''The Flute Concert of Sanssouci'' (german: Das Flötenkonzert von Sans-souci) is a 1930 German

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Gustav Ucicky Gustav Ucicky (6 July 1899 – 27 April 1961) was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He was one of the more successful directors in Austria and Germany from the 1930s through to the early 1960s. His work covered a wid ...

and starring Otto Gebühr. It was part of the popular cycle of

Prussian film Prussian films were a cycle of historical films made in Germany during the Weimar (1918–1933) and Nazi (1933–1945) eras noted for their general glorification of Prussian history and its military. The films are set during the eighteenth and ni ...

s.Hoffmann p. 44 It was made at the

Babelsberg Studios Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director Robert Herlth and

Walter Röhrig Walter Röhrig (13 April 1897 – 1945) was a German art director.Stephens p.163 Selected filmography * '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920) * ''Masks'' (1920) * ''Parisian Women'' (1921) * '' Island of the Dead'' (1921) * ''Miss Julie'' (192 ...

Location filming In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

took place around the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

area including at the Sanssouci Palace in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

Plot

In 1756, a masked ball was officially celebrated in the Dresden Palais of the Saxon Minister Heinrich von Brühl. Unofficially, however, talks are taking place with the envoys of Austria, Russia and France with the aim of conspiring against the Prussian King Frederick II. The Prussian envoy, Major von Lindeneck, noticed this incident and succeeded in bringing a copy of the concluded secret treaty to the Prussian king. Friedrich consults with his generals, who urge caution. Friedrich is stunned by the reaction and now develops a counter-plan. To do this, he sends von Lindeneck back to Dresden. However, the latter is not very enthusiastic about this, as he thinks he has reason to doubt his wife Blanche's marital fidelity, and he now has to leave her alone. But loyalty to the king is more important to him and he carries out all the orders of the Prussian king. When the envoys of Austria, Russia and France ask for an audience with Friedrich, he gives a flute concerto to gain time. (This event is based on a famous picture by Adolph von Menzel.) In the course of this concert he receives a telegram from Vienna which completely uncovers the plot. He ends the concert and has the envoy hand over the declaration of war. He goes outside and announces that he has just given marching orders for the regiments. The Seven Years' War begins.

Cast

* Otto Gebühr as Friedrich II * Renate Müller as Blanche von Lindeneck * Hans Rehmann as Major von Lindeneck *

Walter Janssen Walter Janssen (7 February 1887 – 1 January 1976) was a German film actor and director. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1917 and 1970. Selected filmography * '' The Dancer'' (1919) * ''Destiny'' (1921) * ''Wandering Souls'' (1 ...

as Maltzahn *

Raoul Aslan Raoul Aslan ( hy, Ռաուլ Ասլան, born Tigran Aslanyan, Armenian: Տիգրան Ասլանյան; 16 October 1886 – 17 June 1958) was an Austrian theater actor of Greek-Armenian ancestry. Life Born in Saloniki, Ottoman Empire (now in ...

as Heinrich von Brühl * Friedrich Kayßler as Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein * Carl Goetz as

Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf (1708 – 12 January 1758) was the longest-standing valet and companion of Frederick II of Prussia. The two young men met when the future Frederick II was still in prison for having attempted to run off with his ...

* Aribert Wäscher as Poellnitz *

Margarete Schön Margarete Schön (born Margarethe Schippang; 7 April 1895 – 26 December 1985) was a German stage and film actress whose career spanned nearly fifty years. She is internationally recognized for her role as Kriemhild in director Fritz Lang's '' Di ...

as Princess Amalie *

Theodor Loos Theodor August Konrad Loos (18 May 1883 – 27 June 1954) was a German actor. The son of a watchmaker and instruments manufacturer, he left secondary school prematurely and worked for three years at an export firm for music instruments in L ...

as Menzel * Hans Brausewetter as Correspondent *

Paul Biensfeldt Paul Biensfeldt (4 March 1869 – 2 April 1933) was a German-JewishSiegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), p. 213 stage and film actor. Selected filmog ...

Johann Joachim Quantz Johann Joachim Quantz (; 30 January 1697 – 12 July 1773) was a German composer, flutist and flute maker of the late Baroque period. Much of his professional career was spent in the court of Frederick the Great. Quantz composed hundreds of flute ...

Vladimir Sokoloff Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соколо́в; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian-American character actor of stage and screen. After studying theatre in Moscow, ...

as Russian Envoy *

Friedrich Kühne Friedrich Kühne (24 April 1870 – 13 October 1959), born Franz Michna, was a German film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1913 and 1957. Selected filmography * ''The Iron Cross'' (1914) * '' Detektiv Br ...

as Schwerin * Alfred Beierle as Wolf Frederick von Retzow * Georg John as Ziethen *

Theo Lingen Theo Lingen (; 10 June 1903 – 10 November 1978), born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960. Life and c ...

as Kent

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flute Concert Of Sanssouci 1930 films 1930 drama films 1930s historical drama films 1930s German-language films Films of the Weimar Republic German historical drama films German black-and-white films Films directed by Gustav Ucicky Films set in 1756 Films set in the Kingdom of Prussia Biographical films about German royalty Cultural depictions of Frederick the Great Prussian films Seven Years' War films UFA GmbH films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios 1930s German films