''Diesel'' is a 1942 German

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

directed by

Gerhard Lamprecht Gerhard Lamprecht (6 October 1897 – 4 May 1974) was a German film director, screenwriter and film historian. He directed 63 films between 1920 and 1958. He also wrote for 26 films between 1918 and 1958. Life and career Lamprecht was fasci ...

and starring

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 ...

Hilde Weissner Hilde Weissner (3 July 1909 – 30 May 1987) was a German actress. Life and career Born on 3 July 1909 in Stettin, Germany (in what is, today, Szczecin, Poland), Hilde Weissner made her theatrical acting debut at the Schiller-Theatre in Hamburg- ...

, and

Paul Wegener Paul Wegener (11 December 1874 – 13 September 1948) was a German actor, writer, and film director known for his pioneering role in German expressionist cinema. Acting career At the age of 20, Wegener decided to end his law studies and conce ...

. It portrays the life of

Rudolf Diesel Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (, ; 18 March 1858 – 29 September 1913) was a German inventor and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer who is famous for having invented the diesel engine, which burns diesel fuel; both are named after him. ...

, the German inventor of the

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

. It was one of a series of prestigious biopics made in Nazi Germany portraying genius inventors or artists struggling against the societies in which they live. The film was based on a biography by Eugen Diesel, one of Diesel's children. 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 ...

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 ...

. The film's sets were designed by art director

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 ...

. The film was made on a large budget of , but was a popular box office success and was able to recoup its production costs.

Cast

References

Bibliography

External links

* 1942 films 1940s biographical drama films 1940s historical drama films Films of Nazi Germany German biographical drama films German historical drama films 1940s German-language films Films directed by Gerhard Lamprecht Films set in the 1900s Films set in the 1910s Films set in the 19th century Films about technology UFA GmbH films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios German black-and-white films 1942 drama films 1940s German films {{1940s-Germany-film-stub