''Impossible Love'' (german: Unmögliche Liebe) is a 1932 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- ...

directed by

Erich Waschneck Erich John Waschneck (29 April 1887, in Grimma, Kingdom of Saxony – 22 September 1970, in Berlin) was a German cameraman, director, screenwriter, and film producer. Early life Erich was the son of Karl Hermann Waschneck, a blacksmith, and hi ...

and starring

Asta Nielsen The General Students' Committee (German: Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss) or AStA, is the acting executive board and the external representing agency of the (constituted) student body at universities in most German states. It is therefore consid ...

, Ery Bos and Ellen Schwanneke. It was the final film of Nielsen, and the only

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decad ...

she appeared in. It premiered at the Mozartsaal in

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 constitu ...

. Neilsen had been a major star during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the early 1920s but her screen career gradually declined and she hadn't appeared in a film since '' That Dangerous Age'' in 1927. Four years after making ''Impossible Love'' she returned to her native

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. It is also known by the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the ...

of ''Crown of Thorns''. The film is based on the 1929 novel of the same title by

Alfred Schirokauer Alfred Schirokauer (13 July 1880 – 27 October 1934) was a German novelist and screenwriter.Soister p.193 He also directed three films during the silent era. Many films were based on his novels including several adaptations of ''Lucrezia Borgia'' ...

. It was shot at the

Johannisthal Studios The Johannisthal Studios were film studios located in the Berlin area of Johannisthal. Founded in 1920 on the site of a former airfield, they were a centre of production during the Weimar and Nazi eras. Nearly four hundred films were made at Joha ...

. 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 and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Hans Jacoby.Klaus p.246

Synopsis

The widowed Vera Holgk arrived in Germany from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

in 1917 and raised her two daughters alone. Working as a successful

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

she has provided for them, directing her whole energies towards their wellbeing. Now both are grown up, one a

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...

and the other employed in a

photographic studio A photographic studio is often a business owned and represented by one or more photographers, possibly accompanied by assistants and pupils, who create and sell their own and sometimes others’ photographs. Since the early years of the 20th c ...

, and contemplating marriage. Vera has more free time and after encountering the charming, younger fellow sculptor Professor Steinkampp, she is persuaded to enter a major competition. Over time their relationship develops into a romance. Her daughters are at first disbelieving and not suspicious about the secret affair. Vera wins the first prize, but an embittered former lover of Steinkampp maliciously breaks news of to a newspaper

gossip columnist A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal l ...

a major scandal breaks out along with several false claims. This threatens the respectable marriage her eldest daughter hopes to make. Worse Vera is devastated to discover that Steinkampp is already married, his deranged but loving wife lives in an

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

. Vera visits her and realises that her own relationship is doomed.

Cast

as Vera Holgk * Ery Bos as Nora, ihre Tochter * Ellen Schwanneke as Toni, ihre Tochter * Hans Rehmann as Prof. Steinkampp * Elisabeth Wendt as Katharina Steinkampp, seine Frau *

Anton Pointner Anton Pointner (8 December 1894 in Salzburg – 8 September 1949 in Hintersee) was an Austrian stage and film actor. Pointner's career began on the stages of Austria and performed in both silent and sound films in his native Austria, as well ...

as Leopold von Möllendorf *

Walter Steinbeck Walter Steinbeck (26 September 1878 – 27 August 1942) was a German film actor. Steinbeck was born in Niederlößnitz (now Radebeul), Saxony, Germany. He died at age 63 in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * ''The Romance of a Poor Sinn ...

as Konsul Werner *

Lotte Spira Lotte Spira (; 24 April 1883 – 17 December 1943) was a German stage and film actress. She appeared in supporting roles in around seventy films. She was married to the Austrian actor Fritz Spira in 1905. In 1934 she divorced her Jewish husban ...

as Fr. Konsul Werner *

Carl Balhaus Carl Balhaus (born Carl Ballhaus; 4 November 1905 – 28 July 1968) was a German stage and film actor. After the Second World War he worked as screenwriter and director for the East German state-owned studio DEFA. He was an uncle of the Academ ...

as Erwin Hammer *

Hilde Hildebrand Emma Minna Hilde Hildebrand (10 September 1897 – 12 May 1976) was a German actress born in Hanover, Germany on 10 September 1897. She died at the age of 78 in Grunewald, Berlin, on 27 May 1976. Selected filmography * ''Die Scheidungsehe ...

as Frl. Martini *

Julius Falkenstein Julius Falkenstein (25 February 1879 – 9 December 1933) was a German stage and film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1914 and 1933. Falkenstein was Jewish, but secured a special permit to continue making ...

as Zimmermann - Diener von Prof. Steinkampp *

Werner Scharf Werner Scharf (19 September 1905 – 30 April 1945) was a German actor. He appeared in more than 45 films between 1929 and 1945. Personal life Scharf served in the ''Volkssturm'' during the Second World War and was killed in action on 30 A ...

as Hagedorf, Redakteur der 'Gerechtigkeit' * Tamara Oberländer *

Katja Bennefeld Katja Bennefeld was a German film actress, active in the 1930s.Giesen p.202 Selected filmography * '' Impossible Love'' (1932) * '' Eight Girls in a Boat'' (1932) * ''The Champion of Pontresina'' (1934) * '' An Evening Visit'' (1934) * ''I for Yo ...

Eugen Burg Eugen Burg (6 January 1871 – 17 April 1944) was a German actor. His daughter was Hansi Burg. Burg was a close friend of the actor Hans Albers. Burg was born Eugen Hirschburg into a Jewish family, but later converted to Protestantism. He was b ...

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 ...

* Alfred Haase * Friedrich Ettel

References

Bibliography

* * Klaus, Ulrich J. ''Deutsche Tonfilme: Jahrgang 1932''. Klaus-Archiv, 1988.

External links

* 1932 films 1932 drama films Films of the Weimar Republic German drama films 1930s German-language films Films directed by Erich Waschneck German black-and-white films Films shot at Johannisthal Studios 1930s German films {{1930s-Germany-film-stub