Franz Antel
Franz Antel( 28 June 1913 – 11 August 2007) was a veteran Austrian filmmaker.
Born in Vienna,
Antel worked mainly as a film producer in the interwar years.
After World War II, he began writing and directing films on a large scale.
In the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s these were mainly comedies( romantic, slapstick, and/ or musical) and" K.u.k. films" all of which, for Austrian and German TV stations alike, have been a staple of weekend afternoon programming ever since.
In between there is quite a sober film about the Oberst( Colonel) Redl affair that shook the Austro- Hungarian Monarchy on the eve of World War I.
Antel himself later commented on this period," I always wanted to provide good entertainment for the people at the cinema.
After the screening, people should say: Well now, I am in a good mood, I will go out and have a glass of wine."
( German original:" Ich wollte die Leute im Kino immer gut unterhalten.
Die Besucher sollten nach der Filmvorführung sagen:
So, jetzt bin ich gut aufgelegt, jetzt geh ich auf ein Viertel Wein.")
From the late 1960s, encouraged by the new opportunities in the film industry brought about by the sexual revolution, Antel gradually switched his main interest to soft porn and ribaldry.
It was in particular his series of" Frau Wirtinhostess") films, directed under the pseudonym François Legrand, with which he tried to win international recognition.
Titles included" The Sweet Sins of Sexy Susan"( 1967)," Sexy Susan Sins Again"( 1968)," Wild, Willing& Sexy"( 1969) and" Do n't Tell Daddy"( aka" Naughty Nymphs" in the U.S.A.)( 1972).
Antel would recount an anecdote about himself describing how, in order to live up to his reputation as a womanizer, he used to carry a pair of high heels in his luggage which he then would occasionally place in the corridor in front of his hotel room – especially when he was travelling alone.
Among the best known actors Antel had worked with from the 1940s to the 1970s were Hans Moser, Paul Hörbiger, Oskar Werner, Curd Jürgens, Tony Curtis, Herbert Fux, Heinrich Schweiger, Arthur Kennedy, Carroll Baker, Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Marisa Berenson, Britt Ekland, Andréa Ferréol.
1981 was a turning point in Antel's career when he adapted for the big screen a stage play by Ulrich Becher and Peter Preses.
Set from the days of the Anschluss of 1938 until after the end of the war," Der Bockerer" is about a Viennese butcher named Karl Bockerer( Karl Merkatz) whose common sense rather than intellect tells him to oppose the Nazis and who dares to show resistance just because he is never fully aware of the possible fateful consequences of his actions.
While Bockerer and his wife survive the war unscathed, their son joins the SA but, after some internal intrigue, is sent to the front and killed.
The film was entered into the 12th Moscow International Film Festival.
The film's strong anti-fascist message, the moving dialogue, and performances by the" crème de la crème" of Austrian actors and actresses( Ida Krottendorf, Alfred Böhm, Heinz Marecek, Hans Holt, Dolores Schmidinger and many more) made" Der Bockerer" an unusually successful film and gave new impetus to Antel's career.
He made three sequels, which follow the lives of the Bockerers well into the 1960s, each depicting a crucial historical event in Austria or one of its neighbouring countries:
Helene Hanff
Helene Hanff( April 15, 1916 April 9, 1997) was an American writer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
She is best known as the author of the book" 84, Charing Cross Road", which became the basis for a stage play, television play, and film of the same name.
Henry Moore (cricketer)
Henry Walter Moore( 1849 – 20 August 1916) was an English- born first- class cricketer who spent most of his life in New Zealand.
David Jones (director)
David Hugh Jones( 19 February 1934 – 19 September 2008) was an English stage, television and film director.
Emperor's Ball
Emperor's Ball( German:Kaiserball) is a 1956 Austrian drama film directed by Franz Antel and starring Sonja Ziemann, Rudolf Prack and Hannelore Bollmann.
The film is part of a cycle of films set during the old Austro- Hungarian Empire.
It was shot in agfacolor with sets designed by Otto Pischinger.
Rosemary Leach
Rosemary Anne Leach( 18 December 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a British stage, television and film actress.
She won the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for" 84, Charing Cross Road" and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her roles in the films" That'll Be the Day"( 1973) and" A Room with a View"( 1986).
She appeared in several TV mini-series, including" Germinal"( 1970)," The Jewel in the Crown"( 1984)," The Charmer"( 1987)," The Buccaneers"( 1995) and" Berkeley Square"( 1998), and had a recurring role on the sitcom" My Family"( 2003 – 07).
James Roose-Evans
James Roose- Evans( born 11 November 1927) is a British theatre director, priest, and writer on experimental theatre, ritual and meditation.
In 1959 he founded the Hampstead Theatre Club, in London; in 1974 the Bleddfa Centre for the Creative Spirit, in mid-Wales; and in 2015 Frontier Theatre Productions.
He is best known for directing the West End play, 84 Charing Cross Road.
Charing Cross Road (film)
Charing Cross Road is a 1935 British musical romance film directed by Albert de Courville and starring John Mills, June Clyde, Derek Oldham and Belle Baker.
The film takes its title from the Charing Cross Road that runs through Central London.
Eva Collet Reckitt
Eva Collet Reckitt( 1890- 1976) was the founder of the left- wing bookshop Collet's on Charing Cross Road, London, in 1933.
84 Charing Cross Road (film)
84 Charing Cross Road is a 1987 British- American drama film directed by David Jones.
The screenplay by Hugh Whitemore is based on a play by James Roose- Evans, which itself was an adaptation of the 1970 epistolary memoir of the same name by Helene Hanff, a compilation of letters between herself and Frank Doel dating from 1949 to 1968.
The play has only two characters, but the dramatis personæ for the film were expanded to include Hanff's Manhattan friends, the bookshop staff and Doel's wife Nora.

Question: Which film has the director born first, 84 Charing Cross Road (Film) or Emperor'S Ball?
Answer: Emperor'S Ball