Paula Anna Maria Wessely was an Austrian theatre and film actress. Die Wessely, as she was affectionately called by her admirers and fans, was Austria's foremost popular postwar actress.
Attila Hörbiger was an Austrian stage and movie actor.
Zarah Leander was a Swedish singer and actress whose greatest success was in Germany between 1936 and 1943, when she was contracted to work for the state-owned Universum Film AG (UFA). Although no exact record sales numbers exist, she was probably among Europe's best-selling recording artists in the years prior to 1945. Her involvement with UFA caused her films and lyrics to be identified as Nazi propaganda. Though she had taken no public political position and was dubbed an "Enemy of Germany" by Joseph Goebbels, she remained a controversial figure for the rest of her life. As a singer Leander was known for her confident ways and her dark, veiled voice.
The Great Love is a 1942 German drama film directed by Rolf Hansen and starring Zarah Leander, Viktor Staal and Grethe Weiser. It premiered in Berlin in 1942 and went on to become the most commercially successful film in the history of the Third Reich.
Heimkehr is a 1941 Nazi German anti-Polish propaganda film directed by Gustav Ucicky.
Bruno Balz was a German songwriter and schlager writer.
Karl Hermann Martell was a German actor.
Women Are Better Diplomats is a 1941 German musical comedy film directed by Georg Jacoby and starring Marika Rökk, Willy Fritsch and Aribert Wäscher. It was based on a novel by Hans Flemming. The film was the first German feature film to be made in colour, and was one of the most expensive films produced during the Third Reich. The film met with a positive public response and was among the most popular German films of the early war years.
Heimat is a 1938 German historical drama film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Zarah Leander, Heinrich George and Ruth Hellberg. The film's melodramatic storyline portrays the return of a leading singer to her hometown, where her father wishes her to settle down and marry. It is based on the 1893 play Heimat by Hermann Sudermann.
To New Shores is a 1937 German drama film directed by Detlef Sierck and starring Zarah Leander, Willy Birgel and Viktor Staal. It was Leander's first film for the German studio UFA, and its success brought her into the front rank of the company's stars. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studio in Berlin.
Her Grace Commands is a 1931 German romantic comedy film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Käthe von Nagy, Willy Fritsch and Reinhold Schünzel. It is also translated into the alternative title Her Highness Commands. A hairdresser and a greengrocer fall in love, concealing from each other the truth that they are really a princess and an army officer in disguise. It premiered in Mannheim on 3 March 1931, before being released at the Gloria-Palast in Berlin the next day. A French-language version was produced simultaneously, also directed by Schwarz but with a different cast. The film was remade in Hollywood as well, retitled Adorable, and released by the Fox Film Corporation in 1933.
Let's Live Tonight is a 1935 American musical comedy film directed by Victor Schertzinger and starring Lilian Harvey, Tullio Carminati and Janet Beecher. The film was made as part of an unsuccessful attempt to establish Harvey, who was a top box office draw in Germany, as a major star in Hollywood. Harvey was under contract to Fox Film, but was loaned out to Columbia Pictures for the production. After making it, Harvey returned to Europe, first to Britain to appear in Invitation to the Waltz and then to Germany, where she starred in Black Roses, which relaunched her German career.
Her Dark Secret is a 1929 German silent comedy film directed by Johannes Guter and starring Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, and Harry Halm. The film reunited Harvey and Fritsch who had previously appeared together in Chaste Susanne (1926), although this time their characters become a couple at the end of the film. This provided a template for a number of popular films over the following decade such as The Three from the Filling Station.
Capriccio is a 1938 German historical comedy film directed by Karl Ritter and starring Lilian Harvey, Viktor Staal and Paul Kemp. The film is set in 18th century France, where a young woman enjoys a series of romantic adventures. The director, Ritter, was attempting to recreate the style of a René Clair comedy. The film's content was criticised by both Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler. Harvey made only one further film in Germany before leaving for France.
The Four Companions is a 1938 German drama film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Ingrid Bergman, Sabine Peters and Carsta Löck. Jochen Huth adapted the script from his own play. The film was intended as a star vehicle to launch Bergman's career in Germany.
Cuba Cabana is a 1952 West German drama film directed by Fritz Peter Buch and starring Zarah Leander, O.W. Fischer and Paul Hartmann. It was the second film of an early 1950s comeback for Leander, who had been a major star during the Nazi era. The film was based on a story by Tibor Yost.
The Blue Fox is a 1938 German comedy film directed by Viktor Tourjansky and starring Zarah Leander, Willy Birgel and Paul Hörbiger. It was based on a play by the Hungarian writer Ferenc Herczeg. It includes the song Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein.
The Blue Moth is a 1959 West German drama film directed by Wolfgang Schleif and starring Zarah Leander, Christian Wolff and Paul Hartmann. Leander, who had been a major star during the Nazi era, made a comeback in the 1950s. By 1959, in her penultimate film, she was playing a more mature role than the traditional divas in her earlier films.
Black Roses is a 1935 German historical drama film directed by Paul Martin and starring Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch and Willy Birgel. A separate English-language version Black Roses was also made with Harvey reprising her role opposite Esmond Knight. She also starred in a French version. The film was Harvey's comeback in German cinema, following her attempt to at Hollywood and then British films. One source suggested that Harvey paid for the English version of the film to be made out of her own money, as she still hoped to break into the English-speaking market.
Back Then is a 1943 German drama film directed by Rolf Hansen and starring Zarah Leander, Hans Stüwe, and Rossano Brazzi. The film's sets were designed by Walter Haag.
