''A German Robinson Crusoe'' (german: Ein Robinson) is a 1940 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-g ...

directed by

Arnold Fanck Arnold Fanck (6 March 1889 – 28 September 1974) was a German film director and pioneer of the mountain film genre. He is best known for the extraordinary alpine footage he captured in such films as '' The Holy Mountain'' (1926), '' The White He ...

and starring Herbert A.E. Böhme,

Marieluise Claudius Marie Luise Claudius (6 January 1912 – 2 August 1941) was a German actress. Claudius was the daughter of the court actor and writer Erich Claudius and the actress Lisbeth Reschke. During her childhood, she appeared several times on the stage ...

, and Claus Clausen. Written by Arnold Fanck and Rolf Meyer, the film is a modern-day

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

story about a man so angry about the post-

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

conditions in

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

that he voluntarily goes to live on a

desert island A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...

. The film was shot partly on location in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Plot

During World War I, the German cruiser SMS ''Dresden'' is attacked by British ships off the coast of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. The crew manages to abandon ship before it sinks. They make their way to an isolated island where they are taken prisoner. After spending three years in custody, the sailors manage to escape and make their way back to Germany, intending to continue fighting for their Fatherland. When they arrive, however, they encounter a different Germany from the one they left behind—one where they are ridiculed and attacked by mutineers. One of the returning crew, Carl Ohlse, leaves

and returns to the island where he had been held prisoner for three years, determined to live out the rest of his life as a Robinson Crusoe. Some time later, he hears a radio report that describes how things have improved in Germany during the 1930s. Later, when the new SMS ''Dresden'' passes the island, he makes his way to the ship and is taken aboard by his new respectful comrades.

Cast

* Herbert A.E. Böhme as Carl Ohlsen *

as Antje * Claus Clausen as Fritz Grothe *

Oskar Marion Oskar Marion (2 April 1896 – March 1986) was an Austrian film actor. Life Born as Oskar Viktor Lepka in Brno on 2 April 1896. His parents were physician Antonín Lepka and Žofie Lepková (née Müller). Marion went to study medicine to Vienn ...

as captain *

Malte Jäger Malte Richard Friedrich Jaeger (sometimes named in cast lists as Malte Jäger) (4 July 1911 in Hannover – 10 January 1991 at Ladelund / district of North Friesland) was a German actor, theater director and voice actor. Early life Malte ...

as officer *Wilhelm P. Krüger as Pagels *Otto Kronburger as commander *Wolf Dietrich as officer *

Ludwig Schmid-Wildy Ludwig Schmid-Wildy (3 May 1896 – 30 January 1982) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' Um das Menschenrecht'' (1934) * '' Shock Troop'' (1934) * '' Storms in May'' (1938) * '' Escape in the Dark'' (1939) * ''Uproar in Damascus'' (1939 ...

as sailor *Leopold Kerscher as sailor *Martin Rickelt as sailor Peter *Georg Völkel as 1. officer *Hans Kühlewein as Obermaat *Charly Berger as staff surgeon *Günther Polensen as sailor *Hans-Joachim Fanck as little Peter

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * *

External links

* Films directed by Arnold Fanck Films of Nazi Germany 1940s adventure drama films Seafaring films Films set in Germany Films set in the 1910s Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s German World War I films Films set on uninhabited islands Films about castaways German black-and-white films German adventure drama films 1940 drama films 1940s German films 1940s German-language films {{1940s-Germany-film-stub