Elisabeth Bergner was an Austrian-British actress. Primarily a stage actress, her career flourished in Berlin and Paris before she moved to London to work in films. Her signature role was Gemma Jones in Escape Me Never, a play written for her by Margaret Kennedy. She played Gemma, first in London and then in the Broadway debut, and in a film version for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1943, Bergner returned to Broadway in the play The Two Mrs. Carrolls, for which she won the Distinguished Performance Medal from the Drama League.
49th Parallel is a 1941 British war drama film. It was the third film made by the British filmmaking team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It was released in the United States as The Invaders. The British Ministry of Information approached Michael Powell to make a propaganda film for them, suggesting he make "a film about mine-sweeping". Instead, Powell decided to make a film to help sway opinion in the then-neutral United States. Said Powell, "I hoped it might scare the pants off the Americans" and thus bring them into the war. Screenwriter Emeric Pressburger remarked, "Goebbels considered himself an expert on propaganda, but I thought I'd show him a thing or two". Powell persuaded the British and Canadian governments and started location filming in 1940, but by the time the film appeared, in March 1942, the United States, which had been trying to stay out of the war in Europe, had been drawn into taking sides against Germany after being attacked three months earlier.
Paul Czinner was a Hungarian-born British writer, film director, and producer.
Fire Over England is a 1937 London Film Productions film drama, notable for providing the first pairing of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. It was directed by William K. Howard and written by Clemence Dane, nominally from the 1936 novel Fire Over England by AEW Mason. Leigh's performance in the film helped to convince David O. Selznick to cast her as Scarlett O'Hara in his 1939 production of Gone with the Wind. The film is a historical drama set during the reign of Elizabeth I focusing on England's victory over the Spanish Armada.
As You Like It is a 1936 British romantic comedy film directed by Paul Czinner and starring Laurence Olivier as Orlando and Elisabeth Bergner as Rosalind. It is based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. It was Olivier's first performance of Shakespeare on screen.
Henri-Léon-Gustave-Charles Bernstein was a French playwright associated with Boulevard theatre.
Carl Mayer was an Austrian screenwriter who wrote or co-wrote the screenplays to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Haunted Castle (1921), Der Letzte Mann (1924), Tartuffe (1926), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), and 4 Devils (1928), most of them being films directed by F. W. Murnau. Mayer was a fundamental figure in the dramatic and narrative establishment of both German expressionist cinema and Kammerspielfilm.
Dark Journey is a 1937 British spy film directed by Victor Saville and starring Conrad Veidt, Vivien Leigh and Joan Gardner Written by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis, the film is about two secret agents on opposite sides during World War I who meet and fall in love in neutral Stockholm.
Stolen Life is a 1939 British drama film directed by Paul Czinner and starring Michael Redgrave, Elisabeth Bergner and Wilfrid Lawson.
Under the Red Robe is a 1937 British-American historical adventure film directed by Victor Sjöström and starring Conrad Veidt, Annabella and Raymond Massey. Previously filmed as a 1923 silent directed by Alan Crosland. Before the films a play had been produced on Broadway in 1896-97 starring Viola Allen and William Faversham. The film is based on the 1894 novel by Stanley J. Weyman and is set during the religious wars of early 17th century France; events in the novel itself means it can be dated to the autumn of 1630.
East Meets West is a 1936 British drama film directed by Herbert Mason and starring George Arliss, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle and John Laurie. It was made at the Lime Grove Studios in London. The film's art direction was by Oscar Friedrich Werndorff.
Head Over Heels is a 1937 British musical film directed by Sonnie Hale and starring Jessie Matthews, Robert Flemyng and Louis Borel. It was released in the U.S. as Head over Heels in Love.
The Loves of Ariane is a 1931 British-German drama film directed by Paul Czinner starring Elisabeth Bergner, Charles Carson and Percy Marmont. Shot in Germany, it was an English-language version of the 1931 film Ariane. It was based on the 1920 novel Ariane, jeune fille russe by Claude Anet. The screenplay concerns a young woman studying at University who falls in love. A German version of the film, Ariane was also made.
The King Steps Out is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Grace Moore, Franchot Tone and Walter Connolly. It is based on the early years of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as "Sisi" or "Sissi", and her courtship and marriage to Franz Joseph I of Austria, after he was initially engaged to her older sister Duchess Helene in Bavaria. The film is set from 1852 to 1854.
Fräulein Else is a 1929 German silent drama film directed by Paul Czinner and starring Elisabeth Bergner, Albert Bassermann and Albert Steinrück. It was based on the 1924 novella of the same name by Arthur Schnitzler. Bergner had previously played her role on stage to great acclaim. However, it was felt that the film was hindered by being silent given the strength of the story's dialogue.
Doña Juana is a 1927 German silent comedy drama film directed by Paul Czinner and starring Elisabeth Bergner, Walter Rilla, and Hertha von Walther. It was based on a Spanish play by Tirso de Molina. The adaptation was done by Béla Balázs, who later tried to have his name removed from the credits because he disliked the finished version of the film. The film was shot on location around Seville and Granada in southern Spain.
The Fiddler of Florence is a 1926 German silent comedy film directed by Paul Czinner and starring Elisabeth Bergner, Conrad Veidt, and Nora Gregor. The film was shot at the EFA Studios in Berlin and on location around Lake Lugano in Italy. It premiered at the Gloria-Palast in Berlin. It reunited Bergner and Veidt who had starred together in the successful Husbands or Lovers, also directed by Czinner.
Dreaming Lips is a 1932 French-German drama film directed by Paul Czinner and starring Elisabeth Bergner, Rudolf Forster and Anton Edthofer. The film is based on the play Mélo by Henri Bernstein. As was common at the time, the film was a co-production with a separate French-language version Mélo made.
Dreaming Lips is a 1953 German drama film directed by Josef von Báky and starring Maria Schell, O. W. Fischer and Philip Dorn. It was shot at the Wandsbek Studios and on location around Hamburg. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Emil Hasler and Peter Röhrig. It is a remake of the 1932 film Dreaming Lips by Paul Czinner. Czinner had also remade the film in Britain in 1937.
Husbands or Lovers is a 1924 German silent film directed by Paul Czinner and starring Elisabeth Bergner, Emil Jannings and Conrad Veidt. It was shot at the Staaken and EFA Studios in Berlin. The film's art direction was by Bohumil Hes and Paul Rieth.
