''His Best Friend'' (German: ''Sein bester Freund'') is a 1929 German
silent action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...
directed by and starring
Harry Piel
Heinrich Piel (12 July 1892 – 27 March 1963), known professionally as Harry Piel, was a prolific German actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer who was involved in over 150 films.
Piel became a director in 1912, turning out such ...
and also featuring
Dary Holm
Dary Holm (born Anna Maria Dorothea Meyer; 16 April 1897 – 29 August 1960) was a German actress. She married film star Harry Piel in 1927. Holm starred alongside Piel in several films, such as ''Johnny Steals Europe'' (1932).Grange p.389
Select ...
and
Grit Haid
Grit Haid (born Margarete Haid, 14 March 1900 – 13 August 1938) was an Austrian stage and film actress.Kapczynski & Richardson p.60 She was the younger sister of the actress Liane Haid. She died in a plane crash in 1938.
Selected filmography
* ...
.
[Bleckman p.460] It was shot at the
Staaken Studios in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
.
The film's sets were designed by the
art director Robert Neppach
Robert Neppach (2 March 1890 – 18 August 1939) was an Austrian architect, film producer and art director. Neppach worked from 1919 in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. He oversaw the art direction of over 80 films during his career, i ...
.
Cast
In alphabetical order
*
Ernst Behmer
Ernst Behmer (22 December 1875 – 26 February 1938) was a prolific German stage and film actor who appeared in more than a hundred films during the silent and early sound eras.
Behmer was born in Königsberg, East-Prussia, Germany (now Kalin ...
as Hochzeitsgast
* Charly Berger as Nachtwächter
*
Maria Forescu
Maria Forescu (15 January 1875 28 October 1947) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian opera singer and film actress. During the silent and talkies era of the German cinema, she appeared in several movies as a supporting actress. When Adolf Hitl ...
as Hochzeitsgast
*
Grit Haid
Grit Haid (born Margarete Haid, 14 March 1900 – 13 August 1938) was an Austrian stage and film actress.Kapczynski & Richardson p.60 She was the younger sister of the actress Liane Haid. She died in a plane crash in 1938.
Selected filmography
* ...
as Nora Sanden
*
Dary Holm
Dary Holm (born Anna Maria Dorothea Meyer; 16 April 1897 – 29 August 1960) was a German actress. She married film star Harry Piel in 1927. Holm starred alongside Piel in several films, such as ''Johnny Steals Europe'' (1932).Grange p.389
Select ...
as Else Kruse
*
Philipp Manning
Philipp Manning (23 November 1869 – 9 April 1951) was a British-born German actor. He was born in Lewisham to a British father and a German mother. He was sent to Germany for his education and settled there. He often played British characters i ...
as Meyer
*
Harry Piel
Heinrich Piel (12 July 1892 – 27 March 1963), known professionally as Harry Piel, was a prolific German actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer who was involved in over 150 films.
Piel became a director in 1912, turning out such ...
as Harry Peters
*
Alexander Sascha as Graf Soderstrom
*
Vera Schmiterlöw as Helga Schott
*
Grit Sloma as Emil Grigoleit
*
Otto Wallburg
Otto Wallburg (21 February 1889 – 29 October 1944) was a German actor and Kabarett performer. He was a prolific film actor during the late silent and early sound era.
Wallburg was born Otto Maximilian Wasserzug in Berlin, the son of a Jewis ...
*
Aruth Wartan
Aruth Wartan (or ''Haruth Vartan'', hy, Հարութ Վարդան, 23 June 1880 – 14 April 1945) was a German film actor of Armenian origin who appeared in around ninety films during his career, generally in supporting roles.
Life and career
B ...
as Boris Radowski
References
Bibliography
* Matias Bleckman. ''Harry Piel: ein Kino-Mythos und seine Zeit''. Filminstitut der Landeshaupstadt Düsseldorf, 1992.
External links
*
1929 films
Films of the Weimar Republic
Films directed by Harry Piel
German silent feature films
Films about dogs
German black-and-white films
Films shot at Staaken Studios
1920s action films
German action films
Silent action films
1920s German-language films
{{Germany-silent-film-stub