''The Comedians'' (german: Komödianten) is a 1941 German

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

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

G. W. Pabst Georg Wilhelm Pabst (25 August 1885 – 29 May 1967) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He started as an actor and theater director, before becoming one of the most influential German-language filmmakers during the Weimar Republic. ...

and starring

Käthe Dorsch Katharina "Käthe" Dorsch (, 29 December 1890 – 25 December 1957) was a German stage and film actor. Biography Katharina Dorsch was born on 29 December 1890 at 5:30 P.M. in the Bavarian town of Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, the daughter of Chri ...

Hilde Krahl Hilde Krahl (10 January 1917 – 28 June 1999) was an Austrian film actress. She appeared in 70 films between 1936 and 1994. She was born Hildegard Kolačný in Brod, Austria-Hungary (now Slavonski Brod, Croatia) in 1917, and she died in Vien ...

and

Henny Porten Frieda Ulricke "Henny" Porten (7 January 1890 – 15 October 1960) was a German actress and film producer of the silent era, and Germany's first major film star. She appeared in more than 170 films between 1906 and 1955. Biography Frieda Ulrick ...

. It is based on the novel ''Philine'' by Olly Boeheim. The film is set in the eighteenth century, and portrays the development of German theatre. The film 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 ...

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 ...

with sets 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 ...

Julius von Borsody Julius von Borsody (8 April 1892 in Vienna – 18 January 1960, also in Vienna) was an Austrian film architect and one of the most employed set designers in the Austrian and German cinemas of the late silent and early sound film periods. His youn ...

Plot

Karoline Neuber attempts to improve the lot of actors, who are looked down upon as vagabonds. When the Duchess refuses to let her son marry an actress, she defends them with such vehemence that she is driven from the country and finally dies in solitude.

Cast

as Karoline Neuber *

as Philine Schröder *

as Amalia, Duchess of Weißenfels *

Gustav Diessl Gustav Diessl (30 December 1899 – 20 March 1948) was an Austrian artist, and film and stage actor. Biography Diessl was born Gustav Karl Balthasar Diessl in Vienna. In 1916, he was an extra on different stages in Vienna but was soon recruited ...

as Ernst Biron, Duke of Kurland *

Richard Häussler Richard Häussler (26 October 1908 – 28 September 1964) was a German actor and film director. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1936 and 1964. He also directed seven films between 1951 and 1957. He was born in Munich, Germany and d ...

as Armin von Perckhammer *

Friedrich Domin Friedrich Domin (15 May 1902 – 18 December 1961) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1939 and 1961. He was born in Beuthen, Germany (now Bytom, Poland) and died in Munich, Germany. Selected filmography * '' ...

as Johann Neuber *

Ludwig Schmitz Ludwig Schmitz (January 28, 1884 – June 28, 1954) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than forty films during his career including the 1951 comedy '' The Heath Is Green''. He was part of the popular comedy duo Tran and Helle along with ...

as Müller,

Hanswurst Hanswurst or Hans Wurst (German for "Johnny Sausage") was a popular coarse-comic figure of German-speaking impromptu comedy. He is "a half doltish, half cunning, partly stupid, partly knowing, enterprising and cowardly, self indulgent and merry f ...

*Sonja Gerda Scholz as Feigin *

Lucy Millowitsch Lucy Millowitsch (8 November 1905 – 21 June 1990) was a German stage-actress, screen star, stage director/producer, theatre co-owner/manager and dramatist. Later she teamed up with her brother to run the Cologne Millowitsch Theatre, which be ...

as Lorenz * Bettina Moissi as Victorine *

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 Koch, actor *Alexander Ponto as Kohlhardt, young lover * as Count Paul, brother of Duchess of Weißenfels * as Studiosus Gotthold * as Professor Gottsched *

Arnulf Schröder Arnulf Schröder (born Munich, June 13, 1903 - died there, December 22, 1960) was a German actor and director. He studied at the Oberrealschule with Claire Bauroff. He spent some of his career working in the cabarets of Berlin. Selected filmo ...

as Klupsch, Councilman of Leipzig *

Karin Evans Karin Evans (1907–2004) was a South African-born German stage and film actress. Evans was born in Johannesburg to one British and one German parent. In 1923 she moved to Berlin to study theatre, and began performing in the stage productions of M ...

as Vera

References

External links

* 1940s biographical drama films 1940s historical drama films German biographical drama films German historical drama films Films of Nazi Germany German black-and-white films Films directed by G. W. Pabst Films based on German novels Films set in the 18th century Films about theatre Bavaria Film films Films shot at Bavaria Studios 1940s German films {{1940s-Germany-film-stub