''Girls in White'' (german: Mädchen in Weiß) is a 1936 German

musical comedy film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by

Victor Janson Victor Arthur Eduard Janson ( lv, Viktors Artūrs Eduards Jansons; 25 September 1884 – 29 June 1960) was a German stage and film actor and film director of Latvians, Latvian ethnicity. Selected filmography Actor * ''Your Dearest Enemy'' (1916) ...

and starring

Maria Cebotari Maria Cebotari (original name: Ciubotaru, 10 February 1910 – 9 June 1949) was a celebrated Bessarabian-born Romanian soprano and actress, and a significant opera and singing star of the 1930s and 1940s. Beniamino Gigli stated that Cebotari ...

Iván Petrovich Iván Petrovich ( sr, Иван Петровић, Ivan Petrović; 1 January 1894 – 18 October 1962) was a Serbian film actor and singer. He was the first actor from Yugoslavia to have a successful international movie career. Petrovich mainly w ...

and

Hilde von Stolz Hilde von Stolz (8 July 1903 in Segesvár, Nagy-Küküllő County, Austria-Hungary, now Romania – 16 December 1973 in Berlin) was an Austrian-German actress. Von Stolz attended the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and made her debut at the local ...

. It was shot at the

Terra Studios The Terra Studios or Marienfelde Studios were film studios located in the Berlin suburb of Marienfelde. The studios were originally a glasshouse constructed in 1913 by the early company Eiko Film, controlled by the producer Franz Vogel who ha ...

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 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 ...

Set in pre-revolutionary Russia at the

Smolny Institute The Smolny Institute (russian: Смольный институт, ''Smol'niy institut'') is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia. History The building was commissioned from Giacomo Quar ...

, the film tells the story of the young student Daniela, who wants to follow in her mother's footsteps and become an opera singer. The film's most famous song is "I am Here to be Happy" ("Ich bin auf der Welt glücklich zu sein").

Cast

as Daniela *

as Count Feodor Ivanowitsch Schuwalow *

as Natalia (a dancer) *

Georg Alexander Georg Alexander (born Werner Ludwig Georg Lüddeckens; 3 April 1888 – 30 October 1945) was a German film actor who was a prolific presence in German cinema. He also directed a number of films during the silent era. Personal life He was married ...

as Grand Duke Sergej Andrejewitsch *

Ernst Dumcke Ernst Dumcke (13 November 1887 – 21 June 1940) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * ''Panik in Chicago'' (1931) * ''Madame Makes Her Exit'' (1932) * '' Under False Flag'' (1932) * ''My Friend the Millionaire'' (1932) * '' Grandstand ...

as Opera Director *

Hans Junkermann Hennes "Hans" Junkermann (6 May 1934 – 11 April 2022) was a German professional racing cyclist who won 35 road races in 18 seasons from 1956 to 1973. He won the German National Road Race in 1959, 1960, and 1961. Biography Junkermann was bor ...

as General Goremkin (Daniela's uncle) *

Ilse Fürstenberg Ilse Fürstenberg (12 December 1907, in Berlin – 16 December 1976, in Basel) was a German actress, working on stage, screen, television and as voice actress. Selected filmography * ''The Blue Angel'' (1930) - Raths Wirtschafterin / Maid * '' M ...

as Irina (General Goremkin's wife) *

Herta Worell Herta Worell (20 September 1908 – 5 April 1996) was a German actress. She appeared in more than 75 films and television shows between 1934 and 1995. Selected filmography * '' You Are Adorable, Rosmarie'' (1934) * ''If It Were Not for Mus ...

as Vera (schoolgirl) *

Trude Haefelin Trude Haefelin (1 July 1914 – 3 October 2008) was a German film and stage actress. Biography Haefelin grew up in Munich-Schwabing as a half-ore after the father had fallen in the First World War. She attended the Lyzeum of the English Miss ...

as Olga (schoolgirl) * Rosette Zobber as Marina (schoolgirl) *

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 Marignano (conductor) * Norberto Ardelli as Cavallini (a famous tenor) *

Margarete Schön Margarete Schön (born Margarethe Schippang; 7 April 1895 – 26 December 1985) was a German stage and film actress whose career spanned nearly fifty years. She is internationally recognized for her role as Kriemhild in director Fritz Lang's ''Die ...

as Maria Petrowna *

Blandine Ebinger Blandine Ebinger (born Blandine Loeser) (4 November 1899, in Berlin – 25 December 1993, in Berlin) was a German actress and ''chansonniere''. Career Ebinger became acquainted with Friedrich Hollaender in 1919, and with him she became heavi ...

as Lydia Antonowana (nursery school teacher) * Änne von Elms as Gilda in the opera ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...

Criticism

Contemporary American critics complimented Cebotari's work in the "operatic film." ''Variety'' noted that it was "not exactly a second '

Mädchen in Uniform ' ("Girls in Uniform") is a 1931 German romantic drama film based on the play ' (''Yesterday and Today'') by Christa Winsloe and directed by Leontine Sagan with artistic direction from Carl Froelich, who also funded the film. Winsloe also wrote ...

' for world consumption," but praised Cebotari's performance.

References

Bibliography

* Klaus, Ulrich J. ''Deutsche Tonfilme: Jahrgang 1936''. Klaus-Archiv, 1988.

External links

* 1936 films 1936 musical comedy films Films of Nazi Germany German musical comedy films 1930s German-language films Films directed by Victor Janson German black-and-white films 1930s German films Films shot at Terra Studios {{1930s-Germany-film-stub