1955–1959: Early work and theater roles Schell's film debut was in the German anti-war film
Kinder, Mütter und ein General (
Children, Mothers, and a General, 1955). It was the story of five mothers who confronted a German general at the front line, after learning that their sons, some as young as 15, had been "slated to be cannon fodder on behalf of the Third Reich." The film co-starred
Klaus Kinski as an officer, with Schell playing the part of an officer-
deserter. The story, which according to one critic, "depicts the insanity of continuing to fight a war that is lost," would become a "trademark" for many of Schell's future roles: "Schell's sensitivity in his portrayal of a young deserter disillusioned with fighting became a trademark of his acting." Schell subsequently acted in seven more films made in Europe before going to the U.S. Among those was
The Plot to Assassinate Hitler (also 1955). Later in the same year he had a supporting role in
Jackboot Mutiny, in which he plays "a sensitive philosopher", who uses ethics to privately debate the arguments for assassinating Hitler. He made his
Hollywood debut in the
World War II film,
The Young Lions (1958), as the commanding German officer in another anti-war story, with
Marlon Brando and
Montgomery Clift. German film historian Robert C. Reimer writes that the film, directed by
Edward Dmytryk, again drew on Schell's German characterisation to "portray young officers disillusioned with a war that no longer made sense." After winning the
New York Film Critics award for his role, Schell recalled the pride he felt upon receiving a letter from his older sister
Maria Schell, who was already an award-winning actress, "I received the most wonderful letter from Maria. She wrote, 'Now, when you have my letter in your hand, a beautiful day is coming for you. I will be with you, proud, because I knew such recognition would come one day, leading to something even greater and better ... not only because you are close to me but because I count you among the truly great actors, and it is wonderful that besides that you are my brother.' Maria and I are very close". Author Barry Monush describes the impact of Schell's acting, "Again, on the big screen, he was nothing short of electrifying as the counselor whose determination to place the blame for the
Holocaust on anyone else but his clients, and brings morality into question". Producer-director
Stanley Kramer assembled a star-studded
ensemble cast which included
Spencer Tracy and
Burt Lancaster. They "worked for nominal wages out of a desire to see the film made and for the opportunity to appear in it," notes film historian George McManus. Actor
William Shatner remembers that, prior to the actual filming, "we understood the importance of the film we were making." It was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning two. In 2011, Schell appeared at a 50th anniversary tribute to the film and his Oscar win, held in Los Angeles at the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where he spoke about his career and the film. Beginning in 1968 Schell began writing, producing, directing and acting in a number of his own films: Among those were
The Castle (1968), a German film based on the novel by
Franz Kafka, about a man trapped in a
bureaucratic nightmare. Soon after he made
Erste Liebe (First Love) (1970), based on a novel by
Ivan Turgenev. The film was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Schell's next film,
The Pedestrian (1974), is about a German tycoon "haunted by his Nazi past". In this film, notes one critic, "Schell probes the conscience and guilt in terms of the individual and of society, reaching to the universal heart of responsibility and moral inertia." It was nominated for the
Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and was a "great and commercial success in Germany," notes
Roger Ebert. In a number of films Schell played the role of a Jewish character: as Otto Frank, Anne Frank's father, in
The Diary of Anne Frank (1980); as the modern Zionist father in
The Chosen (1981); in 1996, he played an
Auschwitz survivor in
Through Roses, a German film, written and directed by
Jürgen Flimm; Schell, who at that period in his career saw himself primarily as a director, felt compelled to accept the part when it was offered to him: Schell's acting in the film has been compared favorably to his other leading roles, with film historian Annette Insdorf writing, "Maximilian Schell is even more compelling as the quick-tempered, quicksilver Goldman than in his previous Holocaust-related roles, including
Judgment at Nuremberg and
The Condemned of Altona". She gives a number of examples of Schell's acting intensity, including the courtroom scenes, where Schell's character, after supposedly being exposed as a German officer, "attacks Jewish meekness" in his defense, and "boasts that the Jews were sheep who didn't believe what was happening." The film eventually suggests that Schell's character is in fact a Jew, but one whose sanity has been compromised by "
survivor guilt." Schell was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Actor and the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance. To avoid being
typecast, Schell also played more diverse characters in numerous films throughout his career: he played a museum treasure thief in
Topkapi (1964); the
eponymous Venezuelan revolutionary in
Simón Bolívar (1969); a 19th-century ship captain in
Krakatoa, East of Java (1969); a
Captain Nemo-esque scientist/starship commander in the science fiction film,
The Black Hole (1979).
1980–2009: Career fluctuations He took roles such as the Russian emperor in the television miniseries,
Peter the Great (1986), opposite
Laurence Olivier,
Vanessa Redgrave, and
Trevor Howard, which won an
Emmy Award; a comedy role with
Marlon Brando in
The Freshman (1990);
Reese Witherspoon's surrogate grandfather in
A Far Off Place; a treacherous Cardinal in ''
John Carpenter's Vampires (1998); as Frederick the Great in a TV film, Young Catherine
(1991); as Vladimir Lenin in the TV series, Stalin (1992), for which he won the Golden Globe Award; a Russian KGB colonel in Candles in the Dark (1993); the Pharaoh in Abraham'' (1994); and
Tea Leoni's father in the science fiction thriller,
Deep Impact (1998). From the 1990s until late in his career, Schell appeared in many
German-language made-for-TV films, such as the 2003 film
Alles Glück dieser Erde (
All the Luck in the World) opposite
Uschi Glas and in the television miniseries '''' (2004), which was based on
Henning Mankell's novel
The Return of the Dancing Master. In 2006 he appeared in the stage play of
Arthur Miller's
Resurrection Blues, directed by
Robert Altman, which played in London at the
Old Vic. In 2007, he played the role of
Albert Einstein on the German television series
Giganten (Giants), which enacted the lives of people important in German history. , in 1959 Schell also served as a writer, producer and director for a variety of films, including the documentary film
Marlene (1984), with the participation of
Marlene Dietrich. It was nominated for an Oscar, received the
New York Film Critics Award and the
German Film Award. Originally, Dietrich, then 83 years of age, had agreed to allow Schell to interview and film her in the privacy of her apartment. However, after he began filming, she changed her mind and refused to allow any actual video footage of her be shown. During a videotaped interview, Schell described the difficulties he had while making the film. Schell creatively showed only
silhouettes of her along with old film clips during their interview soundtrack. Schell produced
My Sister Maria in 2002, an intimate documentary about his sister, the noted actress
Maria Schell. In the film, he chronicles her life, career and eventual diminished capacity due to illness. The film, made three years before her death, shows her mental and physical frailty, leading to her withdrawing from the world. In 2002, upon the completion of the film, they both received
Bambi Awards, and were honored for their lifetime achievements and in recognition of the film. == Other activities ==