''The Fire Devil'' (German: ''Der Feuerteufel'') is a 1940 German

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 ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by and starring

Luis Trenker Luis Trenker (born Alois Franz Trenker, 4 October 1892 – 12 April 1990) was a South Tyrolean film producer, director, writer, actor, architect, alpinist, and bobsledder. Biography Early life Alois Franz Trenker was born on 4 October 1892 in ...

. It also featured Judith Holzmeister, Bertl Schultes and

Hilde von Stolz Hilde von Stolz (8 July 1903 in Segesvár, Nagy-Küküllő County, Austria-Hungary, now Romania – 16 December 1973 in West Berlin, West Germany) was an Austrian-German actress. Von Stolz attended the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and made he ...

. The title is sometimes translated as ''The Arsonist''. 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 ...

s Erich Grave and

Ludwig Reiber Ludwig Reiber (1904–1979) was a German art director.Capua p.159 The veteran Reiber worked on film and television set design from the silent era to the early 1970s. He was employed by the Munich-based Bavaria Film at the Emelka Studios. He worked ...

. It was shot at the

Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Firs ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

took place in

Mittenwald Mittenwald () is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. Geography Mittenwald is located approximately 16 kilometres to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the river Isar, ...

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; 'Swabian Hall'; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the N ...

and

North Tyrol North Tyrol, rarely North Tirol (), is the main part of the Austrian federal state Tyrol, located in the western part of the country. The other part of the federal state is East Tyrol, which also belongs to Austria, but doesn't share a border wi ...

. It premiered at the

Ufa-Palast am Zoo The Ufa-Palast am Zoo, located near Berlin Zoological Garden in the City West, New West area of Charlottenburg, was a major Berlin cinema owned by Universum Film AG, or Ufa. Opened in 1919 and enlarged in 1925, it was the largest cinema in German ...

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 ...

. Costing over a million

reichsmark The (; sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replace ...

s to make, it easily recouped its production costs at the box office and was a considerable popular success. It is set during the

Tyrolean Rebellion The Tyrolean Rebellion () was an 1809 rebellion in the County of Tyrol against the Bavarian and French occupation of Tyrol during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Led by Andreas Hofer, the rebellion was initially successful in freeing the Coun ...

against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, about which Trenker had previously made another film '' The Rebel'' in 1932. However

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, who had been an admirer of the previous film, was apparently displeased feeling that the parallels between Napoleon and the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

meant that the film glorified and potentially incited popular revolt against the regime. To restore himself to favour, Trenker published his novel '' Captain Ladurner'' which was overtly pro-Nazi.Mosse p.118

Cast

as Valentin Sturmegger * Judith Holzmeister as Maria Schmiederer * Bertl Schultes as Clemens Schmiederer *

as Marquise Antoinette de Chanel *

Fritz Kampers Fritz Kampers (14 July 1891 – 1 September 1950) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1913 and 1950. Early life Fritz Kampers was the son of a Munich hotel owner, spent his early childhood in Garmisch-Partenk ...

as Kaptän Münzer *

Franz Herterich Franz Herterich (3 October 1877 – 28 October 1966) was a German actor. He was born in Munich and died in Vienna. Partial filmography * '' The Eye of the Buddha'' (1919) * ''Der Traum im Walde'' (1919) – alter Diener * ''Todestreue'' (1919) * ...

as Kaiser Franz I. von Österreich *

Ernst Fritz Fürbringer Ernst Fritz Fürbringer (27 July 1900 – 30 October 1988) was a German film actor. He appeared in 130 films between 1933 and 1983. He was born in Brunswick, Germany and died in Munich, Germany. Selected filmography * ''Die große und die ...

as Fürst von Metternich *

Erich Ponto Erich Johannes Bruno Ponto (14 December 1884 – 14 February 1957) was a German film and stage actor. Career Erich Ponto was born in Lübeck as the son of a textile merchant. After his family had moved to Hamburg- Eimsbüttel, he attended the g ...

as Kaiser Napoleon Bonaparte * Claus Clausen as Major

Ferdinand von Schill Major Ferdinand Baptista von Schill (6 January 1776 – 31 May 1809) was a Prussian Army officer who revolted unsuccessfully against France's domination of Prussia in May 1809. Schill's rebellion ended at the Battle of Stralsund, a battle which ...

Karl-Heinz Peters Karl-Heinz Peters (28 August 1903 – 5 September 1990) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * '' Alarm at Station III'' (1939) * ''Men Are That Way'' (1939) * '' The Governor'' (1939) * '' Enemies'' (1940) * '' Mein Leben für Irlan ...

as Französischer Kommissar *

Walter Ladengast Walter Ladengast (4 July 1899 – 3 July 1980) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1928 and 1979, a majority silent. His film career momentarily suffered when it was discovered he was a Nazi Sympathizer. ...

as Rafael Kröss, Verräter * Ludwig Kerscher as Kluiber, Kärntner Bauer * Vera Hartegg as Magd *

Ludwig Schmid-Wildy Ludwig Schmid-Wildy (3 May 1896 – 30 January 1982) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' Um das Menschenrecht'' (1934) * '' Shock Troop'' (1934) * '' Storms in May'' (1938) * '' Escape in the Dark'' (1939) * ''Uproar in Damascus'' (1939 ...

as Klotz, Kärntner Bauer *

Friedrich Ulmer Friedrich Ulmer (1877–1952) was a German film actor. Partial filmography * ''Das schwarze Amulett'' (1920) * ''Der Totenkopf'' (1920) * ''Die Hexe von Lolaruh'' (1920) as Waldläufer * '' A Dying Nation'' (1922, part 1, 2) * '' Helena'' (1924 ...

as Reintaler, Kärntner Bauer *

Elise Aulinger Elise Aulinger (11 December 1881 – 12 February 1965) was a German stage, radio and film actress. Selected filmography * ''The Favourite of the Queen'' (1922) * ''Martin Luther'' (1923) * '' What the Stones Tell'' (1925) * ''The Seventh Son'' ( ...

as Schönleitnerin * Sepp Nigg as Zoppel, Bauer * Lore Schuetzendorf as Frau Schoenleitner *

Kurt Meisel Kurt Meisel (18 August 1912 – 4 April 1994) was an Austrian actor and film director. He appeared in 65 films between 1934 and 1994. He also directed 21 films between 1949 and 1984. Meisel was married to the actress Ursula Lingen. He was born a ...

as Erzherzog Johann * Ferdinand Exl as Purtscheller, Kärntner Bauer *

Paul Mederow Paul Friedrich Wolfgang Mederow (30 June 1887 – 17 December 1974) was a German stage and film actor. Mederow was born in Stralsund, in the Prussian province of Pomerania and died at age 87 in Brissago, Ticino, Switzerland. Partial filmograph ...

as Rusca, französischer General * Reinhold Pasch as Henri Daru, französischer Oberst * Karl Fochler as Burron, französischer Offizier * Klaus Pohl as Kranewitter, Kärntner Bauer *

Carl Balhaus Carl Balhaus (born Carl Ballhaus; 4 November 1905 – 28 July 1968) was a German stage and film actor. After the Second World War he worked as screenwriter and director for the East German state-owned studio DEFA. He was an uncle of the Academ ...

as Kärntner Bauernbursche * Anton Färber as Kärntner Bauernbursche * Julius Eckhoff as Französischer Soldat * Karl Gelfius as Sänger * Luis Gerold as Holznagel, Bauer * Leopold Kerscher as Junger Bauernbursche * Robert Thiem as Offizier *

Aruth Wartan Aruth Wartan (or ''Haruth Vartan'', ; 23 June 1880 – 14 April 1945) was a German film actor of Armenian origin who appeared in around ninety films during his career, generally in supporting roles. Life and career Born Arutjun Wartanian in Nakh ...

as Knecht mit der Augenklappe

References

Bibliography

* George L. Mosse. ''Fallen Soldiers: Reshaping the Memory of the World Wars''. Oxford University Press, 1991.

External links

* 1940 films 1940s historical adventure films German historical adventure films Films of Nazi Germany 1940s German-language films Films directed by Luis Trenker Films set in Austria Films set in the Alps Films set in 1809 Napoleonic Wars films Climbing and mountaineering films German black-and-white films Films shot at Bavaria Studios Bavaria Film films Depictions of Napoleon on film Cultural depictions of Klemens von Metternich Cultural depictions of Francis I of Austria Films set in the Austrian Empire 1940s German films Films scored by Giuseppe Becce {{1940s-Germany-film-stub