''The Higher Command'' (german: Der höhere Befehl) is a 1935 German
historical film directed by
Gerhard Lamprecht and starring
Lil Dagover
Lil Dagover (; born Marie Antonia Siegelinde Martha Seubert; 30 September 1887 – 23 January 1980) was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar ...
,
Karl Ludwig Diehl and
Heli Finkenzeller. Produced and distributed by
UFA, it was shot at the company's
Babelsberg Studios in
Potsdam. The film's sets were designed by the
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
s
Otto Erdmann and
Hans Sohnle.
It was produced around the time of the
Anglo-German Naval Agreement when the German government were still optimistic about forming an alliance with the British and saw the film as a way of recalling the historic Anglo-Prussian partnership in liberating Europe from Napoleon. The film was praised by the
Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
as "a national and engrossing film".
Synopsis
During the
Napoleonic Wars, a
Prussian army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
officer assists a
British diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
to construct an alliance to defeat
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's France.
[Kreimeier p. 277]
Cast
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
1935 films
Films of Nazi Germany
German historical films
German black-and-white films
1930s historical films
1930s German-language films
Films directed by Gerhard Lamprecht
Films set in England
Films set in London
Films set in Vienna
Napoleonic Wars films
UFA GmbH films
1930s German films
Films shot at Babelsberg Studios
{{1930s-Germany-film-stub