''My Wife Makes Music'' (german: Meine Frau macht Musik) is an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

musical film directed by Hans Heinrich. It was released in 1958, and sold 6,052,050 tickets. It was shot at the

Babelsberg Studios Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

. The film's set's were designed by the art director Oskar Pietsch. The film was very popular at the box office, but drew criticism from East Germany's communist authorities who regarded its style as too close to western commercial cinema.Feinstein p.141

Synopsis

It was a

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

film in which an East Berlin housewife is discovered and turned into a singing star by an Italian, much to her husband's disapproval.

Cast

Lore Frisch Lore Frisch (1925, Schwindegg – 1962, Potsdam) was a German actress. Selected filmography * '' The Blue and White Lion'' (1952) * ''Young Heart Full of Love ''Young Heart Full of Love'' (german: Junges Herz voll Liebe) is a 1953 West Ger ...

as Gerda Wagner * Günther Simon as Gustl Wagner *

Maly Delschaft Martha Amalia "Maly" Delschaft (4 December 1898 – 20 August 1995) was a German stage and film actress. After beginning in theatre, Delschaft switched to silent films. She appeared in mainly supporting roles during the Weimar and Nazi eras. After ...

as Susi Rettig * Alice Prill as Eva Rettig *

Herbert Kiper Herbert Kiper (1897–1978) was a German stage and film actor.Körner p.370 Selected filmography * ''Dancer of Death'' (1920) * '' Without Meyer, No Celebration is Complete'' (1931) * '' Duty Is Duty'' (1931) * '' Quartet of Five'' (1949) * '' He ...

as Fritz Rettig *

Evelyn Künneke Evelyn Künneke (15 December 1921 – 28 April 2001) was a German singer and stage, television and film actress. She was the daughter of the famous composer Eduard Künneke. Selected filmography * '' Goodbye, Franziska'' (1941) * ''Third from ...

as Daisy * Alexander Hegarth as Fabiani *

Manon Damann ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was fir ...

as Soloist Ballett der Komischen Oper Berlin * Walter E. Fuß as Barmixer *

Guido Goroll Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

as Mann in Loge *

Klaus Gross Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American baseba ...

* Paul Heidemann as Direktor Nielsen * Paul R. Henker as U-Bahn-Kontrolleur *

Werner Höllein Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Raid ...

as Soloist Ballett der Komischen Oper *

Katina Imme Katina may refer to * Katina (name) * Katina (Star Fox planet) * Katina ceremony, a Buddhist festival * ''Katina'' (film), 1942 US production with Jack Oakie and Sonja Henie, also known as ''Iceland'' * Katina (island), an island in Croatia *'' ...

as Katharina *

Hans Klering Hans Klering (8 November 1906 – 30 October 1988) was a German actor, director, voice actor, graphic designer and author. He joined the Communist Party and went into exile in the Soviet Union in 1931, returning to Germany in 1945. In 1946, he beca ...

as Hutkäufer *

Ruth Kommerell Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...

as Verkäuferin am Papierwarenstand * Else Korén as Frau des Hutkäufers * Genia Lapuhs * Mario Lerch as Francesco * Werner Lierck as Kunde *

Gitta Lind Gitta Lind (17 April 1925 – 9 November 1974) was a German singer and film actress. Lind was born in Trier as Rita Maria Gracher. During her first employment as a singer she changed her name to Gitta Lind, a tribute to Gitta Alpár and Jenny ...

Alfred Maack Alfred Maack (5 April 1882 – 14 February 1961) was a German stage and film actor. He appeared in more than fifty films from 1937 to 1958. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maack, Alfred 1882 births 1961 ...

as Pförtner * Vladimir Marof as Ballettsolist der Komischen Oper Berlin * Ingeborg Naß * Kurt Schmidtchen as Arthur Papke * Heinz Schubert as Spießer *

Lou Seitz Lou may refer to: __NOTOC__ Personal name * Lou (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lou (German singer) * Lou (French singer) * Lou (surname 娄), the 229th most common surname in China * Lou (surname 楼), the 269th most co ...

as Jette * Friedrich Teitge as Bühnenarbeiter * Nico Turoff

References

Bibliography

* Feinstein, Joshua. ''The Triumph of the Ordinary: Depictions of Daily Life in the East German Cinema, 1949–1989''. University of North Carolina Press, 2002.

External links

* 1958 films East German films Films set in Berlin German musical films 1958 musical films 1950s German-language films Films about singers Films directed by Hans Heinrich 1950s German films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios {{musical-film-stub