''Master of Life and Death'' (German: ''Herr über Leben und Tod'') is a 1955 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

Victor Vicas Victor Vicas (25 March 1918 – 9 December 1985) was a Russian-born French film director and screenwriter. His film ''The Wayward Bus'' was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. Between 1974 and 1983 he directed all thirty ...

and starring

Maria Schell Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...

Ivan Desny Ivan Desny (born Ivan Nikolaevich Desnitskij; 28 December 1922 – 13 April 2002) was a Chinese-born actor of Russian descent. Early life Desny was born in Peking, China. Career Desny was a film actor. Bilingual in French and German, he acted ...

and Wilhelm Borchert. It was shot at the

Spandau Studios The Spandau Studios or CCC Studios were film and television studios located in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. They were established in 1949 following the Second World War by the producer Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; ...

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

and on location around the city and in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. 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 ...

Hans Ledersteger Hans Ledersteger (1898–1971) was an Austrian art director who worked for many years in the German film industry. While mainly employed in Germany, he occasionally also worked in other countries such as Italy and his native Austria including on s ...

and

Ernst Richter Ernst Friedrich Eduard Richter (24 October 18089 April 1879), was a German musical theorist and composer, born at Großschönau, Saxony. He first studied music at Zittau, and afterwards at Leipzig, where he attained so high a reputation that in ...

. It is based on the 1938 novel of the same title by

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was t ...

.Goble p.796

Synopsis

Barbara is married to the distinguished

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

Georg Bertram who once saved her father's life. When they have a mentally handicapped child together his clinical coldness comes to the fore and he wants to commit

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

on the child. She stops him and takes the child away to

in the hope that a change of location and nursing will help them to improve. While there she encounters a much more sympathetic doctor.

Cast

as Barbara Bertram, geb. Hansen *

as Dr. Daniel Karentis * Wilhelm Borchert as Professor Georg Bertram *

Olga Limburg Olga Limburg (5 April 1881 – 7 March 1970) was a German theater and film actress. She began her artistic career in 1901 with a commitment at the Municipal Theatre of Poznan. Since 1902, she played at several of Berlin's leading theaters includi ...

as Anna Bertram *

Walter Bluhm Walter Bluhm (5 August 1907 – 2 December 1976) was a German film and television actor. Partial filmography * '' Glückspilze'' (1935) - Georg Lewaldt * ''Hermine und die sieben Aufrechten'' (1935) * ''The Beaver Coat'' (1937) - Schreiber G ...

as Werner Hansen *

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 Dr. Peter *

Reinhold Bernt Reinhold Bernt (19 December 1902 – 26 October 1981) was a German film actor. Bernt was born Reinhold Bienert in Berlin and died in West Berlin. Career Bernt's acting career began in Stuttgart with a theater debut. Soon after, he traveled to B ...

as Bahnwärter *

Harry Giese Harry Giese (2 March 1903 – 20 January 1991) was a Germans, German theatre and voice actor, voice actor born in Magdeburg, Province of Saxony. He is best known for providing voiceovers on German newsreels during the Second World War especially D ...

as Professor Reichert *

Héléna Manson Elena Eugenia Manson (18 August 1898 – 15 September 1994) was a French film actress. She appeared in more than 100 films between 1925 and 1989. Selected filmography * ''La vocation d'André Carel'' (1925) – L'amoureuse de Cardan * ''Th ...

as Louise Kerbrec *

Daniel Mendaille Daniel Mendaille (27 November 1885 – 17 May 1963) was a French stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly sixty years. Early life Born Daniel Henri Elie Mendaille in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Mendaille studied architecture at the Académie ...

as Monsieur Kerbrec

References

Bibliography

* Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. ''The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009. * Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* 1955 films 1955 drama films German drama films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Victor Vicas 1950s German films Films shot at Spandau Studios Films shot in France Films shot in Berlin Films set in Brittany Gloria Film films Films based on German novels {{1950s-Germany-film-stub