''Condemned to Sin'' (German: ''Verdammt zur Sünde'') is a 1964 West 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

Alfred Weidenmann Alfred Weidenmann (10 May 1916 – 9 June 2000) was a German film director, screenwriter, and author of children's books. He directed more than 30 films between 1942 and 1984. Selected filmography * ' (1942) * ' (1944) * ''I and You'' (195 ...

and starring

Martin Held Martin Held (1908–1992) was a German television and film actor. Partial filmography * '' Dark Eyes'' (1951) - Alexander Grabner * ''Homesick for You'' (1952) - Direktor Petermann * '' Canaris Master Spy'' (1954) - Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich ...

Hildegard Knef Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (; 28 December 19251 February 2002) was a German actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English-language films as Hildegard Neff or Hildegarde Neff. Early years Hildegard Knef was born in Ulm in 19 ...

and

Heidelinde Weis Heidelinde Weis (17 September 1940 – 24 November 2023) was an Austrian actress. Weis died on 24 November 2023, at the age of 83.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 ...

Hertha Hareiter Hertha Hareiter (1923 - 2015) was an Austrian art director.Bolam & Bolam p.158 She designed the sets for a number of films in the postwar years. She was married to the fellow set designer Otto Pischinger and often collaborated with him. Selected ...

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 ...

took place in Austria at Rapottenstein Castle and around the city of

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...

Plot

Germany at the time of the economic miracle. Hugo Starosta, expelled from the part of eastern Germany annexed by Poland after the Second World War, is one of the few who failed to get their lives back on track during the years of reconstruction. Almost twenty years after the end of the war, he and his extended family still live in a fortress-like castle that is run by the state as a reception and refugee camp and has increasingly become a social housing project. The accommodation — a one-room emergency quarters for eight people from three generations — is run-down, poor and filthy, Starosta herself is work-shy and blabbering, imperious and sometimes choleric. His children know nothing but this misery and threaten to neglect themselves. One of his offspring becomes a father at the age of 15, another, actually a factory worker, secretly works as a prostitute. Aggression, outbreaks of violence and unrestrained lifestyles are the order of the day. While other camp residents strive to leave these degrading living conditions behind as quickly as possible, old Starosta has long since come to terms with these circumstances and even feels comfortable with it. He likes to mess with the authorities and eventually gets him and his clan allowed to stay while the other residents gradually evacuate the fortress. Starosta defends his miserable "paradise" with all consistency, he drives young intruders out of the little room — throwing things and giving out kicks. More and more, Hugo Starosta has become the patriarch of a family that has settled comfortably in the suspended precariat. Starosta proves to be a sullen bon vivant who only seems to take the initiative to escape from the prevailing conditions; for example, if he founds a kind of "transport company". However, his main day-to-day activity remains lounging around, making grand speeches and getting on the nerves of others. The other Starostas and their personal environment also seem to spring from a panopticon of bizarre types; there is, for example, the elderly grandmother who simply does not want to die and complains about the coffin that she has already chosen and which she considers inferior. One of the Starosta sons, the shy Albert, has huge ears that determine all his thoughts and actions. Starosta's sister's boyfriend lives out his image as a chavish woman-pleaser, while the salesman, a gentle, modest man, represents the absolute antithesis to him. The two oldest Starosta sons have fled the fortress. Their names are Adolf and Hermann and they shed light on Hugo Starosta's political views up until 1945. Neighbor Alwine, as she says, "experienced certain things while fleeing" and hasn't really been interested in sex since then. Starosta's wife was also raped by Red Army soldiers, according to Hugo, but, according to Starosta, "it didn't bother her that much".

Cast

as Hugo Starosta *

as Alwine *

Heidelinde Weis Heidelinde Weis (17 September 1940 – 24 November 2023) was an Austrian actress. Weis died on 24 November 2023, at the age of 83.Tilla Durieux Tilla Durieux (born Ottilie Godeffroy; 18 August 1880 – 21 February 1971) was an Austrian theatre and film actress of the 20th century. Early years Born Ottilie Helene Angela Godeffroy on 18 August 1880 in Vienna, she was the daughter of the ...

as Die Großmutter * Else Knott as Eliese Starosta *

Christa Linder Christa Linder (December 3, 1943) is a German-Austrian former actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Austria 1962 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1962 where she placed Top 15. Selected filmography * '' Condemne ...

as Mi Mo, deren Tochter * Hubert Suschka as Victor, Alwines Mann *

Michael Ande Michael Ande (born 5 October 1944, Bad Wiessee, Germany) is a German actor, best known for his role as Gerd Heymann in the German crime-drama television series '' Der Alte'' which he played between 1977 and 2016. He was a well-known German film ...

as Albert, Starostas Sohn *

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 Die Leiske * René Egiomue as Bruno, das Nesthäkchen * Robert Graf as Der Vertreter * Peter Vogel as Hans *

Gertraud Jesserer Gertraud Jesserer (13 December 1943 – 9 December 2021) was an Austrian film and television actress. Jesserer was the wife of German actor Peter Vogel and the mother of actor-journalist Nikolas Vogel. She died in a house fire in Vienna on 9 De ...

as Dora *

Alexander Braumueller Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

as Johann, Kainraths Sohn *

Joseph Offenbach Joseph Offenbach (born ''Joseph Ziegler''; 28 December 1904 – 15 October 1971) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1942 to 1969. Selected filmography References External links * * 1904 births 1 ...

as Kainrath, Kantinenwirt *

Reinhard Glemnitz Reinhard Glemnitz (born 27 November 1930 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) is a German television actor. Partial filmography * '' 08/15'' (1954) - Unteroffizier Lindenberg * '' Love's Carnival'' (1955) - Leutnant Harald Hofmann * ''Arzt ...

as Anstaltsleiter *

Thomas Danneberg Thomas Danneberg (2 June 1942 – 30 September 2023) was a German actor. He is best known as Charles Emerson in the 1967 Edgar Wallace film ''The Blue Hand'' and for dubbing over the actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terence Hill, Sylvester Stallon ...

as Adolf, Starostas Sohn *

Franz Stoss Franz Stoss (28 May 1909 – 21 June 1995) was an Austrian stage. film and television actor. He also worked as a theatre director. Following the Second World War he worked at the re-opened Vienna Burgtheater.Yates p.236 Selected filmography * ' ...

as Direktor der Jugenderziehungsanstalt

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* 1964 films West German films German drama films 1964 drama films 1960s German-language films Films directed by Alfred Weidenmann Films shot in Austria 1960s German films {{1960s-Germany-film-stub