''The Journey to Tilsit'' (German: ''Die Reise nach Tilsit'') is a 1939 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

Veit Harlan Veit Harlan (22 September 1899 – 13 April 1964) was a German film director and actor. Harlan reached the highpoint of his career as a director in the Nazi era; most notably his antisemitic film ''Jud Süß'' (1940) makes him controversial ...

and starring

Kristina Söderbaum Beata Margareta Kristina Söderbaum (5 September 1912 – 12 February 2001) was a Swedish-born German film actress, producer, and photographer. She performed in Nazi-era films made by a German state-controlled production company. Early life S� ...

Philip Dorn Philip Dorn (born Hein van der Niet; 30 September 1901 – 9 May 1975), sometimes billed as Frits van Dongen (his screen name for German films prior to World War II), was a Dutch American actor who had a career in Hollywood. He was best kn ...

and

Anna Dammann Anna Dammann (19 Sept 1912 in Hamburg – 30 Sept 1993 in Munich) was a German stage and film actress. She was married to Walter Geese.https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0198883/bio Selected filmography * ''Sergeant Schwenke'' (1935) * ''The Journey to ...

Synopsis

Elske faithfully loves her husband Endrik as he is seduced by a foreign schemer, Madlyn. Madlyn persuades him to murder Elske and run off with her. He lures Elske into the boat as a prelude to drowning her. Though he is unable to carry it out, she realizes his intent. When they reach the shore, she flees to the city of

Tilsit Sovetsk (russian: Сове́тск; german: Tilsit; Old Prussian: ''Tilzi''; lt, Tilžė; pl, Tylża) is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River which forms the border with Lithuania. Geography Sov ...

, and he follows to plead for forgiveness. They return, and a storm blows up while they are in the boat. Endrik gets ashore, but believes Elske to have drowned. He reacts with anger to Madlyn, but learns that Elske did survive.

Cast

as Elske Settegast *

as Endrik Settegast *

as Madlyn Sapierska *

Albert Florath Albert Peter Adam Florath (7 December 1888, Bielefeld – 11 March 1957, Gaildorf) was a German stage and film actor. Early life and education Born to Joseph Florath, a locksmith, and his wife Matilda, née Burkart, he attended school in Brak ...

as Lehrer *

Ernst Legal Ernst Otto Eduard Legal (2 May 1881 – 29 June 1955) was a German actor and opera director of Berlin State Opera. Born on 2 May 1881 in Schlieben in the Prussian Province of Saxony, he was the father of the actress Marga Legal. He died in Berli ...

as Herr Wittkuhn * Manny Ziener as Frau Papendieck * Charlotte Schultz as Frau Wittkuhn *

Eduard von Winterstein Eduard Clemens Franz Anna Freiherr von Wangenheim (1 August 1871 – 22 July 1961), known as Eduard von Winterstein, was an Austrian-German film actor who appeared in over one hundred fifty German films during the silent and sound eras. He was ...

as Erwin Bohrmann *

Clemens Hasse Clemens Hasse (13 April 1908 – 28 July 1959) was a German actor and synchroniser. Biography Hasse was born in Königsberg, East Prussia to a public official and attended his stage education at the ''Preussisches Staatstheater'' in Berlin. Be ...

as Junger Mann aus der Straßenbahn *

Jakob Tiedtke Jakob Karl Heinrich Wilhelm Tiedtke (23 June 1875 – 30 June 1960) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1914 and 1955. Selected filmography * ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1918 film), The Pied Piper of Hamel ...

as Gastwirt *

Paul Westermeier Paul Westermeier (9 July 1892 – 17 October 1972) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * '' Wedding in the Eccentric Club'' (1917) * ''Agnes Arnau and Her Three Suitors'' (1918) * ''About the Son'' (1921) * '' Memoirs of a Film Actre ...

as Ausrufer *

Wolfgang Kieling Wolfgang Kieling (16 March 1924 – 7 October 1985) was a German actor. Biography In films since childhood in his native Germany, Kieling appeared in a few American films, notably in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Torn Curtain'' (1966), where he played ...

as Klein Franz *

Joachim Pfaff Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

as Klein Jons *

Heinz Dugall The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contine ...

as Klein Wittkuhn * Babsi Schultz-Reckewell as Mariechen *

Lotte Spira Lotte Spira (; 24 April 1883 – 17 December 1943) was a German stage and film actress. She appeared in supporting roles in around seventy films. She was married to the Austrian actor Fritz Spira in 1905. In 1934 she divorced her Jewish husband ...

as Frau im Café *

Eduard Wenck Eduard Model Accessories is a Czech manufacturer of plastic models and finescale model accessories. Formed in 1989 in the city of Most, Eduard began in a rented cellar as a manufacturer of photoetched brass model components. Following the succ ...

as Dorfbewohner *

Alfred Karen Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

as Besitzer des Pelzgeschäfts * Heinz Müller as Dicker Mann auf dem Jahrmarkt *

Ferdinand Robert Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

as Gast im Cafe in Tilsit * Betty Waid as Alte Frau aus dem Dorf *

Max Wilmsen Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

as Begleiter, der Frau im Cafe *

Bruno Ziener Bruno Ziener (11 June 1870 – 9 February 1941) was a German stage and film actor and director. He appeared in over 100 films between 1913 and 1941. He also directed 28 silent films such as '' The Flight into Death'' (1921).Grange p. 95 Selected ...

as Ober im Cafe

Motifs

Elske, as is typical for

's roles, is a model of patient, virtuous and old-fashioned wifehood and of pure and healthy Aryan stock, stemming from her

country living ''Country Living'' is an American lifestyle and home magazine published by the Hearst Corporation since 1978. The monthly magazine focuses on food, home renovation, home decor, DIY and lifestyle. The magazine hosts four Country Living Fairs a ye ...

, whereas her rival is Polish, promiscuous, and city-dwelling, an obvious product of "asphalt culture".Cinzia Romani, ''Tainted Goddesses: Female Film Stars of the Third Reich'' p 84–86 Her victory reflected a need to avoid temptation to adultery, when many families were separated.Cinzia Romani, ''Tainted Goddesses: Female Film Stars of the Third Reich'' p 20

Production

The film is a sound remake of the 1927 silent film '' Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'', which was based on

Hermann Sudermann Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. Life Early career Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai and Šilutė, i ...

's 1917 short story "The Excursion to Tilsit", from the collection with the same title. Harlan maintained it was a true film, whereas ''Sunrise'' was only a poem, and it did avoid the symbols and soft focus of that film for more realism. It was shot at the

Johannisthal Studios The Johannisthal Studios were film studios located in the Berlin area of Johannisthal. Founded in 1920 on the site of a former airfield, they were a centre of production during the Weimar and Nazi eras. Nearly four hundred films were made at Johan ...

in Berlin and on location in Memel, where the action takes place.Cinzia Romani, ''Tainted Goddesses: Female Film Stars of the Third Reich'' p86

Premiere

Magda Goebbels Johanna Maria Magdalena "Magda" Goebbels (née Ritschel; 11 November 1901 – 1 May 1945) was the wife of Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. A prominent member of the Nazi Party, she was a close ally, companion, and politic ...

ostentatiously left the premiere, owing to the accidental resemblance between it and her own situation, where

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

carried on with the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

actress

Lída Baarová Lída Baarová (born Ludmila Babková; 7 September 1914 – 27 October 2000) was a Czech actress who for two years was the mistress of the Nazi propaganda minister of Germany, Joseph Goebbels. Biography Life and career Born in Prague, Baarová ...

. (It was similarly resolved, with the actress being sent back to Czechoslovakia, and Hitler himself informing Goebbels that there would be no divorce.)

Citations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Journey to Tilsit, The 1939 films Films of Nazi Germany 1930s German-language films Films based on works by Hermann Sudermann Films directed by Veit Harlan 1939 drama films German drama films Remakes of American films Sound film remakes of silent films Tobis Film films Films shot at Johannisthal Studios German black-and-white films 1930s German films