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.
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 .
Waltz of Love is a 1930 German musical film directed by Wilhelm Thiele and starring Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch and Georg Alexander. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin with sets designed by the art director Erich Kettelhut. It premiered at the Gloria-Palast in Berlin on 7 February 1930. A separate English language version The Love Waltz was also produced.
Circus Renz is a 1943 German drama film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring René Deltgen, Paul Klinger and Angelika Hauff. It is a circus film, made as a deliberately escapist release at a time when the Second World War was starting to turn against Germany and its allies. The film takes its title from the real Circus Renz and is loosely based on the career of its founder Ernst Renz. It premiered at Berlin's UFA-Palast am Zoo in September 1943. It was a major commercial success.
Mother and Child is a 1934 German drama film directed by Hans Steinhoff and starring Henny Porten, Peter Voß, and Elisabeth Wendt. It is a sound remake of the 1924 silent film Mother and Child which had been a major hit for Porten. Franz Schroedter worked as art director on the film.
And the Heavens Above Us is a 1947 German drama film directed by Josef von Báky and starring Hans Albers, Paul Edwin Roth and Lotte Koch. It was part of the post-war series of rubble films.
Catherine the Last is a 1936 Austrian romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Franciska Gaal, Hans Holt and Hans Olden. It was made by the Austrian subsidiary of Universal Pictures. The film's sets were designed by the art director Erwin Scharf. After making the film Koster moved to Hollywood. In 1938 the film was remade in America as The Girl Downstairs with Gaal reprising her role.
Victoria in Dover is a 1936 German romantic comedy film directed by Erich Engel and starring Jenny Jugo, Olga Limburg and Renée Stobrawa. It is based on a play by Geza Silberer. The film was remade in 1954 with Romy Schneider.
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 who had been able to come out of hiding after several years. After around ten days of filming, the production was abandoned. Gaal emigrated to America the following year and 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.
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.
Hallig Hooge is a 1923 German silent film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Dora Bergner, Evi Eva and Willy Fritsch.
The Pride of the Company is a 1926 German silent comedy film directed by Georg Jacoby and starring Reinhold Schünzel, Georg H. Schnell and Camilla Spira.
Three Days of Fear is a 1952 West German comedy crime film directed by Erich Waschneck and starring Rudolf Platte, Camilla Spira and Cornelia Froboess. It was shot at the Göttingen Studios. The film's sets were designed by Hans Jürgen Kiebach and Gabriel Pellon.
Dangerous Crossing or Rail Triangle is a 1937 German crime film directed by Robert A. Stemmle and starring Gustav Fröhlich, Heli Finkenzeller, and Paul Hoffmann. It is set amongst railway workers and takes its name from Gleisdreieck on the Berlin U-Bahn.
Love is a 1956 West German-Italian drama film directed by Horst Hächler and starring Maria Schell, Raf Vallone and Eva Kotthaus. It is an adaptation of the 1951 novel Vor Rehen wird gewarnt by Vicki Baum.
The Csardas King is a 1958 West German musical film directed by Harald Philipp and starring Gerhard Riedmann, Rudolf Schock and Elma Karlowa. It is a biopic of the life of the Hungarian operetta composer Emmerich Kalman.
