''Bonus on Death'' (German: ''Prämien auf den Tod'') is a 1950 Austrian

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in ''Des Teufels Gener ...

and starring Judith Holzmeister,

Werner Krauss Werner Johannes Krauss (''Krauß'' in German; 23 June 1884 – 20 October 1959) was a German stage and film actor. Krauss dominated the German stage of the early 20th century. However, his participation in the antisemitic propaganda film '' Jud ...

and

Siegfried Breuer Siegfried Breuer (24 June 1906 – 1 February 1954) was an Austrian stage and film actor and occasional film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Vienna, Siegried was the son of Hans Breuer (1868 or 1870–1929), who was an opera sin ...

. One of a handful of Austrian crime films made during the post-war period, it was not particularly successful at the box office.Fritsche p.31 The film's sets were designed by

Isabella Schlichting Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

and

Werner Schlichting Werner Schlichting (1904–1996) was a German art director who worked on over a hundred films during a lengthy career. He worked on a number of Austrian films including '' The Congress Dances'' and '' The Last Ten Days'' (1955).Fritsche p.253 Sel ...

Synopsis

Short of money, a man creates a scam where he takes out

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

policies on fake identities, then pretends they have died in order to collect the payouts.

Cast

* Judith Holzmeister as Evelyn Biaggi *

as Dr. Schmidt *

as Peter Lissen - Versicherungsagent * Felix Steinboeck as Kako, Klavierspieler *

as Gunarson, Operntenor *

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 Matrose * Gisele Wilke as Cleo, Hafenwirtin *

Edith Mill Edith Mill (16 August 1925 – 10 November 2007) was an Austrian stage and film actress. Her real name was ''Edith Rosalia Martha Müll,'' Biography Edith Mill was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1925, the daughter of the innkeeper Georg Müll. Tr ...

as Kellnerin *

Melanie Horeschowsky Melanie Horeschowsky (1901–1983) was an Austrian stage, film and television actress.Giesen p.228 Selected filmography * ''The Prodigal Son'' (1934) * '' Der Kaiser von Kalifornien'' (1936) * '' Another World'' (1937) * '' Clarissa'' (1941) * '' ...

as Tilla, Lissens Quartierfrau *

Hermann Thimig Hermann Thimig (3 October 1890 – 7 July 1982) was an Austrian stage and film actor. He appeared in 102 films between 1916 and 1967. Biography Thimig came from a famous family of actors. His father, Hugo Thimig, was an actor, director and ...

as Muschel, Hafensinspektor *

Karl Günther Karl Günther (25 November 1885 – 27 June 1951) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * '' The Masked Ones'' (1920) * '' The Riddle of the Sphinx'' (1921) * ''The Adventuress of Monte Carlo'' (1921) * '' The Call of Destiny'' (1922) * ...

Hermann Erhardt Hermann Erhardt (January 9, 1903 in Landshut - November 30, 1958 in Vienna) was a German actor who played in more than 50 movies, among them '' Heimkehr'' and '' A Devil of a Woman''. Selected filmography * '' The Monastery's Hunter'' (1935) * ...

* Ilse Trenker *

Gusti Wolf Gusti Wolf (11 April 1912 – 5 May 2007) was an Austrian stage, film, and television actress. Born in Vienna, Wolf was adopted by the painter, Felix Albrecht Harta who became her foster father. Wolf made her stage debut at the Burgtheater in ...

Iván Petrovich Iván Petrovich (; 1 January 1894 – 18 October 1962) was a Serbian film actor and singer. He was the first actor from Yugoslavia to have a successful international movie career. Petrovich mainly worked in German cinema, but also collaborated ...

* Herta Baumann * Eugen Eisenlohr * Liselotte Gerhard * Hans Graff * Martha Hartmann * Friedrich Kutschera * Hans Mraschner *

Mimi Stelzer Mimi or MIMI may refer to: People and fictional characters * Mimi (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Constantin Mimi (1868–1935), Bessarabian politician and winemaker * Mimi (footballer, born 1996), Bissau Guinean footbal ...

Ernst Therwal Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (born ...

References

Bibliography

* Fritsche, Maria. ''Homemade Men in Postwar Austrian Cinema: Nationhood, Genre and Masculinity''. Berghahn Books, 2013.

External links

* 1950 films 1950 crime films Austrian crime films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Curd Jürgens Austrian black-and-white films Films scored by Willy Schmidt-Gentner {{1950s-Austria-film-stub