A TRIBUTE TO CARL HEINZ JAFFÉ - Part One - The Spy and Thriller Years

Tonight we've got an extra special treat for you, a tribute to the late, great Carl Jaffé, and it's all brought to you courtesy of his Grandson Michael!

Carl Jaffé had 88 title credits to his name that spanned five decades! He was born in Hamburg Germany in 1902, and he left this world at the age of 72 in 1974, but he left us a lot to remember him, and this is just a small sample of his legacy!

 First up, From 1939, we have "The Saint In London," and here are some of Michael's own words on the subject!
OK, here we go with a trip into the past.......hands up who knows The Saint? (yes yes we all know it's very clever to cut down your opponent with the flick of an eyebrow or two, but I'm talking about further back than good old Roger Moore's escapades)... let's visit a time when the threat of dodgy foreign types was never greater than... the late 1930's... in London... "The Saint in London!" Sadly no, CJ wasn't in the lead role, that of course, as you sharp eyed and well read fans will know, was honourably delivered by that seamlessly suave and awfully decent chappy, Mr. George Saunders... but in THIS episode, he needs some help from a certain foreign Embassy, and who could possibly be there to step up to the plate in a time of need?

 Thank you Grandfather for playing the role of "Stengler" - from my personal private collection, here are 2 scans from original film bromide PR prints probably never before seen... until now!

The quite reasonably handsome gentlemen seated at the desk, and 2nd from left respectively, is Carl Jaffé!  (Note please the authentic film codes in the bottom LHS...)

 Next up we travel to 1948, and a little ground breaker entitled "The Blind Goddess! "Carl Jaffé is only on screen for about 2 minutes at the start, doing a dastardly deed that sets up the whole essence of the film's story, murder/theft/espionage/blackmail - what more do you want?

 Now, in the scene where CJ does the deed, he is looking right to left across the screen, BUT, in the film you never actually see him holding the weapon. However, here we have the ORIGINAL film PR still of that dark moment...

... which is then used in almost every piece of PR material.....

 

  

  ..............including the Press Book where it is translated R-L as a dramatic page leader!!

 

 And finally (well for now anyway), from 1962  is "The Password Is Courage!"

  

Here is CJ shaking hands with Mr. Dirk Bogarde in the opening scene from the dramatized account of a true story... "The Password Is Courage!"

Carl Jaffé played numerous military roles in many films, usually as the Nazi enemy, and it's  ironic really as his Jewish ancestry forced him to emigrate to London in 1936 after evading the Gestapo (according to his first hand account in his pending Autobiography...) - but all THAT is another story...

 The photo above was obtained from Jay Parrino's The Mint in the USA!  Thank you Jay!

Well, that's a wrap for tonight! I'll leave you with these two photos of Carl taken by the LADY society London photographer Vivienne (Mellish) as verified by the National Portrait Gallery in London!

Thank-You Michael!!

See you back here on Saturday for the scoop on the Science Fiction films of Mr. Carl Heinz Jaffé!