''Blum Affair'' () is a 1948 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Erich Engel Erich Gustav Otto Engel (14 February 1891 – 10 May 1966) was a German film and theatre director.He is often confused with another German film director called Erich Engels (with an s), who specialised in comedy, and crime films. Biography ...

and starring Hans Christian Blech,

Ernst Waldow Ernst Waldow (22 August 1893 – 5 June 1964) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 160 films during his career. Selected filmography * '' Rübezahl's Wedding'' (1916) * '' Sin of a Beautiful Woman'' (1929) *'' The Green Domino'' (19 ...

and Karin Evans. It is based on a real 1926 case in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

in which a German Jewish industrialist is tried for murder. The film was produced in the future

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and produced by

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PR ...

. It was shot at the

Babelsberg Studios Babelsberg Film Studio () (also known as Studio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world, producing films since 1912. With a total area of about and a studio area of a ...

and

Althoff Studios The Althoff Studios () were film studios located in Potsdam outside the German capital Berlin. The studios were constructed in 1939 by the film producer Gustav Althoff who controlled the independent company Aco-Film. The original building was a f ...

in the Soviet zone. 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 ...

Emil Hasler Emil Hasler (8 November 1901 – 15 January 1986) was a German art director who worked on more than a hundred films during his career. These included a number of Weimar classics such as '' Diary of a Lost Girl, M'' and ''The Blue Angel''.Prawer ...

Cast

* Hans Christian Blech as Karlheinz Gabler *

as Kriminalkommissar Schwerdtfeger *

Paul Bildt Paul Hermann Bildt (19 May 1885 – 13 March 1957) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1910 and 1956. He was born in Berlin and died in Zehlendorf, West Berlin. Selected filmography * '' Devil in Silk'' (19 ...

as Untersuchungsrichter Konrat * Karin Evans as Sabine Blum *

Helmuth Rudolph Helmuth Rudolph (1900–1971) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' So Ended a Great Love'' (1934) * ''The Last Waltz'' (1934) * '' Back in the Country'' (1936) * '' Blum Affair'' (1948) * '' Blocked Signals'' (1948) * '' Love '47'' (1949 ...

as Wilschinsky - Regierungspräsident *

Alfred Schieske Alfred Schieske (6 September 1908 – 14 July 1970) was a German actor. Career Schieske was born in Stuttgart, the son of a German father and a French mother. He studied acting with Willy Reichert made his stage debut at the Staatstheater Stutt ...

as Kriminalkommissar Otto Bonte * Gisela Trowe as Christina Burman * Kurt Ehrhardt as Dr. Jakob Blum *

Gerhard Bienert Gerhard Max Richard Bienert (8 January 1898 – 23 December 1986) was a German stage and film actor. Gerhard Bienert was born in Berlin, Germany and died in the same city in 1986 at age 88. Selected filmography * '' Duke Ferrante's End'' (1922) ...

as Karl Bremer *

Herbert Hübner Herbert Hübner (6 February 1889 – 27 January 1972) was a German stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1921 and 1966. He was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) and died in Munich, West Germany. Select ...

as Landgerichtsdirektor Hecht * Friedrich Maurer as Lawyer Dr. Gerhard Wormser * as Hans Fischer - Gutsvolontär * Arno Paulsen as Wilhelm Platzer * Hilde Adolphi as Alma - das 'süße' Mädchen *

Maly Delschaft Martha Amalia "Maly" Delschaft (4 December 1898 – 20 August 1995) was a German stage and film actress. After beginning in theatre, Delschaft switched to silent films. She appeared in mainly supporting roles during the Weimar and Nazi eras. Afte ...

as Anna Platzer * Hugo Kalthoff as Kriminalassistent Lorenz *

Blandine Ebinger Blandine Ebinger (née Blandine Loeser; born 4 November 1899 – 25 December 1993) was a German actress and ''chansonniere''. Career Ebinger became acquainted with Friedrich Hollaender in 1919, and with him she became heavily invested as a p ...

as Lucie Schmerschneider *

Reinhard Kolldehoff Reinhard Kolldehoff (29 April 1914 – 18 November 1995) was a German film actor. He appeared in 140 films between 1941 and 1988. He was born and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Gasman'' (1941) - Polizeibeamter (uncr ...

as Max Tischbein - Lehrer * Emmy Burg as Therese * Renée Stobrawa as Frieda Bremer * Jean Brahn as Fritz Merkel * Albert Venohr as Waffenhändler *

Gertrud Boll Gertrude or Gertrud may refer to: Places In space *Gertrude (crater), a crater on Uranus's moon Titania * 710 Gertrud, a minor planet Terrestrial placenames *Gertrude, Arkansas * Gertrude, Washington *Gertrude, West Virginia People *Gertrude (g ...

as Dienstmädchen bei Dr. Blum * Otto Matthies as Reporter * Herbert Malsbender as Redakteur *

Werner Peters Werner Peters (7 July 1918 – 30 March 1971) was a German film actor. He appeared in 102 films between 1947 and 1971. Biography Peters was born in Werlitzsch, Kreis Delitzsch, Prussian Saxony, and died of a heart attack on a promotion to ...

as Egon Konrad * Margarete Schön as Sophie Konrad * Eva Bodden as Sekretärin bei Wilschninsky *

Arthur Schröder Arthur Schröder (20 February 1892 – 4 February 1986) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' The Queen's Love Letter'' (1916) * '' Cain'' (1918) * ''Mania Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a Psychiatry, psychiatric Abnormality ...

as Landtagsabgeordneter von Hinkeldey * Richard Drosten as Zahnarzt * Lili Schoenborn-Anspach as Patientin * Margarete Salbach as Ruth Tischbein

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

, critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', praised it as "a trenchant dramatic exposition of the way in which an innocent German Jew is almost destroyed by nascent Nazis—back in 1926." The film sold more than 4,330,000 tickets, making it one of DEFA's all-time most successful productions.List of the 50 highest-grossing DEFA films.
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References

External links

* 1948 films 1948 drama films German drama films East German films 1940s German-language films German black-and-white films German courtroom films Drama films based on actual events Films directed by Erich Engel Films set in the 1920s Films about Jews and Judaism Films about antisemitism 1940s German films Films shot at Althoff Studios Films shot at Babelsberg Studios Films scored by Herbert Trantow {{1940s-Germany-film-stub