''The Swedish Nightingale'' (german: Die schwedische Nachtigall) is a 1941 German

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by Peter Paul Brauer and starring

Ilse Werner Ilse Werner (; born Ilse Charlotte Still, 11 July 1921 – 8 August 2005) was a Dutch-German actress, singer, and musical whistler. Life She was born in Batavia (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia) to a Dutch father, merchant and plantation owner, ...

(singing sequences with

Erna Berger Erna Berger (19 October 1900 – 14 June 1990) was a German lyric coloratura soprano. She was best known for her Queen of the Night and her Konstanze. Career Born in Dresden, Germany, Berger spent some years as a child in India and South Ameri ...

's voice),

Karl Ludwig Diehl Karl Ludwig Diehl (14 August 1896 – 8 March 1958) was a German film actor. He appeared in 66 films between 1924 and 1957. His father was Karl Diehl, the German professor of Anarchism. Filmography * ''Die Tragödie der Entehrten'' (1924) ...

, and

Joachim Gottschalk Joachim Gottschalk (10 April 1904 – 6 November 1941) was a German stage and film actor during the late 1930s, a romantic lead in the style of Leslie Howard. Life and work Gottschalk, the son of a physician, was born in the small town of Ca ...

.Hake p. 215 The film is based on a play by

Friedrich Forster-Burggraf Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

set in nineteenth century Copenhagen. It portrays a romance between the writer

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

and the opera singer

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and a ...

, the "Swedish Nightingale" of the title. It was shot at the

Terra Studios The Terra Studios or Marienfelde Studios were film studios located in the Berlin suburb of Marienfelde. The studios were originally a glasshouse constructed in 1913 by the early company Eiko Film, controlled by the producer Franz Vogel who ha ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

Robert Herlth Robert Herlth (2 May 1893 – 6 January 1962) was a German art director. He was one of the leading designers of German film sets during the 1920s and 1930s.Reimer & Reimer p.146 Filmography * ''Masks'' (1920) * '' Island of the Dead'' (1921) * ...

and

Heinrich Weidemann Heinrich Weidemann (1899–1982) was a German art director.Lowe p.179 Selected filmography * '' The Gambler'' (1938) * '' The Swedish Nightingale'' (1941) * '' Ghost in the Castle'' (1947) * '' The Trip to Marrakesh'' (1949) * '' Scandal at the ...

. Made on a budget of around one and half million

Reichsmarks The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reichs ...

, it was a major commercial success on its release across Europe. At the time when the film was made, Germany was keeping Denmark under

military occupation Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...

but attempting a relatively conciliatory attitude towards the occupied Danes. Germany was also making an effort to keep good relations with the neutral

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The theme of the film – made at a time when

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 ...

' Propaganda Ministry kept tight control of the German film industry – fit well with these policy aims.

Cast

References

Bibliography

External links

* 1941 films 1940s historical musical films 1940s biographical films German historical musical films German biographical films Films of Nazi Germany 1940s German-language films Films directed by Peter Paul Brauer German black-and-white films Films set in Denmark Films set in the 19th century German films based on plays Biographical films about singers Biographical films about writers Cultural depictions of Jenny Lind Cultural depictions of Hans Christian Andersen Terra Film films 1940s German films {{bio-film-stub