''Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach'' (English translation: "The Virgin on the Roof") is a 1953

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

produced and directed by

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( ; ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the the ...

. The screenplay by

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. His first two dramas were failures. In 1929, he wrote the script ...

is a

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

translation of the script for ''

The Moon Is Blue ''The Moon Is Blue'' is a play by F. Hugh Herbert. A comedy in three acts, the play consists of one female and three male characters. Performance history ''The Moon Is Blue'' premiered at The Playhouse in Wilmington, Delaware on February 16, ...

'' by

F. Hugh Herbert Frederick Hugh Herbert (May 29, 1897 – May 17, 1958) was a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, short story writer, and infrequent film director. Life and career Born in Vienna, Austria in 1897, Herbert was educated at the University of London. ...

, based on his 1951 play.

Plot

comedy of manners In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a greatly sophisticated, artificial society. ...

, the film centers on virtuous actress Patty O'Neill, who meets playboy architect Donald Gresham on the observation deck of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

and accepts his invitation to join him for drinks and dinner in his apartment. There she meets Donald's upstairs neighbors, his ex-fiancée Cynthia and her father, roguish David Slader. Both men are determined to bed the young woman, but they quickly discover Patty is more interested in engaging in spirited discussions about the pressing moral and sexual issues of the day than surrendering her virginity to either one of them. After resisting their amorous advances throughout the night, Patty leaves and returns to the Empire State Building, where Donald finds her and proposes marriage.

Production

Otto Preminger had directed the 1951

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

production of F. Hugh Herbert's play ''The Moon Is Blue'', and its successful run of 924 performances prompted him to contract with

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

to finance and distribute a screen adaptation over which he would have complete control. He deferred his producer's and director's salaries in exchange for 75% of the film's profits. Since Herbert's play had been a huge success in Germany, Preminger decided to film

multiple-language version A multiple-language version film (often abbreviated to MLV) or foreign language version is a film, especially from the early talkie era, produced in several different languages for international markets. To offset the marketing restrictions of ma ...

s simultaneously in English and German, using the same sets and the same crew but different casts. The director estimated this method would increase the filming schedule by only eight to ten days and production costs by only 10 to 15 percent. The budget for both films was $373,445. After ten days of rehearsals for each of his casts, Preminger began principal photography of both films on January 21, 1953, filming an English language scene and then its German equivalent in quick succession.

Johanna Matz Johanna Matz (5 October 1932 – 21 April 2025) was an Austrian actress. Matz was born in Vienna, Austria on 5 October 1932. She began as a dancer and from 1950 to 1993 acted at the Burgtheater. Matz died on 21 April 2025, at the age of 92. S ...

and

Hardy Krüger Hardy Krüger (; born Eberhard August Franz Ewald Krüger; 12 April 1928 – 19 January 2022) was a German actor and author who appeared in more than 60 films from 1944 onwards. After becoming a film star in Germany in the 1950s, Krüger increas ...

, the stars of the German adaptation, briefly appear in the English-language version, ''

'', as the young couple waiting to use the coin-operated telescope at the top of the Empire State Building,

cameo roles A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking one ...

William Holden William Franklin Holden (né Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film '' Stalag 17'' (1953) and the Pri ...

and

Maggie McNamara Marguerite McNamara (June 18, 1928 – February 18, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actress and model from the United States.Obituary '' Variety'', March 22, 1978, page 46. McNamara began her career as a teenage fashion model. ...

of the American cast play in the German version. In later years, Preminger stated he much preferred ''The Moon Is Blue'' to ''Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach'' because he felt the psychology of the plot did not translate well.''The World and Its Double'', p. 145

Cast

as Donald Gresham *

Johannes Heesters Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch-German actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the conce ...

as David Slater *

as Patty O'Neill *

Sig Ruman Siegfried Carl Alban Rumann (October 11, 1884 – February 14, 1967), billed as Sig Ruman and Sig Rumann, was a German-American character actor known for his portrayals of pompous and often stereotypically Teutonic officials or villains in ...

as Michael O'Neill *

Dawn Addams Victoria Dawn Addams (21 September 1930 – 7 May 1985) was a British actress, particularly in Hollywood motion pictures of the 1950s and on British television in the 1960s and 1970s. She became a princess in 1954 (until 1971). Early years Ad ...

as Cynthia Slater

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jungfrau auf dem Dach 1953 films American comedy films American films based on plays Films set in New York City American black-and-white films Films directed by Otto Preminger Films scored by Herschel Burke Gilbert American multilingual films United Artists films 1950s multilingual films 1953 comedy films 1950s American films German-language American films