drama film directed by Michael McCarthy and starring Donald Wolfit, Robert Bray, Christopher Lee and Karel Stepanek. A former resistance fighters tries to discover the traitor who has betrayed his colleagues in the German reistance during the Second World War.-Cast:*...
(1957) - Battle of the V-1Battle of the V-1Battle of the V-1 is a British war film from 1958, starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Medina, Milly Vitale, David Knight and Christopher Lee...
(1958) - Operation AmsterdamOperation AmsterdamOperation Amsterdam is a 1959 British action film, directed by Michael McCarthy, and featuring Peter Finch, Eva Bartok and Tony Britton. It is based on a true story as described in the book Adventure in Diamonds, by David E Walker. The action of the story covers a few days in May 1940 when the...
(1959) - First Man into SpaceFirst Man into SpaceFirst Man into Space is a 1959 science fiction horror film directed by Robert Day and distributed by Amalgamated films.- Plot :...
(1959) - The Roman Spring of Mrs. StoneThe Roman Spring of Mrs. StoneThe Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone is a 1961 British film made by Seven Arts-Warner Bros. It was directed by José Quintero and produced by Louis De Rochemont with Lothar Wolff as associate producer. The screenplay was written by Gavin Lambert and Jan Read and based on the novel by Tennessee Williams...
(1961) - Up Jumped a SwagmanUp Jumped a SwagmanUp Jumped a Swagman is a 1965 British musical comedy film directed by Christopher Miles and starring Frank Ifield, Annette Andre, Ronald Radd and Suzy Kendall...
(1965) - The Double ManThe Double Man (1967 film)The Double Man is a 1967 British spy film which was directed by Franklin Schaffner and based on the novel Legacy of a Spy by writer Henry Maxfield.-Cast:* Yul Brynner as Dan Slater / Kalmar* Britt Ekland as Gina* Clive Revill as Frank Wheatley...
(1967) - Battle Beneath the Earth (1967)
External links
- Carl Jaffe filmography at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Carl Jaffe at BFI Film & TV Database