Franz Antel

Franz Antel (28 June 1913 – 11 August 2007) was an 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 Wirtin ("hostess") 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), Naughty Roommates (1969) and Don'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...