''Heimat'' is a 1938

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

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

Carl Froelich Carl August Hugo Froelich (5 September 1875 – 12 February 1953) was a German film pioneer and film director. He was born and died in Berlin. Biography Apparatus builder and cameraman From 1903 Froelich was a colleague of Oskar Messter, one of ...

and starring

Zarah Leander Zarah Leander (; 15 March 1907 – 23 June 1981) was a Sweden, Swedish singer and actress whose greatest success was in Germany between 1936 and 1943, when she was contracted to work for the state-owned UFA GmbH, Universum Film AG (UFA). Althou ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. The film's

melodramatic A melodrama is a dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on dialo ...

storyline portrays the return of a leading singer to her hometown, where her father wishes her to settle down and marry. It is based on the 1893 play ''

Heimat ''Heimat'' () is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it h ...

'' by

Hermann Sudermann Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. Life Early career Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai, in southwestern ...

. It was shot at the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial back ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. 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 ...

Franz Schroedter Franz Schroedter (9 May 1897 – 14 November 1968) was a German art director.Giesen p.212 Selected filmography * '' The Black Count'' (1920) * ''The Dance of Love and Happiness'' (1921) * '' The New Paradise'' (1921) * '' The Queen of Whitechapel ...

and

Walter Haag Walter Haag (1898–1978) was a German art director. He worked on more than sixty films during his career including the 1940 historical melodrama ''The Heart of a Queen''.Hull p.179-80 Selected filmography * '' The Private Life of Louis XIV'' (19 ...

. Froelich won the award for best director at the 1938

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 ...

for this film.

Synopsis

The opera singer Maddalena had been cast out by her family after they learned she was to bear the child of a banker, von Keller, who had seduced and abandoned her. Her return to her native city has her father warn her to remain away, because she is a threat to her family, and her sister Marie's wedding. However, von Keller threatens the reputation of her family with an underhanded banking scheme. He commits suicide, and Maddalena is reconciled with her family.Cinzia Romani, ''Tainted Goddesses: Female Film Stars of the Third Reich'' p. 78 ISBN 978-0-9627613-1-7

Cast

as Maddalena Dall'Orto *

as Leopold Dall'Orto Schwartze *

as Marie *

Lina Carstens Lina Carstens (6 December 1892 in Wiesbaden – 22 September 1978 in Munich) was a German film and theater actress. On stage she appeared in plays by Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a ...

as Fränze von Klebs *

Paul Hörbiger Paul Hörbiger (29 April 1894 – 5 March 1981) was an Austrians, Austrian theatre and film actor. Life and work Paul Hörbiger was born in the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, Hungarian capital Budapest, then part of Austria-Hungary, the ...

as Franz Heffterdingk *

Georg Alexander Georg Alexander (born Werner Ludwig Georg Lüddeckens; 3 April 1888 – 30 October 1945) was a German film actor who was a prolific presence in German cinema. He also directed a number of films during the silent era. Personal life He was married ...

as Ludwig Prinz von Imlingen *

Leo Slezak Leo Slezak (; 18 August 1873 – 1 June 1946) was an Austrian dramatic tenor. He was associated in particular with Austrian opera as well as the title role in Verdi's ''Otello''. He is the father of actors Walter Slezak and Margarete Slezak ...

as Rohrmoser * Hans Nielsen as Max von Wendlowsky *

Franz Schafheitlin Franz Schafheitlin (9 August 1895 – 6 February 1980) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1927 and 1974. He was born in Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany and died in Pullach, West Germany. Selected filmograph ...

as Bankdirektor von Keller * Ernst Schiffner

References

Bibliography

External links

* 1938 films Films of Nazi Germany 1930s German-language films Films directed by Carl Froelich German films based on plays Films based on works by Hermann Sudermann Films set in the 1880s German black-and-white films 1930s historical drama films German historical drama films UFA GmbH films Films shot at Tempelhof Studios 1938 drama films 1930s German films Films scored by Theo Mackeben German-language historical drama films {{1930s-Germany-film-stub