''The Trial of Donald Westhof'' (German: ''Der Kampf des Donald Westhof'') is a 1927

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 ...

silent crime film directed by

Fritz Wendhausen Fritz Wendhausen(7 August 1890, Wendhausen – 5 January 1962, Königstein im Taunus) was a German actor, screenwriter and film director. He is also credited as Frederick Wendhausen and F.R. Wendhausen. In 1938 he emigrated to Britain from Nazi Ge ...

and starring

Oskar Homolka Oskar Homolka (August 12, 1898 – January 27, 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and America. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officials, for w ...

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 ...

and

Imre Ráday Imre Ráday (4 September 1905 – 12 March 1983) was a Hungarian film actor. Ráday was born in Budapest, then part of Austria-Hungary and died in Budapest, Hungary in 1983. Selected filmography * ''The Trial of Donald Westhof'' (1927) * '' The ...

.Nichols p.89 It was shot at the

Babelsberg Studios Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

Robert Neppach Robert Neppach (2 March 1890 – 18 August 1939) was an Austrian architect, film producer and art director. Neppach worked from 1919 in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. He oversaw the art direction of over 80 films during his career, i ...

. It premiered at the

Ufa-Palast am Zoo The Ufa-Palast am Zoo, located near Berlin Zoological Garden in the New West area of Charlottenburg, was a major Berlin cinema owned by Universum Film AG, or Ufa. Opened in 1919 and enlarged in 1925, it was the largest cinema in Germany until 192 ...

. Produced by

UFA Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital city, capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya River (Kama), Belaya and Ufa River, Ufa rivers, in the centre-n ...

, it was distributed as part of the Parufamet agreement.

Cast

as Justizrat Lessing *

as Olga Wolgast *

as Donald Westhof *

Paul Henckels Paul Henckels (9 September 1885 – 27 May 1967) was a German film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1921 and 1965. Paul Henckels had started his acting career on the stage in the 1900s. He was well known for his e ...

as Professor Westhof, Donalds Vater *

Hermann Vallentin Hermann Vallentin (24 May 1872 – 18 September 1945) was a German actor. Biography Hermann Vallentin was born in Berlin in 1872. He was the son of a Jewish timber merchant and factory owner, Felix Vallentin. He was the older brother of actress ...

as Spieß, ein Gastwirt *

Paul Otto Paul Otto Schlesinger (8 February 1878 – 25 or 30 November 1943) was a German film actor and director. Born in Berlin, he began a qualification as a retail merchant and made his actor's debut at the age of 17. Otto worked at Theaters in ...

as Gerichtsvorsitzender *

Erna Morena Erna Morena (born Ernestine Maria Fuchs, 24 April 1885 – 20 July 1962) was a German film actress, film producer, and screenwriter of the silent era. She appeared in 104 films between 1913 and 1951. Biography Ernestine Maria Fuchs was born in ...

as Thea Lessing, seine Frau * Lina Lossen as Leni Westhof *

Nikolai Malikoff Nikolai Malikoff ( Russian: Николай Петрович Маликов; 1874 – 20 April 1931) was a Russian-Ukrainian film director and actor who worked mainly as a film director in Russia, and later as an actor in Germany.Goble p.673 Sele ...

as Kußmaul, ein Schieber * Emilie Kurz as Frau Spieß * Elizza La Porta as Bertha Spieß, beider Tochter *

Max Gülstorff Max Walter Gülstorff (23 March 1882 – 6 February 1947) was a German actor and stage director. Biography Gülstorff was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. He first appeared in 1900 at the Rudolstadt municipal Theater and moved to Cottbus in 1908. ...

as Defense lawyer *

Erich Kaiser-Titz Heinrich Felix Erich Kaiser-Titz (7 October 1875 – 22 November 1928) was a German stage and film actor. Selected filmography * ''Tales of Hoffmann'' (1916) * '' His Coquettish Wife'' (1916) * '' The Knitting Needles'' (1916) * '' The Night Tal ...

as Prosecutor * Valeska Stock as Frau Busse *

Emil Heyse Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

as Oberlehrer

References

Bibliography

* Nichols, Nina Da Vinci. '' Pirandello and Film''. University of Nebraska Press, 1995.

External links

* 1927 films Films of the Weimar Republic 1927 crime films German silent feature films German crime films Films directed by Fritz Wendhausen Films based on German novels Films with screenplays by Fritz Wendhausen German black-and-white films UFA GmbH films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios 1920s German films {{Germany-silent-film-stub