Käutner was a German director, screenwriter and actor. He was one of the most important German directors to have worked after WW II. He started working as an actor and director in the theatre and entered the world of film as a screenwriter. His directing debut was Kitty and the World Conference (Kitty und die Weltkonferenz, 1939), which was banned from distribution by the Nazi government due to “pro-English tendencies”. During the war he continued to work in films and his work was characterized by humane portrayals of everyday life. After the war he received recognition from the international jury in Cannes in 1954 for his film The Last Bridge (Die letzte Brücke, 1954) and directed the award-winning Sky Without Stars (Himmel ohne Sterne, 1955). He moved to Hollywood and directed two films for Universal Pictures: The Restless Years (1958) and Stranger in My Arms (1959). Afterwards he returned to Germany and worked in radio and television. His other important films include Romance in a Minor Key (Romanze in Moll, 1943), Great Freedom No. 7 (Große Freiheit Nr. 7, 1944), Under the Bridges (Unter den Brücken, 1945), In Those Days (In jenen Tagen, 1947), The Devil's General (Des teufels General, 1955), The Captain from Köpenick (Der Hauptmann von Köpenick, 1957).