''The Trip to Marrakesh'' (german: Die Reise nach Marrakesch) is a 1949 West 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 ...

directed by

Richard Eichberg Richard Eichberg (27 October 1888 – 8 May 1952) was a German film director and producer. He directed 87 films between 1915 and 1949. He also produced 77 films between 1915 and 1950. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Munich, Germ ...

and starring

Luise Ullrich Luise Ullrich (31 October 1910 – 21 January 1985) was an Austrian actress. She was born in Vienna. While still a teenager, she got a stage contract. In late 1932, Ullrich played opposite Werner Krauss in "Rauhnacht" in Berlin. In 1933, sh ...

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'' ...

and

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) ...

. It was Eichberg's last film and his first in a decade, having spend time abroad since his two part Indian-set '' The Tiger of Eschnapur''.

Production

The film is based on a play ''Le voyage à Marrakech'' by the French writer

Benno Vigny Benno Vigny (real name Benoit Philippe Weinfeld; 28 October 1889 – 31 October 1965) was a French-German novelist and screenwriter. Life and works Vigny was born in Commercy and grew up in Vienna. He moved to Berlin in the 1920s. There he b ...

. 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 Fir ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, with sets designed by the art directors

Willi Herrmann Willi Herrmann (1893–1968) was a German art director. Selected filmography * '' Madness'' (1919) * '' Child on the Open Road'' (1919) * '' Jettatore'' (1919) * '' Humanity Unleashed'' (1920) * '' The Secrets of Berlin'' (1921) * '' The Mahar ...

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 ...

. Eichberg led a filming expedition to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

for

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 ex ...

. The final budget amounted to around one and half million

deutschmark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

Release

It premiered in Munich on 21 December 1949, aiming for the lucrative

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

-time release market. The film was received with general hostility from critics.

Themes

While the film was in the same tradition as Eichberg's earlier films, with their exotic settings, it has drawn more notice for its underlying lesbian theme, which culminates in one female character shooting another dead.Noack, Frank. ''Veit Harlan: The Life and Work of a Nazi Filmmaker''. University Press of Kentucky, 2016. p. 239.

Main cast

as Liliane *

as Armande Colbert *

as Professor Colbert * Paul Dahlke as Henry Orliac *

Grethe Weiser Grethe Weiser (; 27 February 1903 – 2 October 1970) was a German actress. Biography Born in Hanover, she spent her childhood in Dresden. She escaped from her dominant and sometimes violent father by marrying a Jewish confectionery manufactu ...

as Loulou *Ludwig Linkmann as Bobby *Michael Korrontay as Jacques Bertal *Günther Evers as Capitain Blanchard *Viktor Afritsch as Ahmed Pasha *

Ernst Fritz Fürbringer Ernst Fritz Fürbringer (27 July 1900 – 30 October 1988) was a German film actor. He appeared in 130 films between 1933 and 1983. He was born in Brunswick, Germany and died in Munich, Germany. Selected filmography * ''Die große und die ...

as Jean *

Berthold Ebbecke Berthold Ebbecke (1906–1969) was a German actor and screenwriter. He collaborated with Ludwig Metzger.Noack p. 272 Selected filmography Actor * '' Trouble Backstairs'' (1935) * ''The Court Concert'' (1936) * ''The Beggar Student'' (1936) * '' R ...

as Dr. Grandler *

Ulrich Beiger Ulrich Beiger (26 August 1918 – 18 September 1996) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' The Little Residence'' (1942) - Möller * '' The Trip to Marrakesh'' (1949) - Mixer * '' Sensation in Savoy'' (1950) - young Indian * '' Scandal ...

as Mixer

References

External links

* 1949 drama films German drama films West German films Films directed by Richard Eichberg German films based on plays Films set in Morocco Films set in Casablanca Lesbian-related films LGBT-related drama films 1940s LGBT-related films German black-and-white films 1940s German-language films 1940s German films {{LGBT-drama-film-stub