Gloria Film was a West German

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and

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company. It was established in 1949 by Ilse Kubaschewski. An earlier, unconnected company of the same name had existed during the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

in Germany, and had been absorbed into UFA in the 1920s. During the 1930s an Austrian production company also called itself Gloria. The company was set-up by Kubaschewski, a cinema-owner, who had noted that re-releases of Nazi-era films, particularly those made by UFA were easily outgrossing foreign film imports and post-war realist

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s. Initially her company specialised in acquiring the rights to classic German films, but gradually she began co-funding new films with production companies. In 1953 she set up Divina Film, her own production company.Bergfelder, p. 75. Her initial films re-used many of the stars of Nazi-era cinema such as

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, Marika Rokk and

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but newer stars such as

Ruth Leuwerik Ruth Leuwerik (; 23 April 1924 – 12 January 2016) was a German film actress, one of the most popular stars of German film during the 1950s. She appeared in 34 films between 1950 and 1977. Leuwerik is probably best known for her portrayal of Mar ...

, Maria Schell and

Sonja Ziemann Sonja Alice Selma Toni Ziemann (; 8 February 1926 – 17 February 2020) was a German film and television actress. In the 1950s, she was among Germany's most prominent actresses, awarded the 1950 Bambi for appearing, together with Rudolf Prack, ...

also appeared. Many of the company's films were Heimatfilm and melodramas that were aimed at a primarily female audience. Kubaschewski felt she understood the tastes of the average German housewife, and during the 1950s and early 1960s her judgement proved to be astute. Later Gloria lost its prominence in the mid-1960s as audiences began to change, with the rise of new genres such as the series of Edgar Wallace thrillers and Karl May westerns that attracted a younger, male audience that other companies such as Rialto and

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catered for. The company experimented with sex comedies such as '' Angelique''.

References

Bibliography

*Bergfelder, Tim. ''International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s''. Berghahn Books, 2005. 1949 establishments in Germany German film studios Film production companies of Germany Mass media companies established in 1949 {{film-company-stub