''King in Shadow'' (german: Herrscher ohne Krone) is a 1957 Western German
historical drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
film directed by
Harald Braun
Harald Braun (26 April 1901 – 24 September 1960) was a German film director, screenwriter and film producer. He directed 21 films between 1942 and 1960.
Selected filmography
* ''The Roundabouts of Handsome Karl'' (dir. Carl Froelich, 193 ...
and starring
O. W. Fischer
Otto Wilhelm Fischer (german: O. W. Fischer, ; 1 April 1915 – 29 January 2004) was an Austrians, Austrian film and theatre actor, a leading man of Cinema of Germany, West German cinema during the ''Wirtschaftswunder'' era of the 1950s and 19 ...
,
Odile Versois
Odile Versois (born Étiennette de Poliakoff-Baydaroff; 15 June 1930 – 23 June 1980) was a French actress who appeared in 47 film and television productions between 1948 and 1980. Versois was the sister of actresses Marina Vlady, Hélène ...
and
Horst Buchholz
Horst Werner Buchholz (4 December 1933 – 3 March 2003) was a German actor who appeared in more than 60 feature films from 1951 to 2002. During his youth, he was sometimes called "the German James Dean". He is perhaps best known in English- ...
.
[Klossner, Michael. ''The Europe of 1500–1815 on Film and Television: A Worldwide Filmography of Over 2550 Works, 1895 Through 2000''. ]McFarland & Company
McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its former ...
, 2002. p. 175. . The film portrays the interaction of
Johann Friedrich Struensee
Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish governmen ...
a Doctor treating the mentally ill
Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae'' ...
, and his English consort
Caroline Matilda.
It was shot 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 ...
in
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 ...
and
on location in
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
and
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. 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 ...
Walter Haag
Walter Haag (1898–1978) was a German art director. He worked on more than sixty films during his career including the 1940 historical melodrama ''The Heart of a Queen''.Hull p.179-80
Selected filmography
* ''The Private Life of Louis XIV'' (19 ...
.
Cast
*
O. W. Fischer
Otto Wilhelm Fischer (german: O. W. Fischer, ; 1 April 1915 – 29 January 2004) was an Austrians, Austrian film and theatre actor, a leading man of Cinema of Germany, West German cinema during the ''Wirtschaftswunder'' era of the 1950s and 19 ...
as
Friedrich Struensee
*
Odile Versois
Odile Versois (born Étiennette de Poliakoff-Baydaroff; 15 June 1930 – 23 June 1980) was a French actress who appeared in 47 film and television productions between 1948 and 1980. Versois was the sister of actresses Marina Vlady, Hélène ...
as
Queen Mathilde
*
Horst Buchholz
Horst Werner Buchholz (4 December 1933 – 3 March 2003) was a German actor who appeared in more than 60 feature films from 1951 to 2002. During his youth, he was sometimes called "the German James Dean". He is perhaps best known in English- ...
as
King Christian
*
Fritz Tillmann
Fritz Tillmann (December 13, 1910 – October 30, 1986) was a German actor.
Selected filmography
* ''Hoegler's Mission'' (1950) - Fritz Rottmann
* '' The Council of the Gods'' (1950) - Dr. Hans Scholz
* '' Master of Life and Death'' (1955) - Dr ...
as
Count Rantzau
*
Elisabeth Flickenschildt
Elisabeth Ida Marie Flickenschildt (16 March 1905 – 26 October 1977) was a German actress, producer and author. She appeared in dozens of German language films and television productions between 1935–1976.
Flickenschildt was born in Hamburg ...
as
Queen Juliane
*
Ingeborg Schöner
Ingeborg Schöner is a German film and television actress.
Selected filmography
* ''The Silent Angel'' (1954)
* '' The Dark Star'' (1955)
* '' The Captain and His Hero'' (1955)
* '' The First Day of Spring'' (1956)
* ''King in Shadow'' (1957)
...
as
Gertrud von Eyben
*
Günther Hadank
Günther Hadank (20 October 1892, Berlin – 23 August 1973) was a German actor.
Selected filmography
* ''Grand Hotel'' (1927)
* '' Fair Game'' (1928)
* ''Rasputin'' (1928)
* '' Napoleon at St. Helena'' (1929)
* '' M'' (1931)
* ''Yorck'' (1931)
* ...
as
State Minister Count Bernstorff
*
Siegfried Lowitz
Siegfried Lowitz (22 September 1914 – 27 June 1999) was a German actor.
Born in Berlin, he played the Hauptkommissar ''Erwin Köster'' in the German television drama '' Der Alte''.
Prior to his tenure as Hauptkommissar, he played a killer ...
as
Chamberlain Guldberg
*Wilfried Jan Heyn as Baron
Enevold Brandt
Count Enevold Brandt (1738 - 28 April 1772) was a Danish courtier.
Biography
Brandt was born in Copenhagen, and studied law at the University of Copenhagen. He became assistant judge of the Supreme Court of Copenhagen in 1764, royal chamberlai ...
*
Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Georg Bernhard Ritter (6 April 1888, in Bad Sooden-Allendorf – 1 July 1967, in Freiburg) was a nationalist-conservative German historian, who served as a professor of history at the University of Freiburg from 1925 to 1956. He studied u ...
as Dr. Berger
*Peter Esser as Court Chaplain Münter
*
Helmuth Lohner
Helmuth Lohner (24 April 1933 – 23 June 2015) was an Austrian actor, theatre director, and from 1997 to 2006 director of the Theater in der Josefstadt.
Early life
Born in Vienna, Lohner initially trained as a commercial artist, while also taki ...
as Count Holck
See also
*''
The Love of a Queen'' (1923)
*''
The Dictator'' (1935)
*''
A Royal Affair
''A Royal Affair'' ( da, En kongelig affære) is a 2012 drama film directed by Nikolaj Arcel, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Følsgaard. The story is set in the 18th century, at the court of the mentally ill King Christian VI ...
'' (2012)
References
External links
*
1950s historical drama films
German historical drama films
West German films
Films directed by Harald Braun
Films shot at Bavaria Studios
Bavaria Film films
Adultery in films
Films shot in Denmark
Films set in Copenhagen
Films set in the 1770s
Cultural depictions of Christian VII of Denmark
Cultural depictions of Caroline Matilda of Great Britain
1950s German-language films
1950s German films
{{1950s-Germany-film-stub