Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach | |
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Directed by | Otto Preminger |
Written by | Carl Zuckmayer Translation of a screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert |
Produced by | Otto Preminger |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ernest Laszlo |
Edited by | Otto Ludwig |
Music by | Herschel Burke Gilbert |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | German |
Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (English translation: "The Virgin on the Roof") is a 1953 American comedy film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Carl Zuckmayer is a German language translation of the script for The Moon Is Blue by F. Hugh Herbert, based on his 1951 play.
A comedy of manners, the film centers on virtuous actress Patty O'Neill, who meets playboy architect Donald Gresham on the observation deck of the Empire State Building and accepts his invitation to join him for drinks and dinner in his apartment. There she meets Donald's upstairs neighbors, his ex-fiancée Cynthia and her father, roguish David Slader. Both men are determined to bed the young woman, but they quickly discover Patty is more interested in engaging in spirited discussions about the pressing moral and sexual issues of the day than surrendering her virginity to either one of them. After resisting their amorous advances throughout the night, Patty leaves and returns to the Empire State Building, where Donald finds her and proposes marriage.
Otto Preminger had directed the 1951 Broadway production of F. Hugh Herbert's play The Moon Is Blue, and its successful run of 924 performances prompted him to contract with United Artists to finance and distribute a screen adaptation over which he would have complete control. He deferred his producer's and director's salaries in exchange for 75% of the film's profits. [1]
Since Herbert's play had been a huge success in Germany, Preminger decided to film English- and German-language versions simultaneously, using the same sets and the same crew but different casts. The director estimated this method would increase the filming schedule by only eight to ten days and production costs by only 10 to 15 percent. The budget for both films was $373,445. [2] After ten days of rehearsals for each of his casts, Preminger began principal photography of both films on January 21, 1953, filming an English language scene and then its German equivalent in quick succession. Johanna Matz and Hardy Krüger, the stars of the German adaptation, briefly appear in the English-language version as the young couple waiting to use the coin-operated telescope at the top of the Empire State Building, cameo roles William Holden and Maggie McNamara of the American cast play in the German version. [3]
In later years, Preminger stated he much preferred The Moon Is Blue to Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach because he felt the psychology of the plot did not translate well. [4]
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor.
Marguerite McNamara was a stage, film, and television actress and model from the United States. McNamara began her career as a teenage fashion model. She first came to public attention as Patty O'Neill in the 1951 national tour of F. Hugh Herbert's The Moon Is Blue which ran concurrently with the original Broadway production. In 1952 she succeeded Barbara Bel Geddes in that role in the Broadway production. Both productions were directed by Otto Preminger, and Preminger also directed McNamara in that role in the controversial 1953 film adaptation of that work. She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in the film.
The Moon Is Blue is a 1953 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring William Holden, David Niven, and Maggie McNamara. Written by F. Hugh Herbert and based on his 1951 play of the same title, the film is about a young woman who meets an architect on the observation deck of the Empire State Building and quickly turns his life upside down. Herbert's play had also been a huge success in Germany, and Preminger decided to simultaneously film in English and German, using the same sets but different casts. The German-language film version is Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach.
Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters, known professionally as JohannesHeesters, was a Dutch actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the concert stage with a career dating back to the 1920s. He worked as an actor until his death and was one of the oldest performing entertainers in history, performing shortly before his death at the age of 108. Heesters was almost exclusively active in the German-speaking world from the mid-1930s and became a film star in Nazi Germany, which later led to controversy in his native country. He was able to maintain his popularity in Germany in the decades until his death.
Gustaf Gründgens, born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg. His career continued unimpeded through the years of the Nazi regime; the extent to which this can be considered as deliberate collaboration with the Nazis is hotly disputed.
Carl Zuckmayer was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer.
Hardy Krüger was a German actor and author, who appeared in more than 60 films from 1944 onwards. After becoming a film star in Germany in the 1950s, Krüger increasingly turned to roles in international films such as Hatari!, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Wild Geese, Sundays and Cybele, A Bridge Too Far, The Battle of Neretva, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, The Red Tent, The One That Got Away, and Barry Lyndon.
Eric Lawson Malpass was an English novelist noted for witty descriptions of rural family life, notably of his creation, the extended Pentecost family. He also wrote historical fiction ranging from the late Middle Ages to Edwardian England, and acquired a devoted readership on the Continent, particularly in Germany, where most of his books were translated.
Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performances are now given in the Opera House of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Gregory Ratoff was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. As an actor, he was best known for his role as producer "Max Fabian" in All About Eve (1950).
Carmen Jones is a 1954 American musical film featuring an all-black cast starring Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, and Pearl Bailey and produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Harry Kleiner is based on the lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II, from the 1943 stage musical of the same name, set to the music of Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen. The opera was an adaptation of the 1845 Prosper Mérimée novella Carmen by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.
Frederick Hugh Herbert was a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, short story writer, and infrequent film director.
Danger – Love at Work is a 1937 American screwball comedy film directed by Otto Preminger and starring Ann Sothern, Jack Haley and Edward Everett Horton. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay by James Edward Grant and Ben Markson focuses on an attorney's frustrating efforts to deal with a wildly eccentric family.
Under Your Spell is a 1936 American romantic comedy film with music directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Frances Hyland and Saul Elkins is based on a story by Sy Bartlett and Bernice Mason.
Johanna Matz is an Austrian film actress. She began as a dancer and later acted at the Burgtheater.
Target in the Clouds is a 1939 German drama film directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner and starring Albert Matterstock, Leny Marenbach and Brigitte Horney. It was based on a novel by Hans Rabl. The film portrays the struggles of the fictional German aviation pioneer Walter von Suhr, an officer in the pre-First World War German army who saw the potential for military aircraft.
Tales from the Vienna Woods is a play by Austro-Hungarian writer Ödön von Horváth.
The Man with the Glass Eye is a 1969 West German crime film directed by Alfred Vohrer and starring Horst Tappert, Karin Hübner and Hubert von Meyerinck. It is part of Rialto Film's long-running series of Edgar Wallace adaptations. Another English title is Terror on Half Moon Street.
The Moon Is Blue is a play by F. Hugh Herbert. A comedy in three acts, the play consists of one female and three male characters.
Heroism after Hours is a 1955 West German anthology comedy film directed by Wolfgang Becker, Erik Ode, Wolfgang Schleif and Fritz Stapenhorst and featuring an ensemble cast. It is in four parts each portraying a different tale of German soldiers attempting to get home at the end of the Second World War. It was shot at the Wandsbek Studios in Hamburg and on location around West Berlin, Bavaria and the Rhineland. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Wilhelm Vorwerg and Hans Berthel. The production company made a documentary the same year that also celebrated the ordinary German soldier.