''The Heath Is Green'' (german: Grün ist die Heide) is a 1951

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

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

Hans Deppe Hans Deppe (; 12 November 1897 – 23 September 1969) was a German actor and film director. Filmography As director As actor References External links * 1897 births 1969 deaths German male film actors German television dire ...

and starring

Sonja Ziemann Sonja Alice Selma Toni Ziemann (; 8 February 1926 – 17 February 2020) was a German film and television actress. In the 1950s, she was among Germany's most prominent actresses, awarded the 1950 Bambi for appearing, together with Rudolf Prack, ...

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'' ( ...

, and

Maria Holst Maria Holst (1917–1980) was an Austrian film actress. Selected filmography * ''Invisible Opponent'' (1933) * '' Court Theatre'' (1936) * '' Operetta'' (1940) * '' Vienna Blood'' (1942) * ''Kiss Me Casanova'' (1949) * '' The Trip to Marrakesh'' ...

Plot

The film is set in the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...

region. The plot centers around a poacher (Lüder Lüdersen), a game warden (Walter Rainer) hunting the poacher, the murder of a police officer, and two love affairs. The main love affair and the main source of moral conflict is between the game keeper and the poacher's daughter (Helga Lüdersen). The film has a happy ending, the murderer is arrested, Helga and Walter become a couple.

Cast

as Helga Lüdersen *

as Walter Rainer *

as Nora von Buckwitz *

Willy Fritsch Willy Fritsch (27 January 1901 – 13 July 1973) was a German theater and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s. Biography Early life He was born Wilhelm Egon Fritz Fritsch, the only s ...

as judge *

Hans Stüwe Hans Stüwe (14 May 1901 – 13 May 1976) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * '' Prinz Louis Ferdinand'' (1927) * ''Potsdam'' (1927) * ''The Transformation of Dr. Bessel'' (1927) * ''The Bordello in Rio'' (1927) * '' Assassination'' ( ...

as Lüder Lüdersen * Hans Richter as Hannes *

Otto Gebühr Otto Gebühr (29 May 1877 – 13 March 1954) was a German theatre and film actor, who appeared in 102 films released between 1917 and 1954. He is noted for his performance as the Prussian king Frederick the Great in numerous films. Early lif ...

as Gottfried Lüdersen *

Oskar Sima Oskar Sima (31 July 1896 – 24 June 1969) was an Austrian actor who is best remembered for appearing in supporting roles in countless comedy films from the 1930s to the 1960s. Born in Hohenau an der March, Lower Austria, Sima attended high sc ...

as circus manager * Kurt Reimann as Nachtigall *

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 Tünnes *

Josef Sieber Josef Sieber (28 April 1900 – 3 December 1962) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * ''Pappi'' (1934) * ''Punks Arrives from America'' (1935) * ''Joan of Arc'' (1935) * ''The Gypsy Baron'' (1935) * ''The Last Four on Santa Cruz'' (193 ...

as ''Oberförster'' (head game warden) *

Margarete Haagen Margarete Haagen (29 November 1889 – 19 November 1966) was a German stage and film actress. Haagen appeared in over a hundred films during her career, generally in character roles. She specialised in playing good-natured elderly ladies. Fo ...

as Mrs. Lüdersen *

Else Reval Else Reval (14 June 1893 – 25 January 1978) was a German film actress.Giesen p.210 Selected filmography * ''War in Peace'' (1925) * '' The World Wants To Be Deceived'' (1926) * '' Marriage Announcement'' (1926) * '' The Eleven Schill Officers'' ...

as ''Frau Zirkusdirektor'' * Karl Finkenzeller as Pistek *

Ernst Waldow Ernst Waldow (22 August 1893 – 5 June 1964) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 160 films during his career. Selected filmography * '' Rübezahl's Wedding'' (1916) * '' Sin of a Beautiful Woman'' (1929) *'' The Green Domino'' (1 ...

as pharmacist

Production

''Grün ist die Heide'' is based on an eponymous novel by

Hermann Löns Hermann Löns (29 August 1866 – 26 September 1914) was a German journalist and writer. He is most famous as "The Poet of the Heath" for his novels and poems celebrating the people and landscape of the North German moors, particularly the L ...

. An earlier movie version was made in 1932. Cinematography took place from 28 August to 16 September 1951 in the Lüneburg Heath and at

Bleckede Bleckede (, Polabian ''Bleketsa'') is a town in the district of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated mostly on the left bank of the Elbe, approx. 20 km east of Lüneburg. Bleckede is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. H ...

, and from 19 September to 26 September in the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial bac ...

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 ...

. A third movie with the same name from 1972 was not a remake, but just used some of Löns' poems for song lyrics.

Reception

The

FSK FSK may refer to: * FSK (band), a German band * Federal Counterintelligence Service, (Russian ') of Russia * Fiskerton railway station, in England * Forskolin, a diterpene * Forsvarets Spesialkommando, a Norwegian special forces unit * Fort Scott M ...

gave the film a rating of "6 and up" and deemed it suitable for screening on public holidays. The film premiered on 14 November 1951 at the ''Palast'' in Hanover. It was the most successful release of the 1951/1952 season in Germany. It is an example of the ''

Heimatfilm ' (, German for "homeland-films"; German singular: ') were films of a genre popular in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. ''Heimat'' can be translated as "home" (in the geographic sense), "hometown" or "homela ...

'' genre of post-WW II West German cinema. In 1952, it received the

Bambi Award The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and oth ...

as the most successful film.

References

External links

* 1951 films 1951 drama films German drama films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Hans Deppe Films based on German novels Films about hunters Remakes of German films Gloria Film films Films shot at Tempelhof Studios 1950s German films {{1950s-Germany-film-stub