''The Lost Face'' (German: ''Das verlorene Gesicht'') is a 1948 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

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

Marianne Hoppe Marianne Hoppe (26 April 1909 – 23 October 2002) was a German theatre and film actress. Life and work Born in Rostock, Hoppe became a leading lady of stage and films in Germany. She was born into a wealthy landowning family and was initiall ...

Gustav Fröhlich Gustav Fröhlich (21 March 1902 – 22 December 1987) was a German actor and film director. He landed secondary roles in a number of films and plays before landing his breakthrough role of Freder Fredersen in Fritz Lang's 1927 film ''Metropoli ...

and

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 ...

. The plot of a woman with two divided personalities caused by a recent trauma drew inspiration from the

Gainsborough Melodrama The Gainsborough melodramas were a sequence of films produced by the British film studio Gainsborough Pictures between 1943 and 1947 which conformed to a melodramatic style.Brooke, Michael. (2014)Gainsborough Melodrama Screenonline British Film Ins ...

Madonna of the Seven Moons ''Madonna of the Seven Moons'' is a 1945 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger and Patricia Roc. The film was produced by Rubeigh James Minney, with cinematography ...

'' which had been extremely popular on its release in Germany.Bergfelder p.31 It was made 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

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 ...

taking place in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. 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 ...

Hans Kuhnert Hans Kuhnert (4 January 1901 – 29 July 1974) was a German actor, art director and production designer. Kuhnert began his career as an actor during the silent era. He played the lead alongside Olga Tschechowa in ''Violet''.Hardt p.225 From the mi ...

Synopsis

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

a lost and disorientated young woman is found. It is assumed she is from

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. She receives care from a doctor and falls in love with a lawyer. Yet suddenly her face and voice change and she emerges as a completely different woman.

Cast

as Johanna Stegen *

as Dr. Thomas Martin *

as Robert Lorm * Paul Dahlke as Axel Witt *

Hermine Körner Hermine Körner (30 May 1878 in Berlin - 14 December 1960) was a German actress, director and theater manager. Early life Körner was the fifth child of teacher and zoologist William Stader and Emilie Luyken. The father departed in 1880 on a lect ...

as Frau von Aldenhoff *

Harald Mannl Harald Mannl (1904–1961) was German actor of film, radio and television.Feinstein p.56 He also directed two films for DEFA in East Germany in the mid-1950s, and acted in others, before returning to West Germany West Germany is the colloqu ...

as Leo L'Arronge *

Rudolf Vogel Rudolf Vogel (born 10 November 1900, Planegg – died 9 August 1967, Munich) was a German film and television actor. He was the father of Peter Vogel, the father-in-law of Austrian actress Gertraud Jesserer and the grandfather of actor-journalis ...

as Professor Kersten * Walter Kiaulehn as Anstaltsarzt *

Erich Ponto Erich Johannes Bruno Ponto (14 December 1884 – 14 February 1957) was a German film and stage actor. Career Erich Ponto was born in Lübeck as the son of a merchant. After his family had moved to Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, he attended the gymnasium ...

as Wissenschaftler *

Bruno Hübner Bruno Hübner (1899–1983) was an Austrian film and television actor known for his work in Germany.Goble p.412 He was born in Reichenberg then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which later became part of Czechoslovakia. Selected filmography * ''Pu ...

as Bildhauer *

Herbert Weicker Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

as Dr. Rasan *

Ruth Killer 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 Sonja *

Eva Vaitl Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in ...

as Dame *

Helmuth Renar Helmuth is both a masculine German given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name; *Helmuth Theodor Bossert (1889–1961), German art historian, philologist and archaeologist *Helmuth Duckadam (born 1959), Romanian forme ...

as Geheimrat Winter

References

Bibliography

* Bergfelder, Tim. ''International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s''. Berghahn Books, 2005.

External links

* 1948 films 1948 drama films German drama films 1940s German-language films Films directed by Kurt Hoffmann Films shot at Bavaria Studios 1940s German films {{1940s-Germany-film-stub