''Children, Mother, and the General'' (german: Kinder, Mütter und ein General, and also released as ''Sons, Mothers, and a General'') is a 1955 West German

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 ...

directed by

László Benedek László Benedek (; March 5, 1905 – March 11, 1992; sometimes ''Laslo Benedek'') was a Hungarian-born film director and cinematographer, most notable for directing '' The Wild One'' (1953). He gained recognition for his direction of the film v ...

and starring Hilde Krahl,

Therese Giehse Therese Giehse (; 6 March 1898 – 3 March 1975), born Therese Gift, was a German actress. Born in Munich to German-Jewish parents, she first appeared on the stage in 1920. She became a major star on stage, in films, and in political cabaret. In t ...

and

Ewald Balser Ewald Balser (5 October 1898 – 17 April 1978) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1935 and 1975. He was born in Elberfeld, Germany and died in Vienna, Austria. Partial filmography * ''Jana, the Girl from the ...

. The film was not a popular success, possibly because its anti-war perspective clashed with support for German rearmament and membership in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

.Hake .105 The film's sets were designed by the art director

Erich Kettelhut Erich Karl Heinrich Kettelhut (1 November 1893 – 13 March 1979) was a German production designer, art director and set decorator. Kettelhut is considered one of the most important artists in the history of early German cinema, mainly for his s ...

and Johannes Ott. It was shot at the

Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Fir ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and the

Wandsbek Studios The Wandsbek Studios are film production and television studios located in Wandsbek, a district of the German city of Hamburg. The complex was established in 1948 when Real Film, set up the previous year, acquired a site in Wandsbek for constr ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

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 on Lüneburg Heath.

Cast

* Hilde Krahl as Helene Asmussen *

as General *

as Elfriede Bergmann *

Ursula Herking Ursula Herking (28 January 1912 – 17 November 1974) was a German film actress. She appeared in more than 130 films between 1933 and 1972. She was born in Dessau, Germany and died in Munich, West Germany. Selected filmography * ''Susanne ...

as Dr. Behrens, Ärztin *

Alice Treff Alice Martha Treff (4 June 1906 – 8 February 2003) was a German film actress. She appeared in more than 120 films between 1932 and 2001. She was born and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * '' Peter Voss, Thief of Millions'' ...

as Pastorin * Beate Koepnick as Inge * Marianne Sinclair as Näherin * Adi Lödel as Harald Asmussen * Dieter Straub as Leo Bergmann * Holger Hildmann as Sohn der Ärztin * Karl-Michael Kuntz as Edmund, Sohn der Pastorin * Walter Lehfeld as Werner, Sohn der Näherin * Peter Burger as Robert, Inges Bruder *

Bernhard Wicki Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 – 5 January 2000) was an Austrian actor and film director. Life and career Wicki studied in the city of Breslau such topics as art history, history and German literature. In 1938, he transferred to the d ...

as Hauptmann Dornberg *

Claus Biederstaedt Claus Biederstaedt (28 June 1928 – 18 June 2020) was a German actor. He studied in Hamburg and began his career working with Joseph Offenbach. Among the actors for whom he dubbed were Yves Montand, Peter Falk, Marlon Brando, Vittorio Gassma ...

as Verpflegungsgefreiter *

Rudolf Fernau Rudolf Fernau (7 January 1898 – 4 November 1985) was a German film actor. He appeared in 53 films between 1936 and 1982. He was born and died in Munich, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Traitor'' (1936) - Fritz Brockau * '' In the ...

as Stabsarzt *

Hans Christian Blech Hans Christian Blech (20 February 19155 March 1993) was a German film, stage and television character actor who found success in both Germany and Hollywood. He made his English film debut in the 1951 picture ''Decision Before Dawn''. In this a ...

as Feldwebel mit den Orden * Klaus Kinski as Leutnant * Maximilian Schell as Deserteur * Alfred Schieske as Fahrer mit der Flasche

References

Bibliography

* Hake, Sabine. ''German National Cinema''. Routledge, 2013.

External links

* 1955 films 1955 war films 1950s German-language films German war films West German films Films directed by László Benedek Eastern Front of World War II films Films based on German novels German black-and-white films Films produced by Erich Pommer Films shot at Bavaria Studios Films shot at Wandsbek Studios German World War II films 1950s German films {{WWII-film-stub