''House of Life'' (german: Haus des Lebens) is a 1952 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 Karl Hartl and starring Gustav Fröhlich, Cornell Borchers and

Edith Mill Edith Mill (16 August 1925 – 10 November 2007) was an Austrian stage and film actress. Her real name was ''Edith Rosalia Martha Müll,'' Biography Edith Mill was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1925, the daughter of the innkeeper Georg Müll. Tr ...

.Bock & Bergfelder p.139 The film's setting is a

maternity hospital A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most ...

, portraying the stories of various staff and patients. It was made at the Bavaria Studios in

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 ...

. The film's sets were designed by Franz Bi and Botho Hoefer.

Cast

* Gustav Fröhlich as Dr. Peter Haidt * Cornell Borchers as Dr. Elisabeth Keller *

as Oberschwester Hedwig * Viktor Staal as Willi Kuschitzky * Hansi Knoteck as Else Kuschitzky * Judith Holzmeister as Inge Jolander *

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in '' Des Teufels Gene ...

as Axel Jolander *

Gertrud Kückelmann Gertrud Christine Franziska Kückelmann (3 January 1929 – 17 January 1979) was a German actress. She appeared in more than sixty films from 1949 to 1979. Filmography References External links * 1929 births 1979 deaths German fil ...

as Christine * Edith Schultze-Westrum as Josepha Spratt * Petra Unkel as Grit Harlacher *

Elfriede Kuzmany Elfriede Kuzmany (1915–2006) was an Austrian film and television actress.Parrill & Robison p.142 Selected filmography * ''The Falling Star'' (1950) * ''House of Life'' (1952) * ''The River Line ''The River Line'' (german: Kennwort... Reiher ...

as Frau Frey *

Paula Braend Paula Braend (1905–1989) was a German actress.http://www.volkstheater-fan.de/actors/paula_braend.php Paula Braend Selected filmography * '' A Heart Beats for You'' (1949) * '' After the Rain Comes Sunshine'' (1949) *'' Die Alm an der Grenze' ...

as Frau Wilk *

Claire Reigbert Clair or Claire may refer to: *Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire * Clair (surname) Places Canada * Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska * Clair Parish, New Brunswick * Pointe-Claire, Q ...

as Schwester Sophie *

Franz Muxeneder Franz Muxeneder (19 October 1920 - 3 January 1988) was an Austrian actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1948 to 1987. Muxeneder is best known in Great Britain for his part in the Yugoslav-German television series ''The White Hor ...

as Hense * Erich Ponto as Geheimrat Merk *

Hans Leibelt Hans Leibelt (11 March 1885 in Leipzig, German Empire – 3 December 1974 in Munich, West Germany) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * ''Heimliche Sünder'' (1926) * '' The False Prince'' (1927) * ''The Man in Search of His Mur ...

as Portier Kögl *

Joachim Brennecke Joachim Brennecke (6 December 1919 – 6 September 2011) was a German stage and film actor. During the Second World War he had prominent roles in Nazi propaganda films such as ''Attack on Baku'' and '' 5 June''.Kreimeier p.347 Selected filmograph ...

as Kurt Baumann *

Karlheinz Böhm Karlheinz Böhm (16 March 1928 – 29 May 2014) was an Austrian-German actor and philanthropist. He took part in 45 films and became well known in Austria and Germany for his role as Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in the Sissi film trilogy a ...

as Pit Harlacher *

Hans Hermann Schaufuß Hans Hermann Schaufuß (13 July 1893 – 30 January 1982) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1922 to 1969. His sons were actors Hans Joachim Schaufuß Hans Joachim Schaufuß (transliterated: Schaufuss) (28 Decemb ...

as Vater Harlacher *

Rudolf Schündler Rudolf Ernst Paul Schündler (17 April 1906, in Leipzig – 12 December 1988, in Munich) was a German actor and director. He played "Karl" in ''The Exorcist'' (1973). After finishing the film '' The Nasty Girl'', Schündler died of a heart attac ...

as Dr. Blümel * Viktor Afritsch as Dr. Billich *

Fritz Rasp Fritz Heinrich Rasp (13 May 1891 – 30 November 1976) was a German film actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1916 and 1976. His obituary in ''Der Spiegel'' described Rasp as "the German film villain in service, for over 60 years." ...

as Der Verführer

References

Bibliography

* Hans-Michael Bock and Tim Bergfelder. ''The Concise Cinegraph: An Encyclopedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009.

External links

* 1952 films 1952 drama films German drama films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Karl Hartl Films based on German novels Films set in hospitals German pregnancy films Bavaria Film films Films shot at Bavaria Studios German black-and-white films 1950s German films {{1950s-Germany-film-stub