Walter Ulbrich

Walter Ulbrich (15 June 1910 – 13 November 1991) was a German film producer primarily known for writing and/or producing 10 of 16 four-part adventure mini-series made for West German TV in the 1960s and 1970s. Mostly based on classics of world literature such as Robinson Crusoe or The Sea Wolf, these West German/French co-productions traditionally premiered on West German public-service television in December and are therefore also known as Weihnachtsvierteiler (Christmas four-parters). The series have been dubbed into a variety of languages and also became popular outside Germany, especially in France, the UK, and Canada.

His work and influence on European TV productions

As a writer, Ulbrich saw scriptwriting as an important process and tried to make sure his productions were true to the books, yet at the same time exciting. The latter sometimes necessitated including plots or characters from other novels or inventing them outright, which has garnered his adaptations some criticism. Because a script had to be arrived at that satisfied both German and French production partners, the scriptwriting stage could be lengthy, and so in the case of Two Years' Vacation it took four years from first draft to airing, because of script development as well as financial problems (on the French side).

Ulbrich's productions were all done in cooperation with the ZDF public-service television channel and other international partners, especially from France and Romania. Their success prompted the other German public-service channel ARD to emulate the formula, leading to adventure series such as Huckleberry Finn and His Friends (1979/80) and Captain James Cook (1987). Ulbrich may not have invented international TV co-productions, but his series demonstrated the feasibility of high-quality TV productions using an eclectic mix of nationalities in front and behind the camera.

Selected filmography 5 June (1942) Under the Bridges (1945) Where the Trains Go (1949) Seven Years in Tibet (1956) Rose Bernd (1957) As Long as the Heart Still Beats (1958) The Goose of Sedan (1959)

Four-parters with Ulbrich as writer and/or producer Role Title Year Film gauge Director Notes 1 W The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe 1964 35 mm Jean Sacha Black-and-white 2 P 1965 35 mm Carlo Rim, Jacques Bourdon, Louis Grospierre Starring Josef Meinrad as Don Quixote. Black-and-white 3 WP Treasure Island 1966 35 mm Wolfgang Liebeneiner, Jacques BourdonFilmed in color, but premiered on German TV in black-and-white 4 WP 1968 35 mm Wolfgang Liebeneiner 5 W Leatherstocking Tales 1969 35 mm Jean Dréville, Pierre Gaspard-Huit, Sergiu Nicolaescu 6 WP 1971 35 mm Wolfgang Staudte, Sergiu Nicolaescu Starring Raimund Harmstorf as Wolf LarsenCombination of The Sea Wolf, The Road, The Cruise of the Dazzler, and several other works by Jack London 7 W 1974 35 mm Gilles Grangier, Sergiu Nicolaescu Combination of three Jules Verne novels with added elements (such as the treasure hunt) by Ulbrich 8 WP 1975 16 mm Wolfgang Staudte Based on several works by Jack London about the Klondike gold rush 9 WP Michel Strogoff 1976 16 mm Jean-Pierre Decourt Again starring Raimund Harmstorf 10 W Kidnapped 1978 16 mm Jean-Pierre Decourt Starring David McCallum. Combination of the novels Kidnapped and Catriona.Also known for its Gaelic-inspired main title theme (David's Theme) by Vladimir Cosma which has been covered by folk music artists such as the Kelly family (1979) and Declan Galbraith (2006) as David’s Song (Who’ll Come With Me). 11 P Mathias Sandorf 1979 Jean-Pierre Decourt 12 P 1980 Herbert Wise Starring Mick Ford and Stephen Rea. Based on Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams by William Godwin 13 P 1981 Christian-Jaque Biographical TV miniseries about Thomas Waghorn 14 P 1983 Christian-Jaque Biographical TV miniseries about Ferdinand de Lesseps

W: as writer, P: as producer

Ulbrich also re-edited the French-produced (1973, 16 mm, starring Jean Marais) for German TV, renaming it to Cagliostro, reducing its running time from 360 minutes to 255 minutes, and changing the plot substantially.