''Das Riesenrad'' (English: ''The Giant Wheel'') is a 1961 West 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

Géza von Radványi Géza von Radványi (born Géza Grosschmid; 26 September 1907 – 27 November 1986) was a Hungarian film director, cinematographer, producer and writer. Biography Born Géza Grosschmid, he took the name Radványi from his paternal grandmother. ...

. It was entered into the

2nd Moscow International Film Festival The 2nd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 9 to 23 July 1961. The Grand Prix was shared between the Japanese film ''The Naked Island'' directed by Kaneto Shindo and the Soviet film '' Clear Skies'' directed by Grigori Chukhrai. Jur ...

. It was shot at the

Spandau Studios The Spandau Studios or CCC Studios were film and television studios located in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. They were established in 1949 following the Second World War by the producer Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; ...

and on location in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. The 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 ...

Johannes Ott Johannes Ott (1919–1995) was a German art director known for his work in the country's film industry. In the early stages of his career he collaborated frequently with the veteran set designer Erich Kettelhut.Kalat p.129 Selected filmography * ...

and

Willy Schatz Willy Schatz (1903–1976) was a German art director of Baltic German origin. He designed the sets for numerous film productions in post-war West Germany including Fritz Lang's '' The Tiger of Eschnapur'' and '' The Indian Tomb'' in 1959.Langford p ...

Cast

Maria Schell Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...

as Elisabeth von Hill *

O. W. Fischer Otto Wilhelm Fischer (german: O. W. Fischer, ; 1 April 1915 – 29 January 2004) was an Austrians, Austrian film and theatre actor, a leading man of Cinema of Germany, West German cinema during the ''Wirtschaftswunder'' era of the 1950s and 19 ...

as Rudolf von Hill *

Adrienne Gessner Adrienne Gessner (23 July 1896 – 23 June 1987) was an Austrian actress. Gessner appeared in over fifty film and television shows during her career, including the 1955 costume film '. Gessner appeared in a mixture of German and Austrian films dur ...

as Adele von Hill *

Rudolf Forster Rudolf Forster (30 October 1884 – 25 October 1968) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1914 and 1968. His autobiography ''Das Spiel, mein Leben'' was published by Propyläen Verlag in 1967. He was born in Gr� ...

as Hofrat von Hill *

Doris Kirchner Doris Kirchner (3 May 1930 – 26 March 2015) was an Austrian stage, film and television actress. Kirchner died in Ahrensburg, Germany on 26 March 2015, at the age of 84. Selected filmography * '' Fanfare of Marriage'' (1953) * '' Arlette Conqu ...

as Gusti Gräfin Wallburg *

Gregor von Rezzori Gregor von Rezzori (; May 13, 1914 – April 23, 1998), born Gregor Arnulph Herbert Hilarius von Rezzori d’Arezzo, was an Austrian-born, Romanian, German-language novelist, memoirist, screenwriter and author of radio plays, as well as an actor, ...

as Graf Wallburg *

Gusti Wolf Gusti Wolf (11 April 1912 – 5 May 2007) was an Austrian stage, film, and television actress. Born in Vienna, Wolf was adopted by the painter, Felix Albrecht Harta who became her foster father. Wolf made her stage debut at the Burgtheater in ...

as Gisela von Hill *

Alexander Trojan Alexander Trojan (30 March 1914 – 19 September 1992) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 20 films between 1939 and 1977. He starred in the film '' Panoptikum 59'', which was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film ...

as Walter von Hill *

Anita Gutwell Anita Gutwell (later Nussgruber, 14 November 1931 – 5 January 2022) was an Austrian actress who was a leading lady in 1950s classic films. Personal life and death She was married to director Rudolf Nussgruber until his death in 2001. Gutwell ...

as Rita

References

External links

* 1961 films West German films 1960s German-language films German black-and-white films Films directed by Géza von Radványi Films set in Vienna Films set in the 1910s Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s German films based on plays Gloria Film films 1960s historical drama films German historical drama films Films shot at Spandau Studios 1961 drama films 1960s German films {{1960s-drama-film-stub