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Max Colpet

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Name
  
Max Colpet

Role
  
Writer

Movies
  
Germany, Year Zero


Died
  
January 2, 1998, Munich, Germany

Similar People
  
Sergio Amidei, Franz Waxman, Carlo Lizzani, Roberto Rossellini, Jacques Brel

13 sagt mir wo die blumen sind pete seeger s cover max colpet


Max Colpet (also known as Max Kolpe, real name Max Kolpenitzky, 19 July 1905 – 2 January 1998) was an American writer, scriptwriter and lyricist of Russian-German descent.

Contents

Life

He was born to a Russian Jewish family in Königsberg, then in East Prussia. Due to the political situation at the time, he was stateless when born. In 1914 at the start of the war his family fled to the West. In 1928, with Erik Ode, he founded the cabaret Anti in Berlin. In the 1930s he fled again, this time to Paris. His parents died during World War II in concentration camps.

On 14 August 1953 he became an American citizen, but in 1958 he moved to Munich where he lived for the rest of his life. Among other writings, he wrote for the Münchner Lach- und Schießgesellschaft, a cabaret theatre founded by Sammy Drechsel and Dieter Hildebrandt. He had a lifelong friendship with Billy Wilder for whom he wrote five screenplays. In Los Angeles, Colpet lived in the guest house behind Wilder's Beverly Hills house, 704 North Beverly Drive, until Wilder sold the house to Dr. Harry Lehrer and fashion designer Anne T. Hill in 1957 and moved to Century City.

Selection of German lyrics

  • "Allein in einer großen Stadt" (Music: Franz Wachsmann; Singers: Lale Andersen, Marlene Dietrich)
  • "Bitte geh nicht fort" – "Ne me quitte pas", (Music: Jacques Brel)
  • "Der Boss ist nicht hier" (Music: Lotar Olias; Singer: Freddy Quinn)
  • "Hoppla, jetzt komm ich" (Music: Werner Richard Heymann; Singer: Hans Albers)
  • "Kleine Treue Nachtigall" – "Message to Martha/Michael" (Music: Burt Bacharach; Singer: Marlene Dietrich)
  • "Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind" – "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (Music: Pete Seeger; Singer: Marlene Dietrich)
  • "Der ewige Soldat" – Donovan: "Universal Soldier"; (Music and Original lyrics: Buffy Sainte-Marie; Singer: Dominique, Juliane Werding)
  • "Charley’s Tante" (Musical, based on Charley's Aunt by Brandon Thomas; Music: Ralph Maria Siegel)
  • West Side Story (German lyrics of the musical by Leonard Bernstein [Music] and Stephen Sondheim [lyrics])
  • Selected filmography

  • All Is at Stake (dir. Max Nosseck, German, 1932)
  • Scampolo (dir. Hans Steinhoff, German, 1932)
  • The Blue of Heaven (dir. Victor Janson, German, 1932)
  • Madame Wants No Children (dir. Hans Steinhoff, German, 1933)
  • Mauvaise Graine (dir. Billy Wilder and Alexander Esway, French, 1934)
  • The Crisis is Over (dir. Robert Siodmak, French, 1934)
  • Behind the Facade (dir. Georges Lacombe and Yves Mirande, French, 1939)
  • Beating Heart (dir. Henri Decoin, French, 1940)
  • Premier rendez-vous (dir. Henri Decoin, French, 1941)
  • Heartbeat (dir. Sam Wood, English, 1946) - Remake of Beating Heart (1940)
  • Germany, Year Zero (dir. Roberto Rossellini, 1948)
  • Once a Thief (dir. W. Lee Wilder, English, 1950)
  • References

    Max Colpet Wikipedia