''Quax the Crash Pilot'' (german: Quax, der Bruchpilot) is a 1941 German

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Kurt Hoffmann Kurt Hoffmann (12 November 1910 – 25 June 2001) was a German film director, the son of Carl Hoffmann. He directed 48 films between 1938 and 1971. He ran a production company Independent Film along with Heinz Angermeyer. His 1958 film ''W ...

and starring

Heinz Rühmann Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...

Karin Himboldt Karin Himboldt (1920–2005) was a German film actress.Goble p.197 She is perhaps best known for her roles in the Heinz Rühmann comedy films '' Quax the Crash Pilot'' (1941) and ''Die Feuerzangenbowle'' (1944). Her career was damaged in 1944 whe ...

and

Lothar Firmans Lothar Firmans (1896–1964) was a German stage and film actor.Giesen p.216 Selected filmography * ''Quax the Crash Pilot'' (1941) * ''Front Theatre'' (1942) * '' Aufruhr der Herzen'' (1944) * ''Quax in Africa'' (1947) * '' Marriage in the Shadow ...

. It is also sometimes translated as ''Quax the Test Pilot''.Chapman p. 192 It features the popular song " Homeland, Your Stars". The film set in the 1930s before the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It is based on an aviation story by Hermann Grote about an everyday man who wins a newspaper competition that offers free flying lessons. Despite initial struggles, he gradually shows himself to be a good

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. Much of the film was shot on location in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. Interiors were shot at the

Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park called ...

and

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 ...

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 constitue ...

and 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 ...

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 ...

. It was followed by a sequel ''

Quax in Africa ''Quax in Africa'' (german: Quax in Afrika) is a German comedy adventure film produced from 1943–1944 and released in 1947, directed by Helmut Weiss and starring Heinz Rühmann, Hertha Feiler, and Lothar Firmans. It is a sequel to the 1941 fi ...

'' which was also made 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 ...

, but not released until 1947.

Main cast

as Otto "Quax" Groschenbügel *

as Marianne Bredow *

as Hansen, Fluglehrer *

Harry Liedtke Harry Liedtke (12 October 1882 – 28 April 1945) was a German film actor. Early life Liedtke was born in Königsberg, East Prussia to a merchant as the seventh out of 12 children. After the death of his father in 1896, he grew up in an orphanage ...

as Herr Bredow *

Elga Brink Elisabeth Margarete Biermann (née Brink, born Frey; 2 April 1905 – 28 October 1985), known professionally as Elga Brink, was a German film actress. Brink rose to prominence in the early 1920s, when she starred in many silent films. Her last sil ...

as Frau Bredow *

Hilde Sessak Hilde Sessak (27 July 1915 – 17 April 2003) was a German actress who appeared in more than ninety film and television series during her career. She appeared in a number of films during the Nazi era including ''Quax the Crash Pilot'' (1941).Rei ...

as Adelheid *

Leo Peukert Leonhard "Leo" Peukert (26 August 1885 – 6 January 1944) was a prolific German film actor and film director, appearing in more than a hundred and fifty productions between 1910 and his death in 1944. While occasionally he played a leading role i ...

as Bürgermeister *

Georg Vogelsang Georg Vogelsang (1883–1952) was a German stage and film actor.Giesen p.216 He specialised in Bavarian character parts. Selected filmography * '' The Secret of Castle Elmshoh'' (1925) * '' Three Fathers for Anna'' (1939) * ''The Eternal Spring'' ...

as Der alte Krehlert *

Beppo Brem Beppo Brem (11 March 1906 in Munich, German Empire – September 5, 1990 in Munich, West Germany) was a German film actor, who was in over 200 film and television productions between 1932 and 1990. He often played stereotypically Bavarian characte ...

as Knecht Alois *

Lutz Götz Lutz Götz (1891 – 1958) was a German stage and film actor.Richards p.375 Selected filmography * '' The Immortal Vagabond'' (1930) * '' Patriots'' (1937) * ''Legion Condor'' (1939) * ''Congo Express'' (1939) * '' Counterfeiters'' (1940) * ''Ab ...

as Herr Busse *

Arthur Schröder Arthur Schröder (20 February 1892 – 4 February 1986) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' The Queen's Love Letter'' (1916) * '' Cain'' (1918) * '' Mania'' (1918) * '' Just Once a Great Lady'' (1934) * '' Hubertus Castle'' (1934) * '' ...

as Flugarzt * Franz Zimmermann as Harry Peters, Flugschüler *

Kunibert Gensichen Kunibert Gensichen (26 June 1907 – 26 June 1991) was a German actor. He appeared in more than 60 films and television shows between 1937 and 1989. Filmography References External links * 1907 births 1991 deaths German male film ...

as Walter Ottermann, Flugschüler * Manfred Heidmann as Ludwig Mommsen, Flugschüler * Guenther Markert as Gottfried Müller, Flugschüler *

José Held José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

as Karl Bruhn, Flugschüler

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * 1941 films 1941 comedy films German comedy films Films of Nazi Germany 1940s German-language films German black-and-white films Films based on German novels German aviation films Terra Film films Films set in the 1930s Films shot in Bavaria Films directed by Kurt Hoffmann Films shot at Babelsberg Studios Films shot at Tempelhof Studios Films shot at Bavaria Studios 1940s German films {{1940s-Germany-film-stub