In the 1930s, Paul Hubschmid (1917-2002) was the first Swiss film star. Then he became a popular leading man in the cinema of Nazi-Germany. During the late 1940s and early 1950s he worked in Hollywood as Paul Christian. Later on he was dubbed 'the most beautiful man in post-war German cinema', and he was still playing romantic leads in the early 1960s.
German postcard by ISV, no. M 18. Photo: Gabriele / Real / Europa-Film.
Postcard by Cox, no. 4.
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 94. Photo: Ringpress.
Virile Good Looks
Paul Hugo Hubschmid was born in Schönenwerd in Switzerland in 1917. He was the son of an accountant. In 1937 he graduated from the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna and made his stage debut at the local Deutschen Volkstheater (German People's Theatre). The following year he played his first film role in the Swiss production Füsilier Wipf/Infanterist Wipf (Hermann Haller, Leopold Lindtberg, 1938). This film made him famous overnight, and he became very popular in both Switzerland and Germany. Another Swiss production, Die missbrauchten Liebesbriefe/The Abused Love Letters (Leopold Lindtberg, 1940) followed, but later he worked mainly in Nazi-Germany. Till the end of the war he appeared in such films as Meine Freundin Josefine/My Friend Josephine (Hans H. Zerlett, 1942), Liebesbriefe/Love Letters (Hans H. Zerlett, 1944), and Der gebieterische Ruf/The Commanding Call (Gustav Ucicky, 1944). After the war Hubschmid became a popular leading man in films like Gottes Engel sind überall/Angels of God Are Everywhere (Hans Thimig, 1948) and Geheimnisvolle Tiefe/The Mysterious Deep (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1949). Universal brought him to Hollywood despite his film work in the Nazi period. Renamed as Paul Christian he played the dashing hero of the adventure movies Bagdad (Charles Lamont, 1949) with Maureen O'Hara and Vincent Price, and Il ladro di Venezia/The Thief of Venice (John Brahm, 1950) next to Maria Montez. His virile good looks compensated for a stiff acting style, according to American critics. He also starred in the classic monster movie The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (Eugène Lourié, 1953). In his obituary about Hubschmid in the The Independent, Tom Vallance wrote: "Based on Ray Bradbury's haunting short story The Foghorn, the film spawned so many cheap imitations that it is surprising now to realise that it was the first film to deal with a prehistoric monster unearthed by an atomic explosion and going on a rampage through a major city. Christian was effective enough as the scientist who first realises the truth but is not believed, but it was Eugène Lourié's atmospheric direction and in particular the splendid special effects of Ray Harryhausen that turned the $250,000 film into a hit that grossed $5m."
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 110, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3442/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3752/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3576/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.
Beautiful Man, What Now?
In 1953 Paul Hubschmid returned to Germany to play leads in Maske in Blau/Mask in Blue (Georg Jacoby, 1953) with Marika Rökk, Musik bei Nacht/Music by Night (Kurt Hoffmann, 1953) with Curd Jürgens, Salzburger Geschichten/Chronicles of Salzburg (Kurt Hoffmann, 1957) with Marianne Koch, and Die Zürcher Verlobung/The Zurich Engagement (Helmut Käutner, 1957) with Liselotte Pulver. He usually appeared as a handsome charmer or a swashbuckling action hero. Very popular was the romantic comedy Scampolo (Alfred Weidenmann, 1958) starring Romy Schneider. Successful were also the remakes of the exotic adventure epic Der Tiger von Eschnapur/The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) and its sequel Das Indische Grabmal/The Indian Tomb (1959), both directed by Fritz Lang. Later Paul Hubschmid won praise as a fine character player in such international productions as the spy thriller Funeral in Berlin (Guy Hamilton, 1966) as a former black-market crony of spy Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), and A Taste of Excitement (Don Sharp, 1969). He appeared more than 2000 times on the German and Austrian stages as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. In the 1970s and 1980s he worked mainly for TV. The Swiss production Klassäzämekunft (Walter Deuber, Peter Stierlin, 1988) brought together many popular Swiss stars and was a kind of homage to former heydays. His last film was the comedy Linda (Ottokar Runze, 1992). He used to say that he wondered if his looks had not been detrimental to his acting career, and he entitled his 1994 autobiography Schöner Mann, was nun? (Beautiful Man, What Now?). From 1942 till her death in 1963 he was married with actress Ursula von Teubern. In 1967 he married film actress Eva Renzi. Their marriage was dissolved in 1980. In 1985 he married Irene Schiesser. When Paul Hubschmid died in 2001 in Berlin at the age of 84, he had made over 120 films.
Austrian postcard by Verlag Hubmann (HDH Verlag), Wien, no. 166. Photo: Afex. Publicity still for The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (Eugène Lourié, 1953).
German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, no. 2616. Photo: Arthur Grimm / CCC / Gloria. Publicity still for Der Tiger von Eschnapur/The Tiger of Eschnapur (Fritz Lang, 1959).
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, no. I 465. Photo: Czerwonski / Herzog-Film.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. P 83/504, 1957. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Real-Film / Michaelis.
Sources: Tom Vallance (The Independent), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), and Wikipedia and IMDb.
German postcard by ISV, no. M 18. Photo: Gabriele / Real / Europa-Film.
Postcard by Cox, no. 4.
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 94. Photo: Ringpress.
Virile Good Looks
Paul Hugo Hubschmid was born in Schönenwerd in Switzerland in 1917. He was the son of an accountant. In 1937 he graduated from the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna and made his stage debut at the local Deutschen Volkstheater (German People's Theatre). The following year he played his first film role in the Swiss production Füsilier Wipf/Infanterist Wipf (Hermann Haller, Leopold Lindtberg, 1938). This film made him famous overnight, and he became very popular in both Switzerland and Germany. Another Swiss production, Die missbrauchten Liebesbriefe/The Abused Love Letters (Leopold Lindtberg, 1940) followed, but later he worked mainly in Nazi-Germany. Till the end of the war he appeared in such films as Meine Freundin Josefine/My Friend Josephine (Hans H. Zerlett, 1942), Liebesbriefe/Love Letters (Hans H. Zerlett, 1944), and Der gebieterische Ruf/The Commanding Call (Gustav Ucicky, 1944). After the war Hubschmid became a popular leading man in films like Gottes Engel sind überall/Angels of God Are Everywhere (Hans Thimig, 1948) and Geheimnisvolle Tiefe/The Mysterious Deep (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1949). Universal brought him to Hollywood despite his film work in the Nazi period. Renamed as Paul Christian he played the dashing hero of the adventure movies Bagdad (Charles Lamont, 1949) with Maureen O'Hara and Vincent Price, and Il ladro di Venezia/The Thief of Venice (John Brahm, 1950) next to Maria Montez. His virile good looks compensated for a stiff acting style, according to American critics. He also starred in the classic monster movie The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (Eugène Lourié, 1953). In his obituary about Hubschmid in the The Independent, Tom Vallance wrote: "Based on Ray Bradbury's haunting short story The Foghorn, the film spawned so many cheap imitations that it is surprising now to realise that it was the first film to deal with a prehistoric monster unearthed by an atomic explosion and going on a rampage through a major city. Christian was effective enough as the scientist who first realises the truth but is not believed, but it was Eugène Lourié's atmospheric direction and in particular the splendid special effects of Ray Harryhausen that turned the $250,000 film into a hit that grossed $5m."
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 110, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3442/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3752/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3576/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Star-Foto-Atelier / Tobis.
Beautiful Man, What Now?
In 1953 Paul Hubschmid returned to Germany to play leads in Maske in Blau/Mask in Blue (Georg Jacoby, 1953) with Marika Rökk, Musik bei Nacht/Music by Night (Kurt Hoffmann, 1953) with Curd Jürgens, Salzburger Geschichten/Chronicles of Salzburg (Kurt Hoffmann, 1957) with Marianne Koch, and Die Zürcher Verlobung/The Zurich Engagement (Helmut Käutner, 1957) with Liselotte Pulver. He usually appeared as a handsome charmer or a swashbuckling action hero. Very popular was the romantic comedy Scampolo (Alfred Weidenmann, 1958) starring Romy Schneider. Successful were also the remakes of the exotic adventure epic Der Tiger von Eschnapur/The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) and its sequel Das Indische Grabmal/The Indian Tomb (1959), both directed by Fritz Lang. Later Paul Hubschmid won praise as a fine character player in such international productions as the spy thriller Funeral in Berlin (Guy Hamilton, 1966) as a former black-market crony of spy Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), and A Taste of Excitement (Don Sharp, 1969). He appeared more than 2000 times on the German and Austrian stages as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. In the 1970s and 1980s he worked mainly for TV. The Swiss production Klassäzämekunft (Walter Deuber, Peter Stierlin, 1988) brought together many popular Swiss stars and was a kind of homage to former heydays. His last film was the comedy Linda (Ottokar Runze, 1992). He used to say that he wondered if his looks had not been detrimental to his acting career, and he entitled his 1994 autobiography Schöner Mann, was nun? (Beautiful Man, What Now?). From 1942 till her death in 1963 he was married with actress Ursula von Teubern. In 1967 he married film actress Eva Renzi. Their marriage was dissolved in 1980. In 1985 he married Irene Schiesser. When Paul Hubschmid died in 2001 in Berlin at the age of 84, he had made over 120 films.
Austrian postcard by Verlag Hubmann (HDH Verlag), Wien, no. 166. Photo: Afex. Publicity still for The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (Eugène Lourié, 1953).
German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, no. 2616. Photo: Arthur Grimm / CCC / Gloria. Publicity still for Der Tiger von Eschnapur/The Tiger of Eschnapur (Fritz Lang, 1959).
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, no. I 465. Photo: Czerwonski / Herzog-Film.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. P 83/504, 1957. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Real-Film / Michaelis.
Sources: Tom Vallance (The Independent), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), and Wikipedia and IMDb.
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