''The Big Number'' or ''The Big Act'' (German: ''Die große Nummer'') is a 1943 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

Karl Anton Karl Anton or Karel Anton (25 October 1898 12 April 1979) was a Bohemian-born German film director, screenwriter and film producer. Biography He was born in Prague on 25 October 1898. His father Wilhelm Anton (1861–1918) was a physician. An ...

and starring Leny Marenbach,

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 ...

and Paul Hoffmann. A circus film, it was originally intended to star

Harry Piel Heinrich Piel (12 July 1892 – 27 March 1963), known professionally as Harry Piel, was a prolific German actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer who was involved in over 150 films. Piel became a director in 1912, turning out such ...

but due to delays on ''

Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reactio ...

'' he withdrew from the project, although he had contributed to the screenplay.

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for exam ...

took place at the Circus Sarrasani in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. 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 ...

Willy Schiller Willy Schiller (11 August 1899 – 17 July 1973) was a German art director.Allan & Sandford p.3 In the later part of his career he worked for DEFA, the East German state-controlled film studio. Selected filmography * '' Radio Magic'' (1927) * ' ...

. It was one of three entertainment-focused films playing in

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 ...

at the time of the

Sportpalast speech The ''Sportpalast'' speech (german: link=no, Sportpalastrede) or Total War speech was a speech delivered by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels at the Berlin Sportpalast to a large, carefully selected audience on 18 February 1943, as th ...

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

calling for

total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combata ...

.Echternkamp p.109

Cast

* Leny Marenbach as Helga Wallner *

as Marion Wallner * Paul Hoffmann as Heinrich Wallner *

Rudolf Prack Rudolf Prack (2 August 1905 – 2 December 1981) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * ''Florentine'' (1937) * ''Prinzessin Sissy'' (1939) - Prince Luitpold * '' A Mother's Love'' (1939) - Felix Pirlinger - 1922 * ''Krambambuli'' ( ...

as Peter Stoll * Paul Kemp as Otto Gellert *

Charlott Daudert Charlott Daudert (27 December 1913 – 19 January 1961) was a German film actress.Jacobsen & Prinzler p.275 Filmography * '' The Csardas Princess'' (1934) * ''Frasquita'' (1934) * '' Da stimmt was nicht'' (1934) * '' Old Comrades'' (1934) * '' ...

as Mariettchen *

Marina Ried Marina Ried ( Rsjevskaja; 1921–1989) was a Russian-born German stage and film actress.Cowie & Elley p.167 The niece of the film star Olga Chekhova, she was born in Moscow but moved to Germany as a child. She was married to actor Rudolf Platte ...

as Bianca *

Karl Günther Karl Günther (25 November 1885 – 27 June 1951) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * '' The Masked Ones'' (1920) * ''The Riddle of the Sphinx'' (1921) * ''The Adventuress of Monte Carlo'' (1921) * ''The Call of Destiny'' (1922) * ' ...

as Direktor Kroll * Maria Horstweg as Frau Roselli *

Walter Janssen Walter Janssen (7 February 1887 – 1 January 1976) was a German film actor and director. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1917 and 1970. Selected filmography * '' The Dancer'' (1919) * ''Destiny'' (1921) * ''Wandering Souls'' (1 ...

as Zeller * Heinz Klingenberg as Dr. Buchner * Rose Rauch as Singer *

Hans Adalbert Schlettow Hans Adalbert Schlettow (11 June 1888 – 30 April 1945) was a German film actor. Schlettow appeared in around a hundred and sixty films during his career, the majority during the silent era. Among his best-known film roles was ''Hagen von Tronje' ...

as Basto-Bastelmeyer

References

Bibliography

* Echternkamp, Jörg. ''Germany and the Second World War Volume IX/II: German Wartime Society 1939-1945: Exploitation, Interpretations''. OUP, 2014. * Skopal, Pavel & Winkel, Roel Vande (ed.) ''Film Professionals in Nazi-Occupied Europe: Mediation Between the National-Socialist Cultural “New Order” and Local Structures''. Springer Nature, 2021.

External links

* 1943 films Films of Nazi Germany German drama films 1943 drama films 1940s German-language films Tobis Film films Circus films Films directed by Karl Anton 1940s German films {{1940s-Germany-film-stub