''Der Postmeister'' (English: ''The Postmaster'' or ''The Stationmaster'') is a 1940 Austrian-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

Gustav Ucicky Gustav Ucicky (6 July 1899 – 27 April 1961) was an Austrians, Austrian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He was one of the more successful directors in Austria and Germany from the 1930s through to the early 1960s. His work cov ...

. Very loosely based on ''The Station Master'', an 1831

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

from ''

The Belkin Tales ''The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkin'' (, 1831) is a series of five novelettes and a fictional editorial introduction by Russian author Aleksandr Pushkin. The five novelettes, while very different, are united by the image of their ficti ...

'' series by

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

, it was remade in 1955 as '' Dunja''. An earlier adaptation was the French film ''

Nostalgie Nostalgie is a popular French radio station broadcasting on FM, mostly playing pre-2000s songs with 76% of them coming from the 1980s. Nostalgie is part of the NRJ Group. History Radio Nostalgie, now simply Nostalgie, was created on 16 Septemb ...

'' (1938) with

Harry Baur Harry Baur (12 April 1880 – 8 April 1943) was a French actor, famous for his titular role in ''Beethoven's Great Love'' and as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (1934 film), the 1934 version of ''Les Misérables''. Life Initially a stage actor ...

, directed by

Victor Tourjansky Victor Tourjansky ( 4 March 1891 – 13 August 1976), born Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Turzhansky (), was a Russian actor, screenwriter and film director who emigrated after the Russian Revolution (1917), Russian Revolution of 1917. He worked in F ...

. The film's sets were designed by

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 ...

Kurt Herlth Kurt Herlth (1896–1966) was a German art director known for his designs of film sets. His brother Robert Herlth was also an art director active in the German film industry, and the two men worked together a number of times.Bock & Bergfelder p.1 ...

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 ...

. It was produced in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

during its occupation by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, by the

Wien Film Wien-Film GmbH ("Vienna Film Limited") was a large Austrian film company, which in 1938 succeeded the Tobis-Sascha-Filmindustrie AG (Sascha Film Company) and lasted until 1985. Until 1945 the business was owned by the Cautio Trust Company (''Cauti ...

company, and distributed by

UFA Ufa is a city in Russia and the capital of the republic of Bashkortostan. UFA or Ufa may also refer to: Places * Ufa (river), a river in Russia; a tributary of the Belaya * Ufa International Airport, near the Russian city * Ufa railway statio ...

. At the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

, ''Der Postmeister'' won the

Mussolini Cup The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

for best foreign film. Released during the

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...

, it depicts Russians in a sympathetic light, unlike their portrayals in such films as ''

Frisians in Peril ''Frisians in Peril'' (German: ''Friesennot'') is a 1935 German drama film directed by Peter Hagen and starring Friedrich Kayßler, Jessie Vihrog and Valéry Inkijinoff. Made for Nazi propaganda purposes, it concerns a village of ethnic Frisians ...

'' before or ''

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed for digital image processing and to accelerate computer graphics, being present either as a discrete video card or embedded on motherboards, mobile phones, personal ...

'' after.

Erwin Leiser Erwin Leiser (May 16, 1923 – August 22, 1996) was a Swedish director, writer, and actor. He is best known for his 1960 documentary film ''Mein Kampf'', based on Nazi footage from secret archives and depicting Nazi atrocities. He subsequently ...

, ''Nazi Cinema'' p43

Plot

The daughter of a stationmaster falls in love with a cavalry captain. He persuades her to run away with him to St. Petersburg, but she realizes there that he never intended to marry her.

Cast

Heinrich George Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz (9 October 1893 – 25 September 1946), better known as Heinrich George (), was a German stage and film actor. Early life George was born in Pomerania to August Friedrich Schulz, a former Deck Officer in t ...

as Der Postmeister *

Hilde Krahl Hilde Krahl (10 January 1917 – 28 June 1999) was an Austrian film actress. She appeared in 70 films between 1936 and 1994. She was born Hildegard Kolačný in Brod, Austria-Hungary (now Slavonski Brod, Croatia) in 1917, and she died in Vien ...

as Dunja *

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 ...

as Rittmeister Minskij *

Hans Holt Hans Holt (22 November 1909 – 3 August 2001) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1935 and 1990. Selected filmography * '' Hannerl and Her Lovers'' (1936) * '' Catherine the Last'' (1936) * '' Florentine' ...

as Fähnrich Mitja *

Ruth Hellberg Ruth Hellberg (2 November 1906 – 26 April 2001) was a German actress. She appeared in more than 25 films between 1933 and 1991. Selected filmography * ''What Men Know'' (1933) * ''Yvette'' (1938) * ''Heimat'' (1938) * '' Drei Unteroffizie ...

as Elisawetha *

Margit Symo Margit Symo (13 September 1913 – 6 October 1992) was a Hungarian-born German actress. Selected filmography * '' Gypsy Blood'' (1934) * '' A Night on the Danube'' (1935) * '' Autobus S'' (1937) * '' The Yellow Flag'' (1937) * '' Not a Word ...

as Mascha *

Erik Frey Erik Frey (1 March 1908 – 2 September 1988) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1936 and 1988. He was born and died in Vienna, Austria. He was married to the actress Jane Tilden and Susi Witt. Selected ...

as Sergej *

Alfred Neugebauer Alfred Neugebauer (24 December 1888 – 14 September 1957) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * '' Money in the Streets'' (1922) * ''Money on the Street'' (1930) * '' Madame Bluebeard'' (1931) * '' Storm in a Water Glass'' (1931) * ...

as Gutsbesitzer *

Franz Pfaudler Franz Pfaudler (1893–1956) was an Austrian stage and film actor.Giesen p.200 Selected filmography * '' My Life for Maria Isabella'' (1935) * '' Renate in the Quartet'' (1939) * '' Der Postmeister'' (1940) * '' Heimkehr'' (1941) * '' Anuschka' ...

as Knecht Pjotr *

Leo Peukert Leonhard "Leo" Peukert (26 August 1885 – 6 January 1944) was a prolific German film actor and film director, appearing in more than a hundred and fifty productions between 1910 and his death in 1944. While occasionally he played a leading role i ...

as Oberst * Reinhold Häussermann as Schneider *

Auguste Pünkösdy Auguste Pünkösdy (1890–1967) was an Austrian stage and film actress.Soister p.46 Selected filmography * ''The Giant's Fist'' (1917) * ''Alkohol'' (1919) * '' Circus Saran'' (1935) * '' Little Mother'' (1935) * '' Vienna 1910'' (1943) * '' La ...

as Wirobowa

References

External links

*
''Der Postmeister''
Full movie at the Deutsche Filmothek Banned films in Nazi Germany Nazi propaganda films 1941 films 1940s historical films German historical films Films of Nazi Germany 1940s German-language films Films directed by Gustav Ucicky Films set in Russia Films set in the 19th century Films based on The Stationmaster UFA GmbH films German black-and-white films Films set in Saint Petersburg 1940s German films Films scored by Willy Schmidt-Gentner {{historic-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links