''Hocuspocus'' (german: Hokuspokus) is a 1930

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 ...

''parallel version'' directed by

Gustav Ucicky Gustav Ucicky (6 July 1899 – 27 April 1961) was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He was one of the more successful directors in Austria and Germany from the 1930s through to the early 1960s. His work covered a wid ...

, starring Anglo-German

Lilian Harvey Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...

Willy Fritsch Willy Fritsch (27 January 1901 – 13 July 1973) was a German theater and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s. Biography Early life He was born Wilhelm Egon Fritz Fritsch, the only s ...

, and

Oskar Homolka Oskar Homolka (August 12, 1898 – January 27, 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and America. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officials, for w ...

. It was the first adaptation of the 1926 play ''Hokuspokus'' by

Curt Goetz Curt Goetz (; 17 November 1888 – 12 September 1960), born Kurt Walter Götz, was a Swiss German writer, actor and film director. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant German comedy writers of his time. With his wife Valérie von Marten ...

, but used different role names. After unsuccessful painter Paul Kellermann has disappeared, interest in his paintings rises, until his soft-spoken widow Kitty Kellermann is accused to have murdered her husband by drowning him in a lake. A mysterious person warns the court president Grandt that somebody wants to kill him, and he sends a telegram to his friend and lawyer to come for support. The night before the court session that likely will sentence her, a surprise visitor shows up at night and seemingly provides ample evidence that his friend and lawyer, knowing about the terms in the testament, has the intention to take advantage of that, having bought a ticket well before he received the telegram. After making his point that things are not always as they may seem, as simple sleight of hand "

hocus-pocus Hocus-pocus is a reference to the actions of magicians, often as the stereotypical magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of change. It was once a common term for a magician, juggler, or other similar entertainers. In extended usage, ...

" tricks and a forged date on a ticket apparently had convinced the judge within minutes that his long-term friend has evil intentions, the visitor declares that he is Peter Bille, a former circus artist, escape artist, illusionist, speed painter, trick shooter and jurist, and that he will defend poor and innocent Mrs. Kellermann because her lawyer has stepped down. The film sets were designed by the art directors

Robert Herlth Robert Herlth (2 May 1893 – 6 January 1962) was a German art director. He was one of the leading designers of German film sets during the 1920s and 1930s.Reimer & Reimer p.146 Filmography * ''Masks'' (1920) * '' Island of the Dead'' (1921) * ...

and

Walter Röhrig Walter Röhrig (13 April 1897 – 1945) was a German art director.Stephens p.163 Selected filmography * '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920) * ''Masks'' (1920) * ''Parisian Women'' (1921) * '' Island of the Dead'' (1921) * ''Miss Julie'' (192 ...

. Both versions were shot at the

Babelsberg Studio Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...

s. The English-language version was made at the same time, '' The Temporary Widow'', the title referring to one of the paintings. Also directed by Ucicky and starring bi-lingual Lilian Harvey, Laurence Olivier acted in his first full movie. Two more German movies were made after the war, this time with the original role names (Agda Kjerulf instead of Kitty Kellermann etc.), with Goetz in 1953, and after Goetz's death in color in 1966.

Cast

as Kitty Kellermann *

as Peter Bille *

as Grandt *

Gustaf Gründgens Gustaf Gründgens (; 22 December 1899 – 7 October 1963), born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg ...

as Dr. Wilke *

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 ...

as Dr. Schüler *Fritz Schmuck as Hartmann * Ferdinand von Alten as Lindborg *

Harry Halm Harry Halm (born Harry Hermann Hahn; 17 January 1901 – 22 November 1980) was a German film actor. He was the son of director Alfred Halm and took acting lessons with Eduard von Winterstein and Hermann Vallentin. He began his stage career in 191 ...

as Kolbe * Rudolf Biebrach as Morchen * René Hubert as Loiret *

Kurt Lilien Kurt Lilien (born Kurt Lilienthal; 6 August 1882 – 28 May 1943) was a German actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1919 and 1933. Lilien was born into a Jewish family, Lilien would be arrested and sent to Sobibor extermination camp by the ...

as Kulicke *Ruth Albu as Anny Sedal *

Max Ehrlich Max Michaelis Ehrlich (7 December 1892 – 1 October 1944) was a German actor, screenwriter, and director on the German theater, comedy and cabaret scene of the 1930s. Ehrlich began his career in the 1920s at various theatres, including leadin ...

as Kuhnen

References

External links

* Films of the Weimar Republic 1930 comedy films German multilingual films Films directed by Gustav Ucicky German films based on plays Films based on works by Curt Goetz German courtroom films Films about fictional painters UFA GmbH films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios German black-and-white films German comedy films 1930 multilingual films Films scored by Robert Stolz 1930s German films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub