Franciska Gaal was a Hungarian cabaret artist and film actress of Jewish heritage. Gaal starred in a popular series of European romantic comedies during the 1930s. After attracting interest in Hollywood she moved there and made three films.
It Started with Eve is a 1941 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, and Charles Laughton. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Music Score. The film is considered by some critics to be Durbin's best film, and the last in which she worked with the producer and director who groomed her for stardom. It Started with Eve was remade in 1964 as I'd Rather Be Rich.
Paprika is a 1932 German comedy film directed by Carl Boese and starring Franciska Gaal, Paul Hörbiger and Paul Heidemann. Made by the German branch of Universal Pictures, it was based on a hit play by Max Reimann and Otto Schwartz. A French-language version and an Italian-language version were released the following year. It is also known by the alternative title of Marriage in Haste. In the US, the film was released almost 2 years later in German on 18 May 1934 in the Yorkville theater under the title Wie man Maenner fesselt (How to charm men).
The Girl Downstairs is a 1938 American romantic-comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Franciska Gaal, Franchot Tone and Walter Connolly. It is a remake of the 1936 Austrian film Catherine the Last, directed by Henry Koster, which had been a major hit for Gaal.
Scandal in Budapest is a 1933 German-Hungarian comedy film, filmed in Hungary in the German language and directed by Géza von Bolváry and Istvan Szekely and starring Franciska Gaal, Werner Pledath, and Lotte Spira. It was made at Budapest's Hunnia Studios by the European subsidiary of Universal Pictures, headed by Joe Pasternak, which had recently left Germany in the face of Hitler's "de-Judification" of that country. A separate Hungarian-language version was also made, with a different cast, titled Pesti Szerelem. Both versions were released in the United States by Arthur Mayer's DuWorld Pictures Inc.
Peter is a 1934 Austrian-Hungarian comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Franciska Gaal, Felix Bressart and Richard Eybner.
Renee XIV was an unfinished 1946 Hungarian film directed by Ákos Ráthonyi and starring Franciska Gaal, Johannes Heesters and Theo Lingen. It was intended to be a German-language film made with Soviet-backing at the Hunnia Film Studio in Budapest, starring Gaal, a popular pre-war star had not made a movie after several years. After around 10 days of filming, the production was abandoned. Gaal emigrated to America the following year, and she never made another film.
A Precocious Girl is a 1934 Austrian comedy film directed by Max Neufeld and Richard Eichberg and starring Franciska Gaal, Leopoldine Konstantin and Herbert Hübner. The film's sets were designed by art director Julius von Borsody.
Fräulein Lilli or Miss Lilli is a 1936 Austrian comedy film directed by Hans Behrendt, Robert Wohlmuth and Max Neufeld. It starred Franciska Gaal, Hans Jaray and S.Z. Sakall. It was Gaal's last European film, although she did briefly start work in 1946 on Renee XIV, before it was abandoned during filming.
Spring Parade is a 1934 comedy film directed by Géza von Bolváry and starring Paul Hörbiger, Franciska Gaal, and Wolf Albach-Retty.
Look After Your Daughters is a 1922 Austrian silent comedy film directed by Sidney M. Goldin and starring Franz Höbling, Anny Ondra and Carl Lamac.
Greetings and Kisses, Veronika is a 1933 German comedy film directed by Carl Boese and starring Franciska Gaal, Paul Hörbiger, and Otto Wallburg. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin. The film's art direction was by Kurt Dürnhöfer and Max Heilbronner. The film's popularity made Gaal an international star. However the rise of the Nazi Party to power meant that the Jewish Gaal had to make her next films in Hungary and Austria.
Maxie is a 1954 Austrian comedy drama film directed by Eduard von Borsody, and starring Willy Fritsch, Cornell Borchers, and Fita Benkhoff. The film's sets were designed by the art director Julius von Borsody.
A Mother's Love or Mother Love is a 1939 drama film directed by Gustav Ucicky and starring Käthe Dorsch, Paul Hörbiger and Wolf Albach-Retty.
Love's Awakening is a 1953 West German drama film directed by Hans Heinrich and starring Winnie Markus, Ingrid Andree and Carl Esmond. It was shot at the Spandau Studios in Berlin and on location around the Chiemsee in Bavaria. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Rolf Zehetbauer and Albrecht Hennings.
My Aunt, Your Aunt is a 1939 German comedy film directed by Carl Boese and starring Ralph Arthur Roberts, Johannes Heesters, and Olly Holzmann. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Ernst H. Albrecht. Boese later directed a 1956 film of the same title.
A Rare Lover or Pikanterie is a 1950 West German romance film directed by Alfred Braun and starring Susanne von Almassy, Irene von Meyendorff and Curd Jürgens.
The Silent Guest is a 1945 German crime film directed by Harald Braun and starring René Deltgen, Gisela Uhlen and Rudolf Fernau. It was one of the final films released during the Nazi era. It received its Austrian premiere in Vienna in 1950.
The Vice of Gambling is a 1923 German silent film directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki and starring Alfred Abel, Willy Kaiser-Heyl, and Theodor Loos.
Before God and Man is a 1955 West German drama film directed by Erich Engel and starring Viktor de Kowa, Antje Weisgerber and Hans Söhnker. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in West Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Emil Hasler and Walter Kutz.
