Harry R. Sokal

February 20, 1898 — Craiova, Dolj, Romania

Harry R. Sokal (also Henry R. Sokal), born February 20, 1898 in Craiova and died March 7, 1979 in Munich, was a German film producer of Romanian origin and of the Jewish faith. Harry Sokal produced 22 films between 1926 and 1977. He specialized in the production of films related to the mountain, mainly those of Arnold Fanck and Leni Riefenstahl. After the National Socialists seized power in 1933, he emigrated to England before settling in France in 1937. In 1941, he moved to the United States where he worked for the small production company Monogram before return to Germany in 1949 where he founded the production company Henry Sokal-Film. He produced his first post-war work, Föhn, which was a remake of his greatest success, The White Inferno of Piz Palü. Until his death, he worked with the Munich studios Bavaria Filmstudios located in Grünwald. His most famous post-war film was The Hero and the Soldier in 1958 with Otto Wilhelm Fischer, based on the comedy by George Bernard Shaw. Harry Sokal was married to actress Charlotte Kerr. He died in 1979 and is buried in Grünwald.