To New Shores

Last updated

To New Shores
Directed by Detlef Sierck
Written by
Produced by Bruno Duday
Starring
Cinematography Franz Weihmayr
Edited by Milo Harbich
Music by Ralph Benatzky
Production
company
UFA
Distributed byUFA
Release date
  • 31 August 1937 (1937-08-31)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryGermany
Language German

To New Shores (German : Zu neuen Ufern) is a 1937 German drama film directed by Detlef Sierck (later known as Douglas Sirk) 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. [1] It was shot at the Babelsberg Studio in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Fritz Maurischat.

Contents

Synopsis

London, 1846. Gloria Vane, is a cabaret singer and the lover of Sir Albert Finsbury, a selfish aristocrat set to join the royal cavalry in Australia, as an officer. The night before Albert leaves England, he begs a friend for money to repay debts. The angry friend gives Albert only £15, instead of the £615 Albert needs, so Albert forges the number 6 before the 15 on the check. When his forgery is discovered, Albert has already left. Gloria confesses to the crime out of love for Albert and to protect his promising career as an officer.

Gloria is tried, found guilty, and sentenced to be transported to Australia to serve seven years in the Parramatta prison in Sydney. In prison, Gloria dreams only of being reunited with Albert, and writes him a letter, begging him to rescue her. Albert is already engaged, however, to Mary Jones, the daughter of his commanding officer, the Governor of New South Wales. Albert is also having an affair with Fanny, the wife of a local doctor, Dr. Hoyer.

Albert tears up Gloria's letter, afraid she will endanger his career. Albert goes to the prison, but cannot bring himself to visit Gloria, though he learns from the prison wardress that he could save Gloria. The wardress tells Albert that, due to the shortage of women in the colony, any female prisoner can be released, if she finds a man to marry her.

Meanwhile, Henry Hoyer, a local farmer and horse breeder, sees Gloria leaving the prison chapel and falls instantly in love. Henry is Dr. Hoyer’s nephew and recently sold Albert a horse, but knows nothing of Albert's connection to Gloria. Gloria eventually allows herself to be paraded with the marriageable female prisoners before the male suitors. Henry attends the event and tells the wardress he will marry Gloria. Gloria half-heartedly agrees, to get out of prison. However, as Gloria and Henry ride back to his farm, she admits she loves Albert and cannot marry Henry. She intended to abandon Henry with no explanation, but tells him he’s so kind she cannot bear to leave without telling him the truth. Gloria jumps from his wagon and runs back to the city, leaving Henry brokenhearted.

Gloria learns Albert is at a ball celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday, at the Governor's mansion. She races there, but as she waits for him outside, she hears the announcement of his engagement to Mary and leaves, despondent. Meanwhile, out on his farm, Henry also learns of Albert's engagement to Mary and realizes Gloria will be left all alone. Still in love with Gloria, Henry races back to Sydney to rescue her.

Albert finds Gloria working at a dingy music hall. He watches her perform a gloomy song about her broken heart, then talks to her backstage. Gloria is a broken woman. She turns down Albert's offer to stay with her, telling him she no longer loves him - he left her in prison too long, it is too late. Gloria reveals she was convicted of the check fraud he committed. Overwhelmed with guilt, Albert commits suicide that night, on the eve of his wedding to Mary.

The next day, Gloria gets fired from the music hall for singing such a depressing song. With nothing left in her life, she returns to the prison and asks to be readmitted. Henry and Dr. Hoyer discover Albert's corpse and word is sent to the Governor's mansion that the wedding ceremony must be cancelled. Dr. Hoyer returns home and tells Fanny that Albert is dead. Fanny assumes her husband killed Albert, since he knew about their affair all along. Fanny hurries to arrange their escape, but Dr. Hoyer explains he did not kill Albert. Fanny's urge to protect Dr. Hoyer convinces him that she truly loves him, and he forgives her for her affair.

Henry goes to the music hall and learns Gloria has returned to prison. Henry finds Gloria in the prison chapel, where he first fell in love with her. Henry tells Gloria he still loves her and asks her to be his wife. They are married alongside Gloria's best friend from prison, who they discover is simultaneously marrying an employee of Henry's.

Main cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Little Dorrit</i> Novel by Charles Dickens

Little Dorrit is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Clennam encounters her after returning home from a 20-year absence, ready to begin his life anew.

<i>Mr. Skeffington</i> 1944 film by Vincent Sherman

Mr. Skeffington is a 1944 American drama film directed by Vincent Sherman, based on the 1940 novel of the same name by Elizabeth von Arnim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tad Martin</span> Soap opera character

Tad Martin is a fictional character from the American daytime drama, All My Children. Tad was played by three actors, according to the age of the character: Matthew Anton, John E. Dunn, and Michael E. Knight. Knight has portrayed the role on and off from 1982 until the series finale in 2011. Tad represents the good on the show, often butting heads with "villains" like Adam Chandler. He is perhaps the best male friend to Erica Kane. His relationship with Dixie Cooney made them a favorite of fans, reaching supercouple status. Under secrecy, Knight returned for the first-season finale of Prospect Park's version of All My Children on September 2, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zarah Leander</span> Swedish actress and singer (1907–1981)

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 style and her dark, veiled voice.

<i>The Small Bachelor</i> 1927 novel by P.G. Wodehouse

The Small Bachelor is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 28 April 1927 by Methuen & Co., London, and in the United States on 17 June 1927 by George H. Doran, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mady Rahl</span> German actress

Mady Rahl was a German stage and film actress. Born Edith Gertrud Meta Raschke in Neukölln, now part of Berlin, Rahl trained as an actress and dancer. In 1935 she made her stage debut in Leipzig under the direction of Douglas Sirk and started her film career in 1936 with the movie The Mysterious Mister X. With her role in the circus drama Truxa (1937), Rahl became known to a wider audience. After the war, she sang with her friend Elfreide Datzig for the USO. She ultimately appeared in approximately 90 movies, several of them for UFA. In later years, she appeared frequently on television, while also pursuing her career in the theatre. She was also the German voice of many cartoon characters and of Lucille Ball.

<i>Mansfield Park</i> (1999 film) 1999 period film directed by Patricia Rozema

Mansfield Park is a 1999 British romantic comedy-drama film based on Jane Austen's 1814 novel of the same name, written and directed by Patricia Rozema. The film departs from the original novel in several respects. For example, the life of Jane Austen is incorporated into the film, as are the issues of slavery and West Indian plantations. The majority of the film was filmed on location at Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire.

<i>The Great Love</i> (1942 film) 1942 German film

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willy Birgel</span> German actor (1891–1973)

Willy Birgel, born Wilhelm Maria Birgel, was a German theatre and film actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny Price</span> Fictional character

Frances "Fanny" Price is the heroine in Jane Austen's 1814 novel, Mansfield Park. The novel begins when Fanny's overburdened, impoverished family--where she is both the second-born and the eldest daughter out of 10 children--sends her at the age of ten to live in the household of her wealthy uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, and his family at Mansfield Park. The novel follows her growth and development, concluding in early adulthood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Bertram</span> Fictional character

Edmund Bertram is a lead character in Jane Austen's 1814 novel Mansfield Park. He is Sir Thomas's second son and plans to be ordained as a clergyman. He falls in love with Mary Crawford who constantly challenges his vocation. Edmund goes ahead with ordination. At the end of the novel he marries Fanny Price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Crawford (Mansfield Park)</span> Fictional character

Mary Crawford is a major character in Jane Austen's 1814 novel, Mansfield Park. Mary is depicted as attractive, caring and charismatic. The reader is gradually shown, often through the eyes of Fanny Price, a hidden, darker side to Mary's personality. Her wit disguises her superficiality and her charisma disguises her self-centredness. Edmund Bertram, an earnest young man and destined for the clergy falls deeply in love with her. Only at the end of the novel does reality overcome his romantic fantasies and he leaves her with deep regret.

Das Herz der Königin is a 1940 German historical film, making selective use of the life story of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her execution by Queen Elizabeth I for anti-English and pro-Scottish propaganda, in the context of the Second World War going on at the time.

<i>Schlußakkord</i> 1936 German film

Schlußakkord is a German film melodrama of the Nazi period, the first melodrama directed by Detlef Sierck, who later had a career in Hollywood as Douglas Sirk and specialised in melodramas. It was made under contract for Universum Film AG (UFA), stars Lil Dagover and Willy Birgel and also features Maria von Tasnady, and premièred in 1936. It shows stylistic features later developed by Sierck/Sirk and makes symbolic and thematic use of music.

<i>Gabriela</i> (1950 film) 1950 film

Gabriela is a 1950 West German musical drama film directed by Géza von Cziffra and starring Zarah Leander, Carl Raddatz, and Vera Molnar. It was Leander's comeback film after a seven-year absence from filmmaking. In 1943 when the Nazi leadership had demanded she take German citizenship, she had broken her contract with UFA and returned to her native Sweden. In the immediate post-war era she was banned from appearing in German films because of her previous association with the Nazi hierarchy. When the law was lifted in 1949, she was able to make films once more.

<i>Premiere</i> (1937 film) 1937 film

Premiere is a 1937 Austrian musical crime film directed by Géza von Bolváry and starring Zarah Leander, Attila Hörbiger, and Karl Martell. The wealthy backer of a Viennese musical revue is murdered on the first night of the show. It was Leander's first German language role after previously appearing in Swedish films. On the basis of her performance in the film, Leander was signed by the German Major studio UFA after their major rival, Tobis, had decided she had insufficient star appeal. Her next film To New Shores established Leander as the leading star in Germany.

<i>Reunion</i> (1936 film) 1936 film

Reunion is a 1936 film produced by 20th Century Fox and directed by Norman Taurog.

<i>Arrah-na-Pogue</i> (film) 1911 American film

Arrah-na-Pogue is a 1911 American silent film produced by Kalem. It is based on the 1864 play of the same name by Dion Boucicault. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier, Jack J. Clark, JP McGowan and Robert Vignola. Gene Gauntier adapted a play written by Dion Boucicault, Arrah-na-Pogue, an Irish phrase that can be translated as "Arrah of the Kiss".

<i>The Florodora Girl</i> 1930 film

The Florodora Girl is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed by Harry Beaumont and written by Ralph Spence, Al Boasberg and Robert E. Hopkins. The film stars Marion Davies, Lawrence Gray, Walter Catlett, and Ilka Chase. The film was released on May 31, 1930, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>Fanny Elssler</i> (1937 film) 1937 film

Fanny Elssler is a 1937 German historical drama film directed by Paul Martin and starring Lilian Harvey, Rolf Moebius, and Willy Birgel. It was loosely based on the life of the dancer Fanny Elssler. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios with location filming in Vienna. The film's sets were designed by the art director Erich Kettelhut.

References

  1. Ascheid p. 177

Bibliography