''House of Life'' (german: Haus des Lebens) is a 1952 West 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

Karl Hartl Karl Hartl (10 May 1899 – 29 August 1978) was an Austrian film director. Life Born in Vienna, Hartl began his film career at the Austrian Sascha-Film company of Alexander Kolowrat and from 1919 was assistant to the Hungarian director Alexande ...

and starring

Gustav Fröhlich Gustav Fröhlich (21 March 1902 – 22 December 1987) was a German actor and film director. He landed secondary roles in a number of films and plays before landing his breakthrough role of Freder Fredersen in Fritz Lang's 1927 film ''Metropoli ...

Cornell Borchers Gerlind Cornell Borchers (16 March 1925 – 12 May 2014) was a Lithuanian-German actress and singer, active in the late 1940s and 1950s. She is best remembered for her roles opposite Montgomery Clift in ''The Big Lift'' (1950) and Errol Flynn and ...

and

Edith Mill Edith Mill (16 August 1925 – 10 November 2007) was an Austrian stage and film actress. Her real name was ''Edith Rosalia Martha Müll,'' Biography Edith Mill was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1925, the daughter of the innkeeper Georg Müll. Tr ...

.Bock & Bergfelder p.139 The film's setting is a

maternity hospital A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most o ...

, portraying the stories of various staff and patients. It was made 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 ...

. The film's sets were designed by

Franz Bi Franz Bi (2 April 1899 – 25 December 1968) was a German art director.Giesen p.197 He worked on the set design of more than forty films during his career, often in collaboration with Bruno Monden. Selected filmography * ''The Rainer Case'' (1942 ...

and

Botho Hoefer Botho Hoefer (1880–1958) was a German art director.Parrill p.231 Selected filmography * '' The Golden Plague'' (1921) * ''Lucrezia Borgia'' (1922) * '' Louise de Lavallière'' (1922) * '' The Evangelist'' (1924) * '' The Hobgoblin'' (1924) * ' ...

Cast

as Dr. Peter Haidt *

as Dr. Elisabeth Keller *

as Oberschwester Hedwig *

Viktor Staal Viktor Staal (17 February 1909 – 4 June 1982) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * '' Everything for the Company'' (1935) * '' Eva, the Factory Girl'' (1935) * ''Das Einmaleins der Liebe'' (1935) * '' The World's in Love'' (1935) ...

as Willi Kuschitzky *

Hansi Knoteck Johanna Knoteck, known as Hansi Knoteck (2 March 1914 – 23 February 2014), was an Austrian film actress. Selected filmography * '' Count Woronzeff'' (1934) * '' Hubertus Castle'' (1934) * '' The Gypsy Baron'' (1935) * ''The Saint and Her F ...

as Else Kuschitzky *

Judith Holzmeister Judith Maria Holzmeister (14 February 1920 – 23 June 2008) was an Austrian actress. Her performances included ''Kunigunde'' opposite Ewald Balser in Franz Grillparzer's ''König Ottokars Glück und Ende'' at the reopening of the famed Vienna ...

as Inge Jolander *

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in ''Des Teufels Gener ...

as Axel Jolander *

Gertrud Kückelmann Gertrud Christine Franziska Kückelmann (3 January 1929 – 17 January 1979) was a German actress. She appeared in more than sixty films from 1949 to 1979. Filmography References External links * 1929 births 1979 deaths German fil ...

as Christine *

Edith Schultze-Westrum Edith Käthe Elisabeth Schultze-Westrum (30 December 1904 – 20 March 1981) was a German film actress. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1932 and 1979. These included the role of Mrs. Hudson in the 1962 film ''Sherlock Holmes and ...

as Josepha Spratt *

Petra Unkel Petra Unkel (3 March 1925 – 2001), also known as Petra Unkel-Klinder, was a Hungarian-born actress of German film, singer, voice actress, radio spokesperson and cabaret artist, who was active in the industry from 1929 until 1958. Life and car ...

as Grit Harlacher *

Elfriede Kuzmany Elfriede Kuzmany (1915–2006) was an Austrian film and television actress.Parrill & Robison p.142 Selected filmography * '' The Falling Star'' (1950) * ''House of Life'' (1952) * ''The River Line'' (1964) * ''The Sternstein Manor'' (1976) * ''De ...

as Frau Frey *

Paula Braend Paula Braend (1905–1989) was a German actress.http://www.volkstheater-fan.de/actors/paula_braend.php Paula Braend Selected filmography * ''A Heart Beats for You'' (1949) * ''After the Rain Comes Sunshine'' (1949) *'' Die Alm an der Grenze'' ( ...

as Frau Wilk *

Claire Reigbert Clair or Claire may refer to: *Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire *Clair (surname) Places Canada * Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska * Clair Parish, New Brunswick * Pointe-Claire, Que ...

as Schwester Sophie *

Franz Muxeneder Franz Muxeneder (19 October 1920 - 3 January 1988) was an Austrian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1948 to 1987. Muxeneder is best known in Great Britain for his part in the Yugoslav-German television series ''The White Hor ...

as Hense *

Erich Ponto Erich Johannes Bruno Ponto (14 December 1884 – 14 February 1957) was a German film and stage actor. Career Erich Ponto was born in Lübeck as the son of a merchant. After his family had moved to Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, he attended the gymnasium ...

as Geheimrat Merk *

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 Portier Kögl *

Joachim Brennecke Joachim Brennecke (6 December 1919 – 6 September 2011) was a German stage and film actor. During the Second World War he had prominent roles in Nazi propaganda films such as ''Attack on Baku'' and ''5 June''.Kreimeier p.347 Selected filmography ...

as Kurt Baumann *

Karlheinz Böhm Karlheinz Böhm (16 March 1928 – 29 May 2014) was an Austrian-German actor and philanthropist. He took part in 45 films and became well known in Austria and Germany for his role as Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis ...

as Pit Harlacher *

Hans Hermann Schaufuß Hans Hermann Schaufuß (13 July 1893 – 30 January 1982) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1922 to 1969. His sons were actors Hans Joachim Schaufuß Hans Joachim Schaufuß (transliterated: Schaufuss) (28 Decemb ...

as Vater Harlacher *

Rudolf Schündler Rudolf Ernst Paul Schündler (17 April 1906, in Leipzig – 12 December 1988, in Munich) was a German actor and director. He played "Karl" in ''The Exorcist'' (1973). After finishing the film ''The Nasty Girl'', Schündler died of a heart attack ...

as Dr. Blümel *

Viktor Afritsch The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

as Dr. Billich *

Fritz Rasp Fritz Heinrich Rasp (13 May 1891 – 30 November 1976) was a German film actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1916 and 1976. His obituary in '' Der Spiegel'' described Rasp as "the German film villain in service, for over 60 years." ...

as Der Verführer

References

Bibliography

* Hans-Michael Bock and Tim Bergfelder. ''The Concise Cinegraph: An Encyclopedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009.

External links

* 1952 films 1952 drama films German drama films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Karl Hartl Films based on German novels Films set in hospitals German pregnancy films Bavaria Film films Films shot at Bavaria Studios German black-and-white films 1950s German films {{1950s-Germany-film-stub