''It Was Always So Nice With You'' (german: Bei Dir war es immer so schön) is a 1954 West German

musical comedy film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by Hans Wolff and starring

Heinz Drache Heinz Drache (; 9 February 1923 – 3 April 2002) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1953 and 2002. He was born in Essen, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany of lung cancer. Selected filmography * '' Once I ...

Georg Thomalla Georg Thomalla (14 February 1915 – 25 August 1999) was a German actor. He appeared in about one hundred fifty film and television productions between 1939 and 2000 and was widely known in Germany for his comedic roles. Thomalla was well k ...

and Ingrid Stenn.Commire & Klezmer p.253 The Swedish actress

Zarah Leander Zarah Leander (; 15 March 1907 – 23 June 1981) was a Swedish singer and actress whose greatest success was in Germany between 1936 and 1943, when she was contracted to work for the state-owned Universum Film AG (UFA). Although no exact record ...

who had been the leading German film star during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, plays a self-referential role as a maturing film star. The film was intended as a tribute to the composer

Theo Mackeben Relief from Mackeben's tombstone Theo Mackeben, born 5 January 1897 in Preußisch Stargard, Westpreußen, died 10 January 1953 in Berlin, was a German pianist, conductor and composer, particularly of film music.Lamb A. Theo Mackeben. In: ''The Ne ...

with many of his hit songs sung by Leander and

Kirsten Heiberg Kirsten Heiberg (25 April 1907 – 2 March 1976) was a Norwegian/German actress and singer who had a major film career in Germany between 1938 and 1954. She reached the peak of her career in 1942–43, performing in Joseph Goebbels version ...

, another star of the 1940s. It was shot at the

Wandsbek Studios The Wandsbek Studios are film production and television studios located in Wandsbek, a district of the German city of Hamburg. The complex was established in 1948 when Real Film, set up the previous year, acquired a site in Wandsbek for constr ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. 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 ...

Rolf Zehetbauer Rolf Zehetbauer (13 February 1929 – 23 January 2022) was a German production designer, art director and set decorator. Zehetbauer won an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''Cabaret''. He died on 23 January 2022, a ...

Cast

as Peter Martens *

as Karl Holler * Ingrid Stenn as Elisabeth *

Grethe Weiser Grethe Weiser (; 27 February 1903 – 2 October 1970) was a German actress. Biography Born in Hanover, she spent her childhood in Dresden. She escaped from her dominant and sometimes violent father by marrying a Jewish confectionery manufactu ...

as Aunt Martha *

Albrecht Schoenhals Albrecht Moritz James Karl Schoenhals (7 March 1888 – 4 December 1978) was a German film actor. Life Born Moritz James Karl, Albrecht Schoenhals was the son of the German General upper physician Gustav Schoenhals (1855-1930) and an English ...

as Publisher Conrads *

Carsta Löck Carsta Löck (28 December 1902 – 9 October 1993) was a German film actress. Selected filmography * ''Refugees'' (1933) * '' Ripening Youth'' (1933) * '' The Double Fiance'' (1934) * ''Trouble with Jolanthe'' (1934) * ''Police Report'' (1934) ...

as Secretary *

Willy Maertens Willy Maertens (1893–1967) was a German film and television actor. He was married to the actress Charlotte Kramm with whom he had a son Peter Maertens. Selected filmography * ''Attack on Baku'' (1942) - Notar beim dänischen Ölherrn Jenssen ...

as Father Hannemann *

Helmuth Rudolph Helmuth Rudolph (1900–1971) was a German actor. Selected filmography * ''So Ended a Great Love'' (1934) * ''The Last Waltz'' (1934) * '' Blum Affair'' (1948) * '' Blocked Signals'' (1948) * ''Love '47'' (1949) * ''The Prisoner'' (1949) * ''Don' ...

as 2nd Film Director * Robert Kersten as Filmstar *

Willi Forst Willi Forst, born Wilhelm Anton Frohs (7 April 1903 – 11 August 1980) was an Austrian actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer and singer. As a debonair actor he was a darling of the German-speaking film audiences, as a director, one ...

as Film Director *

as Cabarre Singer *

Margot Hielscher Margot Hielscher (29 September 1919 – 20 August 2017) was a German singer and film actress. She appeared in over fifty films between and 1939 and 1994. Hielscher was born in Berlin. In 1957, she was chosen to represent Germany at the Eurovis ...

as Revue Star *

as Filmstar *

Sonja Ziemann Sonja Alice Selma Toni Ziemann (; 8 February 1926 – 17 February 2020) was a German film and television actress. In the 1950s, she was among Germany's most prominent actresses, awarded the 1950 Bambi for appearing, together with Rudolf Prack, ...

as Ballett Dancer * Grete Sellier as Dancer *

Willy Dirtl Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scr ...

as Dancer * Erwin Bredow as Dancer * Arthur Bankmann as Dancer * Helmut Ketels as Dancer * I.P. Schaich as Dancer *

Klaus Zimmermann Klaus Zimmermann (born 8 February 1964 in Würzburg) is a German ancient historian. Klaus Zimmermann, son of Medievalist Gerd Zimmermann, completed his abitur at E.T.A. Hoffmann-Gymnasium Bamberg in 1983. After his military service, Zimmerman ...

as Dancer *

Eddi Arent Gebhardt Georg Arendt (5 May 1925 – 28 May 2013) was a German actor, cabaret artist and comedian. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1956 and 2002. He was born in Danzig, Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) and died in ...

as Peters Begleiter in Hafenbar

References

Bibliography

* Anne Commire & Deborah Klezmer. ''Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, Volume 9''. Yorkin Publications, 1999.

External links

* 1954 films 1954 musical comedy films German musical comedy films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Hans Wolff Films about filmmaking Films about composers Films set in the 1930s Films shot at Wandsbek Studios German black-and-white films 1950s German films {{musical-comedy-film-stub