''Panic in Chicago'' () is a 1931 German

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Robert Wiene Robert Wiene (; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a German film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer, active during the Silent film, silent era. He is widely-known for directing the landmark 1920 film ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ...

and starring

Olga Chekhova Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova (; ; 14 April 1897 – 9 March 1980), known in Germany as Olga Tschechowa, was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred Hitchcock's '' Mary'' (1931). Biography Olga Konstantinov ...

, Hans Rehmann and

Ferdinand Hart Ferdinand Hart (28 October 1893 in Písek – 12 January 1937 in Prague) was a film actor from Czechoslovakia. Selected filmography * '' The Hungarian Princess'' (1923) * ''The Queen of the Baths'' (1926) * '' You Walk So Softly'' (1928) * '' Und ...

. It was based on the novel ''Panic in Chicago'' by the German writer Robert Heymann. The film was shot at the

Staaken Studios Staaken Studios was a film studio located in Staaken on the outskirts of the German capital Berlin. A large former zeppelin hangar, it was converted to film use following the First World War and operated during the Weimar Republic. In July 1923 it ...

with sets 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 ...

Erwin Scharf. It premiered at the Palast-am-Zoo in

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 ...

on 23 June 1931.Jung & Schatzberg p. 222

Synopsis

In 1930s mob-dominated

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, a leading

gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

poses as a respectable member of society.

Cast

as Florence Dingley * Hans Rehmann as Taglioni *

as Percy Boot *

Hilde Hildebrand Emma Minna Hilde Hildebrand (10 September 1897 – 12 May 1976) was a German actress born in Hanover, Germany on 10 September 1897. She died at the age of 78 in Grunewald, Berlin, on 27 May 1976. Selected filmography * ''Die Scheidungsehe'' ...

as Susy Owen * Lola Chlud as Fay Davis * Ernst Dumcke as Kommissar Renard * William Trenk as Kriminalbeamter Charles *

Gerhard Bienert Gerhard Max Richard Bienert (8 January 1898 – 23 December 1986) was a German stage and film actor. Gerhard Bienert was born in Berlin, Germany and died in the same city in 1986 at age 88. Selected filmography * '' Duke Ferrante's End'' (1922) ...

as Tom * Friedrich Ettel as King * Franz Weber as John * Ernst Wurmser as Robert *

Arthur Bergen Arthur Bergen (24 October 1875 – 1943) was an History of the Jews in Austria, Austrian Jewish actor and film director. He was murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.Mary Nolan, Ziegfeld Girl and Silent Movie Star: A Biogra ...

as Spieler

References

Bibliography

External links

* 1931 films 1931 crime films German crime films Films of the Weimar Republic 1930s German-language films Films directed by Robert Wiene Films about the Chicago Outfit Films based on German novels Films set in Chicago Foreign films set in the United States German black-and-white films Films shot at Staaken Studios 1930s German films {{1930s-Germany-film-stub