''Happiness is the Main Thing'' (german: Hauptsache glücklich) is a 1941 German

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Theo Lingen Theo Lingen (; 10 June 1903 – 10 November 1978), born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960. Life and c ...

and starring

Heinz Rühmann Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...

Hertha Feiler Hertha Feiler (3 August 1916, Vienna – 1 November 1970, Munich) was an Austrian actress. She was married to the comedian Heinz Rühmann with whom she starred in several films. She was of Jewish descent. Filmography * '' Darling of the Sailors ...

and

Ida Wüst Ida Wüst (; 10 October 1884 – 4 October 1958) was a German stage and film actress whose career was prominent in the 1920s and 1930s with Universum Film AG (UFA). Life and career Little is known about Ida Wüst's early childhood. She discovere ...

.Hake p. 94 It was shot at the

Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Firs ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and the Hostivar Studios in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. 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 ...

s Rudolf Pfenninger and

Ludwig Reiber Ludwig Reiber (1904–1979) was a German art director.Capua p.159 The veteran Reiber worked on film and television set design from the silent era to the early 1970s. He was employed by the Munich-based Bavaria Film at the Emelka Studios. He worked ...

. It premiered at the

Gloria-Palast The Gloria-Palast was a German cinema located on the Kurfürstendamm in the German capital Berlin. It was constructed in 1924 and replaced the existing neo-Baroque Romanischen Hauses designed by Franz Heinrich Schwechten. It became a common loc ...

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 ...

Synopsis

Rühmann plays a recently married employee of a large company.

Cast

as Axel Roth *

as Uschi Roth *

as Frau Lind *

Hans Leibelt Hans Leibelt (11 March 1885 in Leipzig, German Empire – 3 December 1974 in Munich, West Germany) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * ''Heimliche Sünder'' (1926) * '' The False Prince'' (1927) * ''The Man in Search of His Murd ...

as Generaldirektor Arndt *

Arthur Wiesner Arthur Wiesner (1895–1980) was a German stage and film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as ...

as Standesbeamter *

Jane Tilden Jane Tilden, born as Marianne Wilhelmine Tuch, (1910–2002) was an Austrian actress who enjoyed a long career on stage and in films and television shows. She was born as Marianne Tuch in Aussig, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She was ...

as Liselotte / Daisy *

Fritz Odemar Fritz Odemar (13 January 1890 – 6 June 1955) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1927 and 1955. He was born in Hannover, Germany and died in Munich, Germany. Odemar's father was the actor Fritz Odemar Sr. (K ...

as Generaldirektor Zimmermann *

Max Gülstorff Max Walter Gülstorff (23 March 1882 – 6 February 1947) was a German actor and stage director. Biography Gülstorff was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. He first appeared in 1900 at the Rudolstadt municipal Theater and moved to Cottbus in 1908. ...

as Bürovorsteher Binder *

Hilde Wagener Hilde Wagener (26 September 1904 – 26 December 1992) was a German-born actress who settled in Austria. Primarily a stage actress, she also appeared in several films, such as ''The Burning Secret'' (1933), generally in supporting roles.Goble p.519 ...

as Frau Bertyn *

Arthur Schröder Arthur Schröder (20 February 1892 – 4 February 1986) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' The Queen's Love Letter'' (1916) * '' Cain'' (1918) * '' Mania'' (1918) * '' Just Once a Great Lady'' (1934) * '' Hubertus Castle'' (1934) * '' ...

as Lawyer Mohrig *

Annemarie Holtz Annemarie (or Annamarie, Annmarie) is a Danish, Dutch and German feminine given name. It is merging of the names Anne and Marie. Notable people named Annemarie * Annemarie Biechl (born 1949), German politician * Annemarie Bischofberger (born 19 ...

as Betty Arndt *

Karl Etlinger Karl Etlinger (16 October 1879 – 8 May 1946) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1946. Selected filmography * '' The Eternal Curse'' (1921) * ''The Poisoned Stream'' (1921) * '' The Films of Princ ...

as Juwelier * Ernst G. Schiffner as Steuerbeamter *

Hans Paetsch Hans Paetsch (7 December 1909 – 3 February 2002) was a German actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1939 and 2002. He is most notable for his voice acting, especially as a narrator of fairy tales and audio dramas. Selected filmography * ...

as Unverheiratetet Kollege *

Hilde Sessak Hilde Sessak (27 July 1915 – 17 April 2003) was a German actress who appeared in more than ninety film and television series during her career. She appeared in a number of films during the Nazi era including ''Quax the Crash Pilot'' (1941).Rei ...

Theo Shall Theo Shall (1896–1955) was a German stage and film actor.Goble p. 330 He was born in Metz when it was part of the German Empire but left following its occupation by France following the First World War. Selected filmography * ''Das Spielzeug v ...

Hans Zesch-Ballot Hans Zesch-Ballot (20 May 1896 – 1 September 1972) was a German film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern m ...

References

Bibliography

* Hake, Sabine. ''Popular Cinema of the Third Reich''. University of Texas Press, 2001.

External links

* 1941 films Films of Nazi Germany German comedy films 1941 comedy films 1940s German-language films German black-and-white films Bavaria Film films Films shot at Bavaria Studios 1940s German films {{1940s-Germany-film-stub