''The Curtain Falls'' (german: Der Vorhang fällt) is a 1939 German

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Georg Jacoby Georg Jacoby (23 July 1882 – 21 February 1964) was a German film director and screenwriter.Profile
, bfi.org.uk; accessed ...

and starring

Anneliese Uhlig Anneliese Uhlig (27 August 1918 – 17 June 2017) was a German-born film actress. Uhlig made her film debut in 1937, and went on to appear in a number of leading roles in Germany cinema during the Nazi era. She was also one of a number of ...

Elfie Mayerhofer Elfie Mayerhofer (1917–1992) was an Austrian film actress and singer. A noted stage performer, she played lead roles in a series of musical and operetta films such as '' The Song of the Nightingale'' (1944) and '' The Heavenly Waltz'' (1949). ...

and

Hilde Sessak Hilde Sessak (27 July 1915 – 17 April 2003) was a German actress who appeared in more than ninety film and television series during her career. She appeared in a number of films during the Nazi era including ''Quax the Crash Pilot'' (1941).Rei ...

. It was based on a play by Paul van der Hurck and was made by

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

at the company's

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 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 ...

.Klaus p.195 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 ...

Erich Kettelhut Erich Karl Heinrich Kettelhut (1 November 1893 – 13 March 1979) was a German production designer, Art director#In film, art director and set decorator. Kettelhut is considered one of the most important artists in the history of early German cin ...

Cast

as Alice Souchy *

as Inge Blohm *

as Vera Findtejs *

Gustav Knuth Gustav Knuth (7 July 1901 – 1 February 1987) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1935 and 1982 and starred in the TV series '' Alle meine Tiere''. He was married to the actress Elisabeth Lennartz. Selected ...

as Doctor Cornelsen *

Rudolf Fernau Rudolf Fernau (7 January 1898 – 4 November 1985) was a German film actor. He appeared in 53 films between 1936 and 1982. He was born and died in Munich, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Traitor'' (1936) - Fritz Brockau * '' In the ...

as Rodegger *

Rolf Möbius Rolf Moebius (27 July 1915 – 4 June 2004) was a German actor. He starred in the 1939 film ''Shoulder Arms''.Richards p.372 Partial filmography * '' The Dreamer'' (1936) - Minor Role * ''Fanny Elssler'' (1937) - Duke of Reichstadt * '' Urlaub a ...

as Hans Günther *

Carl Kuhlmann Carl Kuhlmann (25 April 1899 – 18 July 1962) was a German stage and film actor. He played the role of Nathan Mayer Rothschild in the antisemitic historical film '' The Rothschilds'' (1940) which was made as an anti-Jewish, anti-British propaga ...

as Walldorf *

Rudolf Platte Rudolf Antonius Heinrich Platte (12 February 1904 – 18 December 1984) was a German actor. Biography Born in Hörde, Westphalia (today part of Dortmund) the son of a merchant, his family moved to Hildesheim three years later. Rudolf left scho ...

as Buttje *

Hans Brausewetter Hans Brausewetter (27 May 1899 – 29 April 1945) was a German stage and film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1922 and 1945. He appeared in the 1923 film '' The Treasure'', which was directed by Georg Wil ...

as Berg *

Aribert Mog Aribert Mog (3 August 1904 – 2 October 1941) was a German film actor who played in a mixture of leading and supporting roles during the 1930s. He was a member of the Militant League for German Culture and the National Socialist Factory Cell Or ...

as Wilke *Eberhard Leithoff as Nierweg *

Volker von Collande Volker von Collande (21 November 1913 – 29 October 1990) was a German actor and film director. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1934 and 1987. He also directed more than 20 films between 1942 and 1967. Collande was a member of t ...

as Rapp *Eduard Wenck as Reinicke *

Alexander Engel Alexander Engel, birth name: Kurt Engel (4 June 1902 – 25 July 1968) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1932 and 1968. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Saarbrücken, West Germany. He chose the stag ...

as Cadoni *

Lina Carstens Lina Carstens (6 December 1892 in Wiesbaden – 22 September 1978 in Munich) was a German film and theater actress. On stage she appeared in plays by Gerhart Hauptmann, Arthur Schnitzler, and August Strindberg, and in her old age she starred in the ...

as Frau Florian *Traute Rose as Singer

References

Bibliography

* Klaus, Ulrich J. ''Deutsche Tonfilme: Jahrgang 1939''. Klaus-Archiv, 1988. * Rentschler, Eric. ''The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife''. Harvard University Press, 1996.

External links

* Films of Nazi Germany 1939 crime films Films directed by Georg Jacoby UFA GmbH films German black-and-white films German crime films 1930s German films 1930s German-language films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios {{1930s-crime-film-stub