| The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz | |
| Director: | George Marshall |
| Producer: | Edward Small |
| Story: | Ken Englund |
| Screenplay: | Albert E. Lewin Nat Perrin Burt Styler |
| Starring: | Elke Sommer Bob Crane Werner Klemperer |
| Music: | Jimmie Haskell |
| Cinematography: | Jacques Marquette |
| Editing: | Grant Whytock |
| Studio: | Edward Small Productions |
| Distributor: | United Artists |
| Runtime: | 113 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz is a 1968 DeLuxe Color American comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Elke Sommer, Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer and Leon Askin.[1] The screenplay concerns an East German athlete who defects to the West by pole-vaulting over the Berlin Wall.[2]
Paula Schultz (Elke Sommer) has been preparing to compete in the Olympic Games, but instead pole-vaults over the Berlin Wall to freedom in West Germany.
A black-market operator, Bill Mason (Bob Crane), hides her in the home of an old Army buddy, Herb Sweeney (Joey Forman), who now works for the CIA. Bill is willing to hand her over for a price, to either side, so a disappointed Paula returns to East Germany with propaganda minister Klaus instead. At this point, Bill comes to his senses, realizes he loves her, then disguises himself as a female athlete to get Paula back.
The film was based on an original screenplay by Ken Englund that Edward Small bought in 1966.[3] Harry Tugend was hired to rewrite it.[4]
Bob Crane was offered the lead role because of his success in Hogan's Heroes,[5] along with three other members of the series, and the film was shot during the show's summer hiatus in 1967.[6] Several other guest stars from the series also appeared in the film.
In advance of the film's release, per the practice of the era, Popular Library released a novelization of the screenplay credited to the pseudonym of Alton Harsh (the actual author may have been Al Hine).
Reviews were poor.[7] [8] [9] Quentin Tarantino appropriated the titular character's name for the title of Chapter 7 ("The Lonely Grave of Paula Schultz") for his film Kill Bill Vol. 2. Tarantino also used the name for the wife of the character Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) in the film Django Unchained.