''Berlin-Alexanderplatz'' or ''The Story of Franz Biberkopf'' (german: Die Geschichte Franz Biberkopfs) is a 1931 German

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-g ...

directed by

Phil Jutzi Phil Jutzi (sometimes known as Piel Jutzi) (22 July 1896 – 1 May 1946) was a German cinematographer and film director. Born Philipp Jutzi in Altleiningen as the son of a tailor, Jutzi was self-educated. (He seems to have been generally known by ...

and starring

Heinrich George Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz (9 October 1893 – 25 September 1946), better known as Heinrich George (), was a German stage and film actor. Career Weimar Republic George is noted for having spooked the young Bertolt Brecht in his first ...

Maria Bard Maria Bard (7 July 1900 – April 1944) was a German stage actress, who made a handful of films in the silent era for Rimax, her first husband Wilhelm Graaff's company. By 1930, her marriage with Graaff was over, and she appeared with Werner K ...

and

Margarete Schlegel Margarethe Sylva Elisabeth Wisniewski (né Schlegel, 31 December 1899 – 15 July 1987), known professionally as Margarete Schlegel, was a German theatre and film actress and soprano operetta singer. Early life The sixth of seven children and the ...

. It was adapted from the 1929 novel of the same title by Alfred Döblin, who also co-wrote the screenplay.

Plot

George portrays a blue collar Berliner and small-time criminal recently released from prison who finds himself being drawn into the Berlin underworld of the 1920s after his prostitute lover is murdered. "Yet, despite social upheaval, ...the good among the working class still prove able to live an honest and decent life."

Production

It was filmed on various locations around

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

including the

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

. Jutzi cut out much of the novel's complex story, preferring to focus on just one character. The Film Review Board released the film on September 30, 1931, but with the restriction that it was forbidden for young people. The premiere took place on October 8, 1931 in the Berlin Capitol am Zoo. The film was distributed by Südfilm AG (Berlin).

Cast

References

Bibliography

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External links