Karel Štěpánek
Encyclopedia
Karel Štěpánek was a Czech actor who spent many years in Austria
and generally played German roles onscreen. In 1940 he fled to Britain and spent much of the rest of his career acting there.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and generally played German roles onscreen. In 1940 he fled to Britain and spent much of the rest of his career acting there.
Selected filmography
- Women Are Better DiplomatsWomen Are Better DiplomatsWoman Are Better Diplomats is a 1941 German musical comedy film directed by Georg Jacoby and starring Marika Rökk, Willy Fritsch and Aribert Wäscher. It was based on a novel by Hans Flemming.-Cast:...
(1941) - Secret MissionSecret MissionSecret Mission is a 1942 British drama film directed by Harold French and starring Hugh Williams, James Mason, Nancy Price, Carla Lehmann and Roland Culver...
(1942) - They Met in the DarkThey Met in the DarkThey Met in the Dark is a 1943 British thriller film directed by Karel Lamac and starring James Mason, Joyce Howard and Edward Rigby. A cashiered Royal Naval officer and a young woman join forces to solve a murder and hunt down a German spy ring.-Cast:...
(1943) - Escape to DangerEscape to DangerEscape to Danger is a 1943 British thriller film directed by Lance Comfort and Victor Hanbury and starring Eric Portman, Ann Dvorak and Karel Stepanek. During the Second World War a British schoolteacher working in Denmark is caught up when the Germans invade.-Cast:* Eric Portman ... Arthur...
(1943) - The Captive HeartThe Captive HeartThe Captive Heart is a 1946 British war drama, directed by Basil Dearden for Ealing Studios. The film was entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
(1946) - The Fallen Idol (1948)
- Give Us This DayGive Us This DayGive Us This Day is a 1949 British film, directed by Edward Dmytryk. It was released in the United States as Christ in Concrete. Another alternate title was Salt and the Devil....
(1949) - The Third ManThe Third ManThe Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score...
(1949) - ConspiratorConspirator (1949 film)Conspirator is a 1949 British thriller film directed by Victor Saville and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Taylor and Robert Flemyng. A British guards officer who is a spy for the Soviet Union is ordered by his KGB handlers to murder his young American wife when she discovers his true...
(1949) - Golden ArrowGolden Arrow (film)Golden Arrow is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Burgess Meredith, Jean-Pierre Aumont and Kathleen Harrison. On a journey from Paris to London, an Englishman, a Frenchman and an American bond with each other and indulge in a romantic fantasy about a girl they...
(1949) - Cairo RoadCairo Road (film)Cairo Road is a 1950 British crime film directed by David MacDonald and starring Laurence Harvey, Eric Portman, Maria Mauban, Harold Lang and John Gregson. A team of Egyptian anti-narcotic agents try to prevent shipments of drugs crossing the southern Egyptian border...
(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 Third VisitorThe Third VisitorThe Third Visitor is a 1951 British crime film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Sonia Dresdel, Guy Middleton and Karel Stepanek. A police detective investigating a murder, discovers that the dead man is not in fact dead. It was based on a play by Gerald Anstruther.-Cast:* Sonia Dresdel ... ...
(1951) - No HighwayNo HighwayNo Highway is a 1948 novel by Nevil Shute. It later formed the basis of the 1951 film No Highway in the Sky. The novel contains many of the ingredients that made Shute popular as a novelist, and, like several other of Shute's later novels, includes an element of the supernatural.Nevil Shute...
(1951) - Rough ShootRough ShootRough Shoot is a 1953 British thriller film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Joel McCrea, Evelyn Keyes and Herbert Lom. A retired American army officer living in the English countryside shoots at a man he takes to be a poacher. Believing he has killed him he goes on the run from the British...
(1953) - Dangerous CargoDangerous CargoDangerous Cargo is a 1954 British crime film directed by John Harlow starring Jack Watling, Susan Stephen, Richard Pearson, Terence Alexander and John Le Mesurier.British crime reporter Percy Hoskins provided the story.-Cast:...
(1954) - A Prize of GoldA Prize of GoldA Prize of Gold is a British 1955 Warwick Films heist film directed by Mark Robson partly filmed in West Berlin. The film stars Richard Widmark as a United States Air Force Air Police Master Sergeant motivated by love and compassion to begin a life of crime...
(1955) - Secret VentureSecret VentureSecret Venture is a 1955 British B-movie thriller film directed by R. G. Springsteen and starring Kent Taylor, Jane Hylton and Kathleen Byron.-Plot:...
(1955) - The Cockleshell HeroesThe Cockleshell HeroesThe Cockleshell Heroes is a 1955 film with Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley, David Lodge and José Ferrer, who also directed. Set during the Second World War, it is a fictionalised account of Operation Frankton, the December 1942 raid by canoe-borne British commandos on shipping in Bordeaux Harbour...
(1955) - Man of the MomentMan of the Moment (1955 film)Man of the Moment is a 1955 comedy film starring Norman Wisdom, Belinda Lee, Lana Morris and Jerry Desmonde.-Cast:* Norman Wisdom as Norman* Lana Morris as Penny* Belinda Lee as Sonia* Jerry Desmonde as Jackson* Karel Stepanek as Lom...
(1955) - AnastasiaAnastasia (1956 film)Anastasia is a 1956 American historical drama film directed by Anatole Litvak for 20th Century Fox. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, and Helen Hayes. Supporting players include Akim Tamiroff, Martita Hunt, and, in a small role, Natalie Schafer...
(1956) - West of SuezWest of SuezWest of Suez is a 1957 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Keefe Brasselle, Kay Callard and Karel Stepanek. An adventurer is hired to assassinate the leader of an Arab movement advocating peace, but is unable to complete his mission....
(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) - 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) - Our Man in HavanaOur Man in Havana (film)Our Man in Havana is a 1959 film directed and produced by Carol Reed and starring Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Ralph Richardson, Noel Coward and Ernie Kovacs. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Graham Greene...
(1959) - Sink the Bismarck!Sink the Bismarck!Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white British war film based on the book, the "Last Nine Days of the Bismarck" by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. To date, it is the only movie made that deals directly with the operations, chase, and...
(1960) - I Aim at the StarsI Aim at the StarsI Aim at the Stars is a 1960 biographical film which tells the story of the life of Wernher von Braun. The film covers his life from his early days in Germany, through Peenemünde, up until his work with the U.S...
(1960) - Three Moves to FreedomThree Moves to FreedomThree Moves to Freedom is a 1960 German drama film directed by Gerd Oswald and starring Curd Jürgens, Claire Bloom and Hansjörg Felmy. It was based on a novel by Stefan Zweig. In Austria in 1938 during the Anchluss, an intellectual is arrested by the gestapo and imprisoned in a room. To stop...
(1960) - Terror After MidnightTerror After MidnightTerror After Midnight is a 1962 German drama film directed by Jürgen Goslar and starring Christine Kaufmann, Martin Held and Hilde Krahl. A gangster kidnaps a girl and holds her to ransom. It is based on the novel The Hours After Midnight by Joseph Hayes. Its German title is Neunzig Minuten nach...
(1962) - Devil DollDevil Doll (film)Devil Doll is a horror film about an evil ventriloquist, "The Great Vorelli", and his dummy Hugo. Decades after its initial release, it was featured on a 1997 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Plot:...
(1964) - Operation CrossbowOperation Crossbow (film)Operation Crossbow is a British 1965 spy thriller and World War II film, made from a story from Duilio Coletti and Vittoriano Petrilli and filmed at MGM-British Studios...
(1965) - Licensed to KillLicensed to Kill (1965 film)Licensed to Kill is a 1965 superspy imitation James Bond film starring Tom Adams as British secret agent Charles Vine. It was directed and co-written by Lindsay Shonteff. Producer Joseph E...
(1965) - The Heroes of TelemarkThe Heroes of TelemarkThe Heroes of Telemark is a 1965 war film directed by Anthony Mann based on the true story of the Norwegian heavy water sabotage during World War II...
(1965) - SperrbezirkSperrbezirkSperrbezirk is a 1966 German thriller film directed by Will Tremper and starring Harald Leipnitz, Suzanne Roquette and Guido Baumann. It is adapted from a novel by Ernst Neubach.-Cast:* Harald Leipnitz ... Bernie Kallmann* Suzanne Roquette ... Ann...
(1966) - Murderers Club of BrooklynMurderers Club of BrooklynMurderers Club of Brooklyn Murderers Club of Brooklyn Murderers Club of Brooklyn (German:Der Mörderclub von Brooklyn is a 1967 German thriller film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring George Nader, Heinz Weiss and Karel Stepanek. It was part of the Jerry Cotton series of films.-Cast:...
(1967) - The Frozen DeadThe Frozen DeadThe Frozen Dead is a 1967 British science-fiction film directed by Herbert J. Leder and starring Dana Andrews, Anna Palk and Philip Gilbert. In this film, a Nazi scientist plans to revive a number of frozen Nazi leaders.-Cast:* Dana Andrews - Dr. Norberg...
(1967) - The File of the Golden GooseThe File of the Golden GooseThe File of the Golden Goose is a 1969 British thriller film directed by Sam Wanamaker and starring Yul Brynner, Charles Gray and Edward Woodward...
(1969) - Before Winter ComesBefore Winter ComesBefore Winter Comes is a 1969 British film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by Andrew Sinclair.-Plot:Before Winter Comes takes place in the immediate aftermath of World War II. British Major Giles Burnside is assigned to an Austrian refugee camp, his mission is to send the groups of...
(1969) - The GamesThe Games (film)The Games is a 1970 film based on the Hugh Atkinson novel and adapted to the screen by Erich Segal. It was directed by Michael Winner.The plot concerned four marathon competitors at a fictitious Olympic Games in Rome, played by Michael Crawford, Ryan O'Neal, Charles Aznavour, and Athol Compton...
(1970) - Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to MeBeen Down So Long It Looks Like Up to MeBeen Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me is a novel by Richard Fariña. First published in the United States during 1966 the novel, based largely on Fariña's college experiences and travels, is a comic picaresque story that is set in the American West, in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution, and at an...
(1971)