''Black Roses'' (german: Schwarze Rosen) is a 1935 German
historical 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
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006.
The son o ...
and starring
Lilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...
,
Willy Fritsch
Willy Fritsch (27 January 1901 – 13 July 1973) was a German theater and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s.
Biography Early life
He was born Wilhelm Egon Fritz Fritsch, the only s ...
and
Willy Birgel
Willy Birgel (19 September 1891 – 29 December 1973), born Wilhelm Maria Birgel, was a German theatre and film actor.
Career
Birgel began his acting career before World War I on the stage in his native city of Cologne, and came to movies ra ...
. A separate English-language version ''
Black Roses'' was also made with Harvey reprising her role opposite
Esmond Knight
Esmond Penington Knight (4 May 1906 – 23 February 1987) was an English actor. He had a successful stage and film career before World War II. For much of his later career Knight was half-blind. He had been badly wounded in 1941 while on active ...
. She also starred in a French version. The film was Harvey's
comeback in German cinema, following her attempt to at
Hollywood and then British films. One source suggested that Harvey paid for the English version of the film to be made out of her own money, as she still hoped to break into the English-speaking market.
The film was popular in Germany, partly because it re-teamed Harvey with Fritsch who was constantly romantically linked with her in the media. In fact Harvey was in a long-term relationship with the film's director Paul Martin. Despite the film's success, Harvey quickly moved away from
melodrama to the lighter comedy romances that had originally made her name.
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 ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
with
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.
The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...
around
Harburg a borough of
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
. The film's sets were designed by the
art directors
Erich Kettelhut
Erich Karl Heinrich Kettelhut (1 November 1893 – 13 March 1979) was a German production designer, art director and set decorator. Kettelhut is considered one of the most important artists in the history of early German cinema, mainly for his s ...
and
Max Mellin
Max Mellin (1904–1977) was a German art director.Jacobsen & Prinzler p.275
Selected filmography
* ''Happy Days in Aranjuez'' (1933)
* ''The Girlfriend of a Big Man'' (1934)
* '' Playing with Fire'' (1934)
* '' Marriage Strike'' (1935)
* ''Fresh ...
. The premiere took place at the
Gloria-Palast
The Gloria-Palast was a German Movie theater, cinema located on the Kurfürstendamm in the German capital Berlin. It was constructed in 1924 and replaced the existing Baroque Revival architecture, neo-Baroque Romanischen Hauses designed by Franz ...
.
Synopsis
When
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
was still part of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, a Finnish Revolutionary battling Czarist agents is assisted by a Russian dancer Tania Feorovna, who eventually gives her life for her lover.
Partial cast
*
Lilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...
as Tania Fedorovna
*
Willy Fritsch
Willy Fritsch (27 January 1901 – 13 July 1973) was a German theater and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s.
Biography Early life
He was born Wilhelm Egon Fritz Fritsch, the only s ...
as Erkki Collin
*
Willy Birgel
Willy Birgel (19 September 1891 – 29 December 1973), born Wilhelm Maria Birgel, was a German theatre and film actor.
Career
Birgel began his acting career before World War I on the stage in his native city of Cologne, and came to movies ra ...
as Fürst Abarow
*
Gerhard Bienert
Gerhard Max Richard Bienert (8 January 1898 – 23 December 1986) was a German stage and film actor.
Gerhard Bienert was born in Berlin, Germany and died in the same city in 1986 at age 88.
Selected filmography
* '' Duke Ferrante's End'' (1922)
...
as Niklander
*
Gertrud Wolle
Gertrud Wolle (11 March 1891 – 6 July 1952) was a German film actress.
Selected filmography
* '' Die Insel der Glücklichen'' (1919)
* '' Prince Cuckoo'' (1919)
* '' Roswolsky's Mistress'' (1921)
* '' A Glass of Water'' (1923)
* ''Burglars'' ...
as Die Wirtschafterin
*
Klaus Pohl as Polizeiagent
*
Heinz Wemper as Kosak Iwanoff
*
Franz Klebusch
Franz Klebusch (22 January 1887 – 25 May 1951) was a German stage and film actor. Klebusch appeared in 27 films during his career including a small role in the anti-Semitic film ''Jud Süß'' (1940).Picart p.396
Selected filmography
* '' A Murd ...
as Fischer
*
Ullrich Klein as Offizier
*
Kurt von Ruffin as 1. Adjutant
*
Hermann Frick Hermann or Herrmann may refer to:
* Hermann (name), list of people with this name
* Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language
* Éditions Hermann, French publisher
* Hermann, Mis ...
as 2. Adjutant
Reception
The Österreichische Film-Zeitung reported in its edition of December 27, 1935: "Paul Martin staged the film, which is rich in gripping scenes and whose exciting plot is well structured, with a great deal of sensitivity for what is cinematically effective. Scenes of oppressive drama are delightfully staged, or ballet pictures full of grace."
Paimann's Filmlisten found: "The plot slows down a bit after an excellent start, but increases noticeably towards the end. It has its most essential support in the leading couple. The dialogue is sparse, apt and is underlined by shot-rich camera work. Schröder's music is used with moderation, the presentation ... authentic (turn of the century)...".
[ in: Paimann’s Filmlisten]
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
1935 films
Films of Nazi Germany
German historical drama films
German black-and-white films
1930s historical drama films
1930s German-language films
Films directed by Paul Martin
Films set in Finland
Films set in the 1900s
German multilingual films
UFA GmbH films
1935 multilingual films
1935 drama films
Films shot at Babelsberg Studios
Films shot in Hamburg
1930s German films
{{1930s-Germany-film-stub