''The Countess of Monte Cristo'' (german: Die Gräfin von Monte-Christo) is a 1932 German
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...
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
Karl Hartl
Karl Hartl (10 May 1899 – 29 August 1978) was an Austrian film director.
Life
Born in Vienna, Hartl began his film career at the Austrian Sascha-Film company of Alexander Kolowrat and from 1919 was assistant to the Hungarian director Alexan ...
and starring
Brigitte Helm
Brigitte Helm (born Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm, 17 March 1906 – 11 June 1996) was a German actress, best remembered for her dual role as Maria and her double named Futura, in Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film, ''Metropolis''.
Early life and ...
,
Rudolf Forster and
Lucie Englisch
Lucie Englisch (8 February 1902, in Baden bei Wien – 12 October 1965) was an Austrian actress.
She was married to the actor Heinrich Fuchs.
Selected filmography
* '' The Night Belongs to Us'' (1929)
* '' Three Days Confined to Barracks'' (19 ...
.
The film's sets were designed by the
art directors
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. It was shot at the
Babelsberg Studios
Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...
outside
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
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 ...
and the
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In N ...
of
Semmering. It was
remade in the United States in 1934 with
Fay Wray
Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian/American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray attained international r ...
in the lead role.
Plot
Two struggling actresses are hired as extras to drive an expensive car while dressed in fancy outfits. Stopping at a winter resort they decide to pass themselves off as part of the wealthy set, one of them declaring herself to be the "Countess of Monte Cristo".
Cast
*
Brigitte Helm
Brigitte Helm (born Brigitte Gisela Eva Schittenhelm, 17 March 1906 – 11 June 1996) was a German actress, best remembered for her dual role as Maria and her double named Futura, in Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film, ''Metropolis''.
Early life and ...
as Jeanette Heider, Filmkomparsin
*
Rudolf Forster as Rumowski, Impostor
*
Lucie Englisch
Lucie Englisch (8 February 1902, in Baden bei Wien – 12 October 1965) was an Austrian actress.
She was married to the actor Heinrich Fuchs.
Selected filmography
* '' The Night Belongs to Us'' (1929)
* '' Three Days Confined to Barracks'' (19 ...
as Mimi, Filmkomparsin
*
Gustaf Gründgens
Gustaf Gründgens (; 22 December 1899 – 7 October 1963), born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg ...
as Der 'Baron' Impostor
*
Oskar Sima
Oskar Sima (31 July 1896 – 24 June 1969) was an Austrian actor who is best remembered for appearing in supporting roles in countless comedy films from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Born in Hohenau an der March, Lower Austria, Sima attended high sc ...
as Aufnahmeleiter Spitzkopf
*
Mathias Wieman
Mathias Wieman (Carl Heinrich Franz Mathias Wieman; 23 June 1902 – 3 December 1969) was a German stage-performer, silent-and-sound motion picture actor.
Life and career
Early life
Wieman was born in Osnabrück, the only son of Carl Philipp ...
as Stephan Riehl, Journalist
*
Flockina von Platen as Filmdiva
*
Ernst Dumcke as film director
*
Hans Junkermann
Hennes "Hans" Junkermann (6 May 1934 – 11 April 2022) was a German professional racing cyclist who won 35 road races in 18 seasons from 1956 to 1973. He won the German National Road Race in 1959, 1960, and 1961.
Biography
Junkermann was bor ...
as Hoteldirektor
*
Theo Lingen
Theo Lingen (; 10 June 1903 – 10 November 1978), born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960.
Life and c ...
as Etagenkellner
*
Max Gülstorff
Max Walter Gülstorff (23 March 1882 – 6 February 1947) was a German actor and stage director.
Biography
Gülstorff was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. He first appeared in 1900 at the Rudolstadt municipal Theater and moved to Cottbus in 1908. ...
as newspaper editor
*
Karl Etlinger
Karl Etlinger (16 October 1879 – 8 May 1946) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1946.
Selected filmography
* '' The Eternal Curse'' (1921)
* '' The Poisoned Stream'' (1921)
* ''The Films of Princ ...
as newspaper editor
*
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 Detective Commissioner
See also
*''
The Countess of Monte Cristo'' (1934)
*''
The Countess of Monte Cristo'' (1948)
*''
Just Once a Great Lady'' (1957)
References
External links
*
1930s romantic comedy-drama films
Films of the Weimar Republic
German romantic comedy-drama films
Films directed by Karl Hartl
Films about con artists
Films about filmmaking
UFA GmbH films
Films shot in Austria
Films shot at Babelsberg Studios
Films set in Vienna
German black-and-white films
1932 comedy films
1932 drama films
1930s German films
{{1930s-Germany-film-stub