''Beethoven's Great Love'' (French: ''Un grand amour de Beethoven'' is a 1936 French

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Abel Gance Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director, producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J'ac ...

and starring Harry Baur, Annie Ducaux and

Jany Holt Jany Holt (born Ruxandra Ecaterina Vladescu Olt, 13 May 1909 – 26 October 2005) was a Romanian-born actress, who worked principally in the French cinema. Holt married French actor Marcel Dalio in 1936, divorcing in 1939. In 1940, Holt married a ...

. It portrays the career of the composer

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. In Britain and the United States it was sometimes alternatively titled ''The Life and Loves of Beethoven''. It was shot at the Cité Elgé Studios in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Jacques Colombier.

Plot

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in the early 19th century, while Beethoven works as a musical tutor, two of Beethoven's pupils are in love with him. One ends up marrying a

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

instead while the other spends years of unrequited love as his fiancée. Beethoven moves to Heiligenstadt to dedicate himself to his music, and overcoming his growing

deafness Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is writte ...

, composes a series of masterworks.

Cast

* Harry Baur as Ludwig van Beethoven * Annie Ducaux as Thérèse de Brunswick *

as Juliette Guicciardi *

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundi ...

as Karl van Beethoven * Jean Debucourt as Le comte Robert Gallenberg * André Nox as Humpholz * Gaston Dubosc as Anton Schindler * Sylvie Gance as La mère de l'enfant mort * Georges Paulais as Le médecin * Georges Saillard as Breuning * Jean Pâqui as Pierrot * Jane Marken as Esther Frechet - la cuisinière * Marcel Dalio as L'éditeur Steiner * André Bertic as Johann van Beethoven * Roger Blin as de Ries * Dalméras as Franz Schubert * Lucas Gridoux as Nikolaus Zmeskall * Yolande Laffon as La comtesse Guicciardi * Lucien Rozenberg as Le comte Guicciardi * Paul Pauley as Schuppanzigh

References

Bibliography

* King, Norman. ''Abel Gance: A Politics of Spectacle.'' Bloomsbury Academic, 1984.

External links

* French historical musical films French musical drama films French black-and-white films Films directed by Abel Gance 1930s historical musical films 1930s musical drama films Depictions of Ludwig van Beethoven on film Cultural depictions of Franz Schubert Films set in the 1800s Films set in the 1810s Films set in the 1820s Films set in Vienna 1936 films 1936 drama films 1930s French films Films shot at Cité Elgé Studios {{historic-musical-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links