''Comedian Harmonists'' (English title: ''The Harmonists'') is a 1997 German film, directed by

Joseph Vilsmaier Joseph Vilsmaier (, 24 January 1939 – 11 February 2020) was a German film director who began his career as a technician and cameraman. He is internationally known for films such as ''Comedian Harmonists (film), Comedian Harmonists''. Life Bo ...

, about the popular German vocal group the

Comedian Harmonists The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Fromm ...

of the 1920s and 1930s. The film was supported by the German and Austrian film fund.

Plot

In 1927, unemployed German-Jewish actor Harry Frommermann is inspired by the American group

The Revelers The Revelers were an American quintet (four close harmony singers and a pianist) popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The Revelers' recordings of "Dinah (song), Dinah", "Ol' Man River, Old Man River", "Valencia (song), Valencia", "Baby Fa ...

to create a German group of the same format. He holds auditions and signs on four additional singers and a pianist. Naming themselves the "Comedian Harmonists", they meet international fame and popularity. However, they eventually run into trouble when the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s come to power, as half the group is Jewish.

Cast

Ben Becker Ben Becker (born 19 December 1964) is a German film, theatre and voice actor. Biography Becker was born in Bremen, the son of actress Monika Hansen and actor Rolf Becker. He is the brother of actress Meret Becker and the stepson of Otto Sande ...

as Robert Biberti *

Heino Ferch Heino Ferch (born 18 August 1963) is a German film, theatre and television actor. His notable film roles include Albert Speer in ''Downfall (2004 film), Downfall'' (2004) and Harry Melchior in The Tunnel (2001 film), ''The Tunnel'' (2001). Biogr ...

as Roman Cycowski *

Ulrich Noethen Ulrich Noethen (born 18 November 1959) is a German actor who has appeared in many movies and TV films. He starred in ''Comedian Harmonists''. He also played Heinrich Himmler twice, in ''Der Untergang'' and ''Mein Führer – Die wirklich wahrst ...

as Harry Frommermann * Heinrich Schafmeister as Erich A. Collin *

Max Tidof Max Tidof (born 1960 in Polch) is a German actor. Life Born 1960 in Polch, he grew up in Hamburg and moved to Munich in 1979 where he started acting in the Theater. His first experiences in TV he made 1983 with the famous German TV series '' ...

as Ari Leschnikoff *

Kai Wiesinger Kai Wiesinger (born 16 April 1966) is a German actor. Life and work Wiesinger began taking private acting lessons as a teenager. After his civil service, he became an acting student in Munich. He has been active on German television and in film ...

as Erwin Bootz *

Meret Becker Meret Becker (; born 15 January 1969) is a German actress and singer. Life and career Meret Becker was born in Bremen, the daughter of the actors Monika Hansen and Rolf Becker but she was raised in Berlin by her mother with her stepfather Ot ...

as Erna Eggstein *

Katja Riemann Katja Hannchen Leni Riemann (, born 1 November 1963) is a German actress. The daughter of two teachers, Riemann grew up in Weyhe, near Bremen. After high school she went to Hamburg to study music and theater. She is the mother of actress Pau ...

as Mary Cycowski * Noemi Fischer as Chantal, Collin's girl friend *

Dana Vávrová Dana Vávrová (; 9 August 1967 – 5 February 2009) was a Czech-German film actress and director. She was one of the most popular German actresses throughout 1980s and early 1990s. After her role in Herbstmilch as Anna Wimschneider in 1989, she ...

as Ursula Bootz *

Otto Sander Otto Sander (; 30 June 1941 – 12 September 2013) was a German film, theater, and voice actor. Life Education and early career Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated in 1961 from the Friedrichgymnasium. After leaving school he s ...

as Bruno Levy * Michaela Rosen as Ramona, brothel madame *

Günter Lamprecht Günter Hans Lamprecht (21 January 1930 – 4 October 2022) was a German film and stage actor, best-known internationally for his leading role in the Fassbinder miniseries '' Berlin Alexanderplatz'' (1980) and as a ship captain in the epic war f ...

Erik Charell Erik Charell (April 8, 1894 – July 15, 1974), born as Erich Karl Löwenberg, was a German theatre and film director, dancer and actor. He is best known as the creator of musical revues and operettas, such as '' The White Horse Inn'' (''Im wei� ...

* Gérard Samaan as Roman's father *

Rolf Hoppe Rolf Hoppe (6 December 1930 – 14 November 2018) was a prolific German stage, cinema, and television actor, who played in more than 400 films in a career which spanned over six decades. To international audiences Hoppe is perhaps best known f ...

as Gauleiter Streicher * Jürgen Schornagel as Reichsmusikdirektor *

Rudolf Wessely Rudolf Wessely (19 January 1925 in Vienna, Austria – 25 April 2016 in Munich, Germany) was an Austrian actor.

as Mr. Grünbaum *

Susi Nicoletti Susi Nicoletti (3 September 1918 – 5 June 2005) was a Bavarian-born actress best remembered today for over 100 supporting roles mostly in comedy films. She was born as Susanne Emilie Luise Adele Habersack in Munich, but spent most of her childh ...

as Mrs. Grünbaum *

Giora Feidman Giora Feidman ( he, גיורא פיידמן; born 25 March 1936) is an Argentine-born Israeli clarinetist who specializes in klezmer music. Biography Giora Feidman was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his Bessarabian Jewish parents immigra ...

as clarinet player * Kathie Lindner as wardrobe mistress * Trude Ackermann as Robert's mother

Reception

''Comedian Harmonists'' succeeded in Europe and was the highest-grossing German film of 1998 with a gross of over $16 million. U.S. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

told critic

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

it was among his favorite films of the year, although the movie did not get widespread release, hence reception in the United States. Bernd Reinhardt of the

World Socialist Web Site The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). It describes itself as an "online newspaper of the international Trotskyist movement". The WSWS publishes articles and analys ...

called it "an exciting film which is well worth seeing and which pays proper attention to the sextet's music." He also remarked on the film's attention to historical detail and the importance of its theme of musical internationalism.

Awards and nominations

At the 1998

German Film Awards German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, ''Comedian Harmonists'' won the awards for Best Fiction Film, Best Editing (for Peter R. Adam), Best Actor (for Ulrich Noethen), Best Supporting Actress (for Meret Becker), and Best Production Design (for Rolf Zehetbauer). Joseph Vilsmaier was nominated for Best Direction, losing to

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...

for ''

The End of Violence ''The End of Violence'' is a 1997 drama film by the German director Wim Wenders. The film's cast includes Bill Pullman, Andie MacDowell, Gabriel Byrne, Traci Lind, Rosalind Chao, and Loren Dean, among others. It also features a soundtrack marked w ...

''. At the 1998

Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are th ...

Joseph Vilsmaier won the awards for

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

. Ben Becker, Heino Ferch, Ulrich Noethen, Heinrich Schafmeister, Max Tidof and Kai Wiesinger won a Special Prize Vilsmaier was nominated for Best Cinematographer for ''Comedian Harmonists'' at the 1998

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

American version

The U.S.

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...

release contains at least one difference from the original: in the original, there is a scene, when the Harmonists arrive in New York and perform in front of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, where the camera singles out one

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

navy man who is visibly enjoying the music, until he gets a stinging look of rebuke from a superior officer. This segment was cut from the American release.

Legacy

The film led to the writing of a musical play, ''Veronika, der Lenz ist da – Die Comedian Harmonists'', which opened at the ''Komödie'' on the

Kurfürstendamm The Kurfürstendamm (; colloquially ''Ku'damm'', ; en, Prince Elector Embankment) is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former ''Kurfürsten'' (prince-electors) of Brandenburg. The broad, long boulevar ...

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 ...

on 19 December 1997. When this production closed, the actors who had played the original sextet formed themselves into a new group called the

Berlin Comedian Harmonists The Berlin Comedian Harmonists are a German vocal ensemble from Berlin, formed in 1997 and committed to recreating the repertoire of the original Comedian Harmonists of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Origin The group has its origins in the ensemb ...

,Guests for March 3, 2001 (Berlin)
at prairiehome.publicradio.org, accessed 4 February 2012 which is still in existence in 2021.

Notes

External links

* * {{Authority control 1997 films 1990s biographical films Biographical films about singers Films about musical groups Films directed by Joseph Vilsmaier Films scored by Harald Kloser Films set in Berlin Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films about Nazi Germany German biographical films Jazz films Cultural depictions of classical musicians Cultural depictions of jazz musicians Cultural depictions of German men 1990s German films