| Re: Decision Before Dawn (Fri Sep 2, 2005 11:02am ET) | report post |
| by pamela hall
Hi, glad to know someone else appreciated Oskar's work. He and I exchanged correspondence during his last years, some- thing by which I was truly honored. He tended not to feel comfortable with people with whom he did not have some kind of intellectual common ground. We did and it was quite a surprise at first, then, as I said, a real honor.
Nicole Huber at the "Oskar Werner Online Forum" (or the "Oskar Werner Online" regular site) would probably be your best bet. She knows his film work and that film especially, far better than I. I found it hard to watch. My father was killed in that area and Oskar's character is executed in the end.... all too much for me emotionally. You should be able to contact her through either one of the above sites. If you have difficulty, please let me know. I have seen the film but it was years ago (around '81) so I have no memory of the music. But all of us on the Forum are always glad to help with things like his. Some users have the film in either VHS or DVD.
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| Oskar Werner's Depression (Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:53pm ET) | report post |
| by Leslie Walsh
Pamela, did Oskar ever seek any type of treatment for his alcoholism or depression? I assume his family life was terribly impacted by his disease but his brilliance survived intact it would appear.
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| Re: Oskar Werner's Depression (Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:03pm ET) | report post |
| by pamela hall
Hello, Leslie. No, I greatly doubt that he would have ever sought treatment. Fairly early in the '60's he said in an interview that he drank "because of the ecstasy it gives me. It brings me out of my dark moods." This, of course, is a huge warning flag that literally screams out the addiction problem to anyone who hears it. I think that, at the end of his life, he might have realized what had happened and that he was dying. By that time stopping without medical supervision would have killed him and keeping on drinking did kill him. He was lonely and depressed. The depression he was born with you could say. We now know that it is caused by a lack of serotonin in the brain. Now it can be treated. I doubt that he could have faced sobriety in the world as he saw it. When he made that statement about "ecstasy" it was fairly early in the '60's before alcohol (and, for that matter coffee and a lot of other things we don't think of) was pointed out to be a drug. I think very early in his career, had he been faced with that truth he might have avoided the problem. We also know that the tendency to have an addictive personality can run in families. My most beloved uncle was an alcoholic and was only saved from a demise like Oskar's by his wife, my aunt. She was one of the greatest examples of unconditional love that I have seen. She kept his liquor watered and kept him alive until his 70's. We have to remember about Oskar that he was, in his deepest heart, a rather shy and introverted person. He was also highly sensitive and very intelligent. Imagine what you or I might have been like had we been through what he endured starting at age 15. That was when the Nazis annexed Austria. Oskar said over and over in interviews years later "People say they didn't know (about the Holocaust) but I knew." He remembered seeing the horror, to him of book burnings and the hideous incident that has now been called "Kristallnact." He told of seeing grandmothers and university professors down on their hands and knees washing the streets just because they were Jews. At age 19 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and they wanted him to be an officer on the Russian front. He was a true pacificist, when they handed him a pistol he vomited. So, he embarked on the best performance of his life...... pretending to be so stupid that he was only good for cleaning toilets and peeling potatoes. During the Allied bombing of Vienna he counted the number of bombs that fell on his beloved city.... he never forgot. Then, after one raid he was trapped in rubble for three days. He had a kind of breakdown after that. But, as soon as he could he took his half Jewish wife and baby daughter and deserted the army. They spent about 5 months hiding in a little hut in the Vienna Woods. When the Russians began their advance into the area they took the baby in a basket between them and ran back toward the city. In the confusion no one stopped him to arrest him for desertion. He survived to tell us all, in later years what it had been like and to warn us that "those people are still there." I could not say whether I would have lost my sanity completely under those circumstances. I really think that those who, in ignorance, blame him for "excessive drinking" should have been brought up short. In the light of what he had gone through in the most sensitive portion of the maturing of his character I do not feel anyone should criticize him. He lived to tell the truth and to pour out his heart into all his projects because he wanted to share the beauty of the arts with us all.
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| by Leslie Walsh
Dear Pamela -- I just read your return note. Disregard my previous note excepting the portion that asks about the goofy categories for tools and the like appearing. I totally agree with your comments re alcoholism and depression, having been trained in that field. I am so grateful to have caught up with people who were so touched by this genius of a man. He was much beloved as he should have been. More later.
Leslie Walsh
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| Re: Oskar Werner (Sun May 7, 2006 1:45pm ET) | report post |
| by pamela hall
Hello Leslie and any other of Oskar Werner's "fans" check out the site "Oskar Werner Online."
It is an excellent site with many categories offered.
It's well worth your time..... of course, you may have visited already. I have done a little on that site, a biography in English, for one thing, for anyone who needs that. It is available in both Deutsch and "English."
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| Re: Oskar Werner (Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:45pm ET) | report post |
| by pamela hall
Hi, Leslie.... would love to hear from you via direct email if you'd like (pamhw@charter.net). I am always so glad when another person is "caught up" in the spell of Oskar's genius. (Of course, he insisted he wasn't a genius. But, he would have expected me to argue that point "ad infinitem". So, I am just fulfilling his expectations, which, by the way, I think you will join me in extolling!)
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| Re: Decision Before Dawn (Sun Nov 13, 2005 12:06pm ET) | report post |
| by Susanne Otepka
I would like to know, if it is possible to buy Decision before Dawn in either english or german. Can anyone help?
Susanne
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| Re: Decision Before Dawn (Thu Apr 20, 2006 2:54am ET) | report post |
| by pamela hall
Attention anyone who is searching for a video of "Decision Before Dawn!"
There is currently a vhs available on EBay!!
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| Re: Decision Before Dawn (Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:19pm ET) | report post |
| by pamela hall
I believe that I have seen that a VHS is available. Have you tried Amazon?
I would also suggest your getting involved with the "Oskar Werner Online Forum". Started about a year ago by a young Austrian woman who was actually born very near to where Oskar himself was born in Vienna, this Forum is an excellent source for photos and for information about which of his films are available. I believe one of "us" (I am the oldest and the only one who knew Oskar in life) has "Decision" but I can't remember who it is. I do not have it but have seen items related to it on eBay. You could also "sign on" to eBay to be notified when items connected to Oskar and his career in films come up for sale. There is another excellent website, "Dancing With Oskar Werner." The owner of that site has also joined in on the "Online Forum." There are photos on the "Dancing" website taken from "Decision." So that might be an excellent way to start your search. For his first American film "Decision Before Dawn" was stunning. It resulted in his being blacklisted in Germany for several years. He always said that blacklisting was "an honor for him." He very much was that young man in the film. There was recently an old transparency (film frame/slide) of Oskar available on eBay which I believe was an excellent portrait, ( the incorrect chemical process had been used so that he appeared to have brown eyes and reddish brown hair). It was taken, I would guess, in Hollywood where he went after the release of "Decision." He waited around while Fox tried to figure out what to do with him. Finally, very frustrated, Oskar discarded his contract and returned home to Liechtenstein to prepare himself to return to the stage in the role which became his most famous and his own favorite, "Hamlet." So, you see, there are things from that time that do become available. But, the best thing to do, to try to track down a tape of that early film is to get involved with the "O. W. Online Forum." It's where the experts are! We all started, by the way, right here on the "Filmbug Forum." So, you are on the right track! Take the next step! I am sure someone can help you!
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