''The Famous Woman'' (German: ''Die berühmte Frau'') 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

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 Robert Wiene and starring

Lili Damita Lili Damita (born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré; 10 July 1904 – 21 March 1994) was a French-American actress and singer who appeared in 33 films between 1922 and 1937. Early life and education Lili Damita was born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Car ...

, Fred Solm and Warwick Ward. It was based on the play '' Die Tänzerin'' by

Melchior Lengyel Melchior Lengyel (born Menyhért Lebovics; hu, Lengyel Menyhért; 12 January 1880 – 23 October 1974) was a Hungarian writer, dramatist, and film screenwriter. Biography Lengyel was born Menyhért Lebovics in Balmazújváros, Hungary. He st ...

, who also wrote the film's screenplay. While performing in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, a dancer falls in love with a Spanish aristocrat. He proposes marriage to her providing she give up her profession. She agrees and the wedding preparations begin. When her troupe returns to Spain, however, she is drawn back to her true calling as a dancer and her aristocratic lover reluctantly allows her to go free. Damita's performance was particularly praised, as was the

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to foc ...

of Otto Kanturek who had done

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 ...

in Barcelona.Jung & Schatzberg p.141-142

Cast

as Sonja Litowskaja * Fred Solm as Alfredo de Cavalcante * Warwick Ward as Gerald *

Lissy Arna Lissy Arna (born Elisabeth Arndt, 20 December 1900 – 22 January 1964) was a German film actress. She appeared in 63 films between 1918 and 1962. She starred in the 1931 film '' The Squeaker'', which was directed by Martin Frič and Karel L ...

as Zofe bei Sonja *

Alexander Granach Alexander Granach (April 18, 1890 – March 14, 1945) was a German-Austrian actor in the 1920s and 1930s who emigrated to the United States in 1938. Life and career Granach was born Schaje Granoch in Werbowitz (Wierzbowce/Werbiwci) (Austri ...

as Diener bei Alfredo *

Arnold Korff Arnold Peter Kirsch-Korff (2 August 1870 – 2 June 1944) was an Austrian-born American Hollywood actor and director. He appeared in a number of German and Austrian films before moving to the United States and resuming his career in America. He m ...

as Der Herzog v. Olivarez * Mathilde Sussin as Mutter des Alfredo *

Alexander Murski Alexander Alexandrovich Murski ( Russian: Александр Александрович Мурский) (1 November 1869 – April 1943) was a Saint Petersburg, Russian-born German actor. Murski died in 1943 in Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, Fra ...

as Vater des Alfredo * Nikolaus von Lovrie

References

Bibliography

* Jung, Uli & Schatzberg, Walter. ''Beyond Caligari: The Films of Robert Wiene''. Berghahn Books, 1999.

External links

* Films of the Weimar Republic 1927 films German silent feature films German drama films Films directed by Robert Wiene German films based on plays Films set in Barcelona 1927 drama films Films produced by Arnold Pressburger German black-and-white films Silent drama films 1920s German films {{Germany-silent-film-stub