''Lilli Marlene'' is a 1950

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

aimed for the US market and directed by

Arthur Crabtree Arthur Crabtree (29 October 1900 in Shipley, Yorkshire, England – 15 March 1975 in Worthing, Sussex, England) was a British cinematographer and film director. He directed films with comedians such as Will Hay, the Crazy Gang and Arthur ...

. It was written by Leslie Wood and stars

Lisa Daniely Lisa Daniely (born Mary Elizabeth Bodington; 4 June 1929 – 24 January 2014) was a British film and television actress. Life and career Born in Reading, Berkshire, to an English solicitor father and a French mother, she was educated in Paris ...

, Hugh McDermott, and

Richard Murdoch Richard Bernard Murdoch (6 April 1907 – 9 October 1990) was an English actor and entertainer. After early professional experience in the chorus in musical comedy, Murdoch quickly moved on to increasingly prominent roles in musical comedy and ...

Stanley Baker Sir William Stanley Baker (28 February 192828 June 1976) was a Welsh actor and film producer. Known for his rugged appearance and intense, grounded screen persona, he was one of the top British male film stars of the late 1950s, and later a pro ...

is seen in one of his early support roles.

Plot

A French girl named Lilli Marlene, working in her uncle's café in

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, turns out to be the girl that the popular German wartime song ''

Lili Marleen "Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; ) is a German love song that became popular during World War II throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis powers, Axis and ...

'' had been written for before the war, so both the British and the Germans try to use her for propaganda purposes – especially as it turns out that she can sing as well. The Germans try to snatch her at one point, but don't succeed, and she performs several times for the British troops and also appears in radio broadcasts to the US, arranged by Steve, an American

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

embedded with the British Eighth Army, who eventually becomes her boyfriend. Later, the Germans successfully kidnap her in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and she is taken to Berlin, where she is interrogated and repeatedly told that she had been tortured and brainwashed by the British to think that she was French, when she actually is German. Once the Germans think that she has been transformed into a loyal Nazi, they set her to make broadcasts in English for the Third Reich. Her old British friends, and especially Steve, are very disappointed in her. After the war, she reappears in London during a big reunion for members of the Eighth Army. She manages to convince Steve and a few of her other Eighth Army friends that she never betrayed the British; however, British security agents try to arrest her. Steve and another old friend, Berry, take off with her in their broadcasting van, chased by the security people. They drive to an address in London that she had been given by the German colonel in charge of her broadcasts, in case she ever went to London and was in need of help. When they get there, she finds that the German colonel lives in it. It turns out that he is actually a British intelligence officer who was working undercover in Berlin during the war. He informs them and the security people that Lilli was never a traitor, and that, in all her communications, there were encoded messages to the British intelligence services back in London. Once they know the truth, Steve and Berry take her back to the reunion, where everybody is told that Lilli never was a traitor. She sings the ''Lili Marleen'' song for all of them and afterwards she and Steve kiss.

Main cast

as Lilli Marlene * Hugh McDermott as Steve *

as Flight-Lieutenant Murdoch *

Leslie Dwyer Leslie Gilbert Dwyer (28 August 1906 – 26 December 1986) was an English film and television actor. Career He was born in Catford, the son of the popular music hall comedian Johnny Dwyer, and acted from the age of ten and appeared in his firs ...

as Berry *

Estelle Brody Estelle Brody (15 August 1900 – 3 June 1995) was an American actress who became one of the biggest female stars of British silent film in the latter half of the 1920s. Her career was then derailed by a series of ill-advised decisions and ...

as Estelle *

as Evans * John Blythe as Holt * Cecil Brock as O'Riley *

Russell Hunter Adam Russell Hunter (18 February 1925 – 26 February 2004) was a Scottish television, stage and film actor. He played Lonely in the TV thriller series '' Callan'', starring Edward Woodward, and shop steward Harry in the Yorkshire Television s ...

as Scottie * Marcel Poncin as Lestoque * Judith Warden as Auntie * Michael Ward as Wintertree * Lawrence O'Madden as Col. Wharton *

Stuart Lindsell Reginald Stuart Lindsell (18 July 1892, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire – 9 July 1969, London) was a British actor, often seen in upper-class roles. He was sometimes credited as R. Stuart Lindsell. He also served as an officer in the Middlesex R ...

as Major Phillips * Olaf Olsen as Nazi Officer *

Irene Prador Irene Prador (née Peiser; 16 July 1911, in Vienna – 8 July 1996, in Berlin) was an Austrian-born actress and writer. Biography Prador was born as Irene Peiser, the daughter of Dr. Alfred Peiser and actress Rose Lissmann, and sister of actre ...

as Nurse Schmidt * Aud Johansen as Nurse Melke *

Carl Jaffe Carl Jaffe (21 March 1902 – 12 April 1974) was a German actor. Jaffe trained on the stage in his native Hamburg, Kassel and Wiesbaden before moving to Berlin, where his career began to develop. In 1933 Jaffe changed his stage name to Fran ...

as Propaganda Chief * Philo Hauser as Fratzell *

Richard Marner Richard Marner (born Alexander Pavlovich Molchanoff; ; 27 March 192118 March 2004) was a British actor. He was best known for his role as Colonel Erik von Strohm in the British sitcom Allo 'Allo!''. Early life Born in Petrograd (now St Peter ...

as SS Colonel *

Peter Swanwick Walter Peter Swanwick (29 September 1922 – 14 November 1968) was a British actor best remembered as the "Supervisor" (sometimes called the Controller) in the 1967 TV series, ''The Prisoner''. Swanwick's film career began with bit parts in fi ...

as Chief Interrogator *

Walter Gotell Walter Jack Gotell (born Walter Jacques Goettel; 15 March 1924 – 5 May 1997) was a German-born British actor. He was well known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the Roger Moore era of the James Bond film seriesTom VallancO ...

as Direktor of Propaganda * Arthur Lawrence as Lieber * Rufus Cruikshank as Sgt. Bull * Barbara Cummings as Shirley * Neil Tuson as Producer *

Conrad Phillips Conrad Philip Havord (13 April 1925 – 13 January 2016), known professionally as Conrad Phillips, was an English television and film actor. He is best known for playing William Tell in the adventure series ''The Adventures of William Tell'' (1 ...

as Security Officer * Kenneth Cleveland as Security Officer * Ben Williams as Brownie

Follow-up film

In 1953 Arthur Crabtree made a follow-up film with the same actors playing Marlene and Steve: ''

The Wedding of Lilli Marlene ''The Wedding of Lilli Marlene'' is a 1953 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree and starring Lisa Daniely, Hugh McDermott and Sid James. It was written by John Baines and was a sequel to the 1950 film '' Lilli Marlene'', also direc ...

''.

Reception

The film was a hit at the British box office, being judged by ''Kinematograph Weekly'' as a "notable performer" at British cinemas in 1951. ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "The film steers its way unevenly through a variety of implausible situations, but with the title song persuasively sung by Lisa Daniely and liberal doses of army humour, makes agreeable enough entertainment." In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Winds its way agreeable through a series of rather implausible situations."

References

External links

Lilli Marlene
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* * * {{Arthur Crabtree 1950 films 1950 drama films Films directed by Arthur Crabtree British World War II films British war drama films RKO Pictures films British black-and-white films 1950 war films Films shot at Station Road Studios, Elstree 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Films scored by Stanley Black English-language war films