''Adorable Arabella'' (German: ''Bezaubernde Arabella'') is a 1959 West German

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Axel von Ambesser Axel Eugen Alexander von Oesterreich (22 June 1910 – 16 September 1988), better known as Axel von Ambesser, was a German playwright, actor and film director. Ambesser's father was Alexander Constantin von Oesterreich. Ambesser was born in Hambu ...

and starring

Johanna von Koczian Johanna von Koczian (, née von Kóczián-Miskolczy, 30 October 1933 – 10 February 2024) was a German actress. She grew up in Salzburg where Gustaf Gründgens offered her a role at the 1951 Salzburg Festival, and she played at several German ...

, Carlos Thompson and

Hilde Hildebrand Emma Minna Hilde Hildebrand (10 September 1897 – 12 May 1976) was a German actress born in Hanover, Germany on 10 September 1897. She died at the age of 78 in Grunewald, Berlin, on 27 May 1976. Selected filmography * ''Die Scheidungsehe'' ...

. It is an adaptation of the 1949 novel ''

Arabella ''Arabella'', Op. 79, is a lyric comedy, or opera, in three acts by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, their sixth and last operatic collaboration. Performance history It was first performed on 1 July 1933 at the D ...

'' by

Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ail ...

.Goble p.221 The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

s Gottfried Will and

Rolf Zehetbauer Rolf Zehetbauer (13 February 1929 – 23 January 2022) was a German production designer, art director and set decorator. Zehetbauer won an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''Cabaret''. He died on 23 January 2022, at ...

. It was shot using

Agfacolor Agfa-Farbenplatte of Bad Kreuznach, Germany, 1933. An Agfacolor slide of a café in Oslo, Norway, 1937. An Agfacolor slide of Paris, France, 1937. An Agfacolor slide of Stockholm, Sweden, 1938. An Agfacolor slide, Hungary, 1938. An Agf ...

, with

location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

taking place around

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. It premiered just before Christmas 1959 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. The film was part of the production programme of the recently relaunched UFA company.

Synopsis

The story is set in the early years of the 20th century. A young German woman whose father has recently died is sent to visit her relatives in

Edwardian England In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

in the hope of attracting a wealthy husband.

Cast

as Arabella * Carlos Thompson as Robert Beaumaris *

as Lady Bridlington *

as Lord Fleetwood *

Peer Schmidt Peer Eugen Georg Schmidt (11 March 1926; Erfurt, Weimar Germany – 8 May 2010; Berlin) was a German actor who specialized in film actor, films, television and dubbing. He is best known as the German voice of Gérard Philipe, Marlon Brando and Jean ...

as Gordon Blair * Hans Nielsen as Vater Hagemann *

Josef Meinrad Josef Meinrad (; 21 April 1913 – 18 February 1996) was an Austrian actor. From 1959 until his death in 1996, Meinrad held the Republic of Austria's Iffland-Ring, which passes from actor to actor — each bequeathing the ring to the next holder, j ...

as Sir Archibald Duncan *

Fritz Eckhardt Fritz Eckhardt (born Linz, 30 November 1907; died Klosterneuburg, 31 December 1995) was an Austrian actor, director, and writer. He is remembered for playing the lead role as ''chief inspector Marek'' in the Österreichischer Rundfunk version ...

as Hill, Bierbrauer *

Gregor von Rezzori Gregor von Rezzori (; 13 May 1914 – 23 April 1998), born Gregor Arnulph Herbert Hilarius von Rezzori d'Arezzo, was an Austrian-born, Romanian, Bukovina-German German-language novelist, memoirist, screenwriter, and author of radio plays, as well ...

as Sir Roderick Crawford *

Käthe Haack Käthe Haack (born Käte Lisbeth Minna Sophie Isolde Haack; 11 August 1897 – 5 May 1986) was a German stage and film actress. She appeared in more than 200 films and 30 television productions between 1915 and 1985. Life and career Käte Li ...

as Mutter Reger *

Christian Doermer Christian Doermer (5 July 1935 – 14 July 2022) was a German actor and director. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows from 1954 to 2022. He starred in the 1966 film '' No Shooting Time for Foxes''. The film was entered int ...

as Helmut Hagemann * Karin Himboldt as Harriet * Ulla Moritz as Charlotte * Michaela Heine as Elschen * Alexander von Richthofen as Karl-Heinz *

Franz-Otto Krüger Franz-Otto Krüger (1 April 1917 – 17 March 1988) was a German film and television actor. Krüger already started his acting at Berlin theatres in 1934, but his career was interrupted by his service in the Second World War. He appeared in over ...

as Herr Schnering *

Emmy Burg Emmy Burg (1903–1982) was a German film and television actress.Rentschler p.326 Selected filmography * ''The Beaver Coat'' (1949) * ''Homesick for You ''Homesick for You'' () is a 1952 West German musical film directed by Robert A. Stemmle a ...

as Frau Schnering * Reinhold Pasch as Bill, Verwalter

References

Bibliography

* Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. ''The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009. * Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* 1959 films West German films German historical comedy films 1950s historical comedy films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Axel von Ambesser Films based on British novels Films set in London Films set in the 1900s UFA GmbH films 1950s German films Films scored by Hans-Martin Majewski {{1950s-Germany-film-stub