''Season in Cairo'' () is a 1933 German

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

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 ...

directed by

Reinhold Schünzel Reinhold Schünzel (7 November 1888 – 11 November 1954) was a German actor and director, active in both Germany and the United States. The son of a German father and a Jewish mother, he was born in St. Pauli, the poorest part of Hamburg. Despit ...

and starring

Renate Müller Renate Müller (26 April 1906 – 7 October 1937) was a German singer and actress in both silent films and sound films, as well as on stage. One of the most successful actresses in German films from the early 1930s, she was courted by the N ...

Willy Fritsch Willy Fritsch (Wilhelm Egon Fritz, 27 January 1901 – 13 July 1973) was a German theatre and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s. Biography Early life He was born Wilhelm Egon Fritz ...

and

Gustav Waldau Gustav Waldau (27 February 1871 – 25 May 1958) was a German actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1915 and 1955. Selected filmography * '' The Gentleman Without a Residence'' (1915) * '' In Thrall to the Claw'' (1921) * '' The Wr ...

.Bregfelder & Bock p. 346 A French-language version ''

Idylle au Caire ''Idylle au Caire'' is a 1933 French-language comedy film directed by Claude Heymann and Reinhold Schünzel and starring Renate Müller, George Rigaud and Henry Roussel. It was an alternate language version of the film '' Season in Cairo'' made ...

'' was released, also featuring Müller. 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 ...

Robert Herlth Robert Herlth (2 May 1893 – 6 January 1962) was a German art director. He was one of the leading designers of German film sets during the 1920s and 1930s.Reimer & Reimer p.146 Filmography * ''Masks'' (1920) * '' Island of the Dead'' (1921) * ' ...

and

Walter Röhrig Walter Röhrig (13 April 1897 – 1945) was a German art director.Stephens p.163 Selected filmography * ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920) * ''Masks'' (1920) * '' Parisian Women'' (1921) * '' Island of the Dead'' (1921) * '' Miss Julie'' (19 ...

. It was shot on location in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, with interior filming taking place at the

Babelsberg Studios Babelsberg Film Studio () (also known as Studio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world, producing films since 1912. With a total area of about and a studio area of a ...

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 ...

Synopsis

In Cairo, American Tobby Blackwell is worried about the extravagant, pampered lifestyle of his mother Elinor, the widow of a wealthy

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

. Meanwhile Stefanie is worried about the debauched, womanising antics of her father, the

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Weidling-Weidling. They plan to bring them together, but unknown to them, their parents plan to do the same for their children. Elinor is attracted to the idea of her son marrying into European

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

while the near-penniless aristocrat is delighted with the idea of his daughter marrying into money. Towards this end, they announce the engagement of their children at a public event. Fearful of causing a scandal, the two agree to a wedding as a

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. Cases whe ...

followed by a quick

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

. However, during a trip into the desert they begin to develop real feelings for each other.

Cast

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* 1933 films 1933 musical comedy films German musical comedy films Films of the Weimar Republic 1930s German-language films Films directed by Reinhold Schünzel Films set in Egypt German multilingual films UFA GmbH films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios German black-and-white films 1933 multilingual films 1930s German films Films scored by Werner R. Heymann German-language musical comedy films {{1930s-Germany-comedy-film-stub