William Tell

Rütlischwur, apple shot, Hohle Gasse. The deeds of the Swiss national hero Wilhelm Tell in the fight against arbitrariness and violence in 1291. The script is based on the legend of Wilhelm Tell and is based on the "White Book of Sarnen" and the "Swiss Chronicle" of Aegidius Tschudi from the 16th century. Wilhelm Tell, the freedom hero who liberated the primal Switzerland from the Austrian landowgs and drove an oppressed people to revolt, inspired not only Schiller but also film producers. "A manifesto of the free world to all tyrants at any place and at any time" - this was what the producer wanted the film to embody. It was made in 1960 during the Cold War. Wilhelm Tell - Burgen in Flammen is similar in essence to the version by Friedrich Schiller, but is not a pure adaptation of the drama. Producer Josef Richard Kaelin and director Michel Dickoff spared no effort in filming the mythical material. They shot in colour and wide screen at original locations in the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Ticino and cast the film with the crème of the then Swiss Actors' Guard. Robert Freitag plays the national hero, Leopold Biberti, Maria Becker and Hannes Schmidhauser are to be seen in larger roles. The businessman Josef Kälin from Central Switzerland was anxious to bring a "Tell" to the big screen like it had never been seen before more elaborately and more expensive. Production costs doubled in five months from the planned one and a half million to the double. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator