''The Blue Hour'' () is a 1953 West German

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

Veit Harlan Veit Harlan (22 September 1899 – 13 April 1964) was a German film director and actor. Harlan reached the high point of his career as a director in the Nazi era; most notably his antisemitic film '' Jud Süß'' (1940) makes him controversial. W ...

and starring

Kristina Söderbaum Beata Margareta Kristina Söderbaum (5 September 1912 – 12 February 2001) was a Swedish-born German film actress, producer, and photographer. She performed in Nazi-era films made by a German state-controlled production company. Early life S� ...

, Hans Nielsen and

Kurt Kreuger Kurt Kreuger (July 23, 1916 – July 12, 2006) was a Swiss-reared Germany, German actor. Kreuger once was the third-most-requested male actor at 20th Century Fox. He starred with, among others, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. Life and career ...

. Production began on the film in October 1952. It was shot at the

Göttingen Studios The Göttingen Studios were film studios located in the German city of Göttingen.Noack p.307 The studios were established in 1948 on a site that had previously been used as an aeroplane hangar on the outskirts of Göttingen.Imhoof p.187 The stu ...

and on location on the island of

Capri Capri ( , ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...

. 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 ...

Walter Haag Walter Haag (1898–1978) was a German art director. He worked on more than sixty films during his career including the 1940 historical melodrama ''The Heart of a Queen''.Hull p.179-80 Selected filmography * '' The Private Life of Louis XIV'' (19 ...

. Because of public protests against his wartime role as a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

filmmaker, Harlan considered turning over the project to his colleague Geza von Bolvary but eventually decided to direct it himself. It was the third film of a post-war comeback for the husband and wife team Harlan and Söderbaum, but was much less commercially successful than the two previous films, the

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

s ''

Immortal Beloved The Immortal Beloved (German "Unsterbliche Geliebte") is the addressee of a love letter which composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on 6 or 7 July 1812 in Teplitz (then in the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic). The unsent letter is writ ...

'' and ''

Hanna Amon ''Hanna Amon'' is a 1951 German Agfacolor drama film directed by Veit Harlan and starring Kristina Söderbaum, Lutz Moik and Ilse Steppat. It was shot at the Göttingen Studios and on location in Upper Bavaria. The film's sets were designed by ...

''.Noack p.308

Cast

as Angelika * Hans Nielsen as Paul *

as Dulong * Paulette Andrieux as Lou *

Harald Juhnke Harald Juhnke (, born Harry Heinz Herbert Juhnke, 10 June 1929 – 1 April 2005), was a German actor, comedian, and singer. Life and career Juhnke was born in Berlin-Charlottenburg. His father was a police officer and his mother came from a ...

as Fred *

Renate Feuereisen Renate is a feminine given name. It is derived from the Latin name Renatus. It is common in German, Dutch and Norwegian. Notable people with the given name include: * Renate Aschauer-Knaup (born 1948), German singer (Amon Düül II) * Renate Bla ...

as Mariechen *

Jakob Tiedtke Jakob Karl Heinrich Wilhelm Tiedtke (23 June 1875 – 30 June 1960) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1914 and 1955. Selected filmography * '' The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' (1918) * '' The Doll'' (1919) * ' ...

as Portier *

Otto Gebühr Otto Gebühr (29 May 1877 – 13 March 1954) was a German theatre and film actor, who appeared in 102 films released between 1917 and 1954. He is noted for his performance as the Prussian king Frederick the Great in numerous films. Early li ...

as Geheimrat Jordan *

Charlotte Scheier-Herold Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city *Charlotte (cake), ...

Esther Gramsch Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and mar ...

Hans Hermann Schaufuß Hans Hermann Schaufuß (13 July 1893 – 30 January 1982) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1922 to 1969. His sons were actors Hans Joachim Schaufuß and Peter-Timm Schaufuß. Selected filmography References ...

References

Bibliography

* Noack, Frank. ''Veit Harlan: The Life and Work of a Nazi Filmmaker''. University Press of Kentucky, 2016.

External links

* 1953 films West German films German comedy films 1953 comedy films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Veit Harlan 1950s German films Films shot at Göttingen Studios Films scored by Franz Grothe {{1950s-Germany-comedy-film-stub