''Espionage'' (German: ''Spionage'') is a 1955 Austrian

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

spy

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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Franz Antel Franz Antel (28 June 1913 – 11 August 2007) was a veteran Austrian filmmaker. Born in Vienna, Antel worked mainly as a film producer in the interwar years. After World War II, he began writing and directing films on a large scale. In the ...

and starring

Ewald Balser Ewald Balser (5 October 1898 – 17 April 1978) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1935 and 1975. He was born in Elberfeld, Germany and died in Vienna, Austria. Partial filmography * ''Jana, the Girl from the ...

, Barbara Rütting and

Gerhard Riedmann Gerhard Riedmann (1925–2004) was an Austrian film actor. He was married to the actress Eva Probst. Partial filmography * ''Das andere Leben'' (1948) - (uncredited) * '' Child of the Danube'' (1950) - Bit Part (uncredited) * ' (1951) - Max' Fre ...

.Fritsche p.256 It was shot at the

Sievering Studios Sievering Studios were film production studios located in Sievering, a suburb of the Austrian capital Vienna. The studios were established in 1916 by the film pioneer Alexander Kolowrat for use by his Sascha-Film. After the First World War they f ...

and on location in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

Felix Smetana Felix Smetana (1907 – 1968) was a German art director.Fritsche p.259 He designed the sets for many Austrian and German films during the postwar era. Selected filmography * '' Wedding in the Hay'' (1951) * ''Hello Porter'' (1952) * ''Ideal W ...

. It was based on the real story of

Alfred Redl Alfred Redl (14 March 1864 – 25 May 1913) was an Austrian military officer who rose to head the ''Evidenzbureau'', the counterintelligence wing of the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army. Redl was one of the leading figures of pre-Worl ...

, an officer serving with Austrian Military Intelligence who was also secretly spying for the hostile

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

Cast

as Oberst Redl * Barbara Rütting as Nadeschda *

as Hauptmann Angelis *

Oskar Werner Oskar Werner (; born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer; 13 November 1922 23 October 1984) was an Austrian stage and cinema actor whose prominent roles include two 1965 films, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' and '' Ship of Fools''. Other notable ...

as Leutnant Zeno von Baumgarten * Marte Harell as Gräfin Lichtenfels *

Hannelore Bollmann Hannelore Bollmann (born 10 May 1925) is a German actress. She appeared in more than thirty films, often in leading roles. Selected filmography * '' King of Hearts'' (1947) * ''Hello, Fraulein!'' (1949) * '' Love on Ice'' (1950) * '' Holiday Fr ...

as Pauline von Heymeneck * Rudolf Forster as Chef des Generalstabes, von Heymeneck *

Attila Hörbiger Attila Hörbiger (21 April 1896 – 27 April 1987) was an Austrian stage and movie actor. Life Hörbiger was born in the Hungarian capital Budapest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of engineer Hanns Hörbiger and the you ...

as Dr. Hartmuth * Erik Frey as Oberst Rabansky * Heinz Moog as Baron Letten * Karl Ehmann as Leopold, Diener bei Lichtenfels *

Hermann Erhardt Hermann Erhardt (January 9, 1903 in Landshut - November 30, 1958 in Vienna) was a German actor who played in more than 50 movies, among them '' Heimkehr'' and '' A Devil of a Woman''. Selected filmography * '' The Monastery's Hunter'' (1935) ...

as Steidl * C.W. Fernbach as Rittmeister Weidler *

Harry Hardt Harry Hardt (born Hermann Karl Viktor Klimbacher Edler von Reichswahr, Pula, 4 August 1899 – Vienna, 14 November 1980) was an Austrian actor. The son of a military officer, he initially planned a military career for himself, studying at a mili ...

as General Maximoff *

Kurt Jaggberg Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

as Sabrenin *

Alexander Trojan Alexander Trojan (30 March 1914 – 19 September 1992) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 20 films between 1939 and 1977. He starred in the film '' Panoptikum 59'', which was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film ...

as Baron Korff * Ernst Waldbrunn as Ebinger * Grete Sellier as Gast

References

Bibliography

* Fritsche, Maria. ''Homemade Men in Postwar Austrian Cinema: Nationhood, Genre and Masculinity''. Berghahn Books, 2013.

External links

* 1955 films Austrian drama films 1955 drama films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Franz Antel Films with screenplays by Alexander Lernet-Holenia Austrian historical films 1950s historical films Films set in the 1910s Sascha-Film films UFA GmbH films Films shot at Sievering Studios Austrian black-and-white films {{Austria-film-stub