''The Stars Shine'' (german: Es leuchten die Sterne) is a 1938

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

musical

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

directed by Hans H. Zerlett and written by Zerlett and Hans Hannes.

Synopsis

A young secretary leaves the country and travels to Berlin to seek work as an actress. In a comedy of errors, she is mistaken for a famous dancer, which results in her heading the cast of a star-studded musical. The plot acts as a backdrop for this musical revue film, which includes many German film, sports, and entertainment stars of the 1930s.

Background

''Es leuchten die Sterne'' was a remake of the 1930 Tobis film ''Die Große Sehnsucht'' (''The Great Yearning''), directed by Stefan Szekely, a Hungarian Jew. The remake was created as a

Busby Berkeley Busby Berkeley (born Berkeley William Enos; November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berke ...

-style musical set inside a movie studio, and featured appearances by numerous stage personalities, athletes, and Tobis Films stars. Joseph Goebbels was Propaganda Minister and considered entertainment films to be the best type of media with which to convey the political message of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime. ''Es leuchten die Sterne'' was created, as were many German films of the period, to act as a propaganda piece promoting the

Third Reich 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 ...

as a cultural entity.

Release

The film was first released in Germany on 17 March 1938. This was followed by a release in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 29 April, and then in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on 20 May as ''The Stars Shine''. It was released in various countries under different titles: in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

as ''Als de sterren schitteren'' (

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

) and as ''Quand les étoiles brillent'' ( French); in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

as ''Brillano le stelle''; in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

as ''Funklende stjerner''; in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

as ''Lampoun t' asteria''; in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

as ''Les étoiles brillent'' and as ''Vedettes follies''; and in the

as ''Parade der sterren'' and ''Sterrenparade''. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in its original German version on 21 July 2008 by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

. Excerpts from the film were shown on German television in 1938, with La Jana present in the studio.

Cast

;Featured appearances:

References

External links

*
''Es Leuchten Die Sterne''
at Allmovie {{DEFAULTSORT:Stars Shine, The 1938 films 1938 musical comedy films German musical comedy films Films of Nazi Germany 1930s German-language films Films directed by Hans H. Zerlett Films about filmmaking Films set in Berlin German black-and-white films Tobis Film films 1930s German films