''The Last Bridge'' () is a 1954 Austrian-Yugoslavian

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

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

Helmut Käutner Helmut Käutner (25 March 1908 – 20 April 1980) was a German film director active mainly in the 1940s and 1950s. He entered the film industry at the end of the Weimar Republic and released his first films as a director in Nazi Germany. Käu ...

and starring

Maria Schell Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...

Bernhard Wicki Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 – 5 January 2000) was an Austrian-Swiss actor, film director and screenwriter. He was a key figure in the revitalization of post-war German-language cinema, particularly in West Germany, and also directed se ...

and Barbara Rütting.Von Dassanowsky p.157 The film was entered into the

1954 Cannes Film Festival The 7th Cannes Film Festival took place from 25 March to 9 April 1954. French writer and filmmaker Jean Cocteau served as jury president for the main competition. This was the last festival with a predominantly French jury. The Grand Prix was aw ...

Plot

A German nurse is captured by

Yugoslav partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

, and with her devotion to medical duty finds herself with divided loyalty to both sides of the conflict.

Production

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 ...

Otto Pischinger Otto Pischinger (1919–1976) was an Austrian art director who designed the sets for a large number of films during his career. In 1955 he worked on '' The Last Ten Days''.Silberman p.243 He was married to Hertha Hareiter, also an art director, u ...

and Wolf Witzemann.

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

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

Počitelj Počitelj is a settlement and a historic village in the Township of Čapljina in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its walled nucleus is protected National Monument of B ...

and other locations along the

Neretva The Neretva (, sr-Cyrl, Неретва), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power plants with Dam, large dams (higher than 15 metres) provide flood ...

valley in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Cast

as Dr. Helga Reinbeck *

as Boro * Barbara Rütting as Milica * Carl Möhner as Martin Berger * Pavle Mincić as Momcillo *

Horst Hächler Horst Hächler (born 12 March 1926) is a German actor, film producer and director.Grandits & Taylor p.241 He was married to the actress Maria Schell from 1957 to 1965. Selected filmography * ''The Orplid Mystery'' (1950) * ''Beloved Life'' (1953) ...

as Leutnant Scherer *

Robert Meyn Robert Meyn (16 January 1896 – 2 March 1972) was a German stage, film and television actor.Fehrenbach p.103 Partial filmography * '' The Sinner'' (1951) - Von Hernsdorf - Marinas Stiefvater / Marina's Stepfather * ''Kommen Sie am Ersten'' (195 ...

as Stabsartz Dr. Rottsieper * Zvonko Žungul as Partisan Sava *

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 Mara *

Fritz Eckhardt Fritz Eckhardt (born Linz, 30 November 1907; died Klosterneuburg, 31 December 1995) was an Austrian actor, director, and writer. He is remembered for playing the lead role as ''chief inspector Marek'' in the Österreichischer Rundfunk version ...

as Tilleke *

Janez Vrhovec Janez Vrhovec (19 January 1921 – 7 October 1997) was a Yugoslav actor of Slovenian-German origin. Vrhovec appeared in a number of Yugoslav and Serbian films, as well as many international productions, in a career spanning almost five decade ...

as Partisan Vlaho *

Walter Regelsberger Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

as Nachrichtensoldat * Steffie Schwarz as Oberschwester * Bata Stojanović as Partisan * Stevo Petrović as Partisan Ratko * Milan Nesić as Partisan * Franz Eichberger as Gebirgsjäger * Heinrich Einsiedel as Gebirgsjäger * Pero Kostić as Partisan

References

Bibliography

* Von Dassanowsky, Robert . ''Austrian Cinema: A History''. McFarland, 2005.

External links

*
''The Last Bridge''
at filmportal.de/en 1954 films 1954 drama films 1950s war drama films Austrian war drama films Yugoslav war drama films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Helmut Käutner Films set in Yugoslavia during World War II Anti-war films about World War II Austrian black-and-white films Films set in Yugoslavia Austrian World War II films Yugoslav black-and-white films Films set in Bosnia and Herzegovina {{1950s-Austria-film-stub