''Circus Life'' (Austrian title, ''Zirkus Leben'', German: ''Schatten der Manege'') is a 1931 German mystery

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

Heinz Paul Heinz Paul (13 August 1893 – 14 March 1983) was a German screenwriter, film producer and director. He was married to the actress Hella Moja. Selected filmography Director * '' The Street of Forgetting'' (1923) * ''The Dice Game of Life'' (192 ...

and starring

Liane Haid Juliane "Liane" Haid (16 August 1895 – 28 November 2000) was an Austrian actress and singer. She has often been referred to as Austria's first movie star. Biography Juliane Haid was born in Vienna on 16 August 1895, the first child to Georg ...

, Oscar Marion and

Trude Berliner Trude Berliner (28 February 1903 – 26 February 1977) was a German actress. She was one of many Jewish actors and actresses who were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Biography Berliner was born Gertrude Berliner in Be ...

. It was shot at the

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 Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

and at the Zirkus Busch in the city.Klaus p.246 It was released in America in 1932.

Synopsis

An acrobat is carrying on affairs with both Elvira Starke, who owns and runs the

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and uni ...

, and Kitty who performs in an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

act. He is then shot dead and police investigate.

Cast

as Elvira Starke, Zirkusdirektrice *

Luigi Bernauer is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's mas ...

as Refaingesang *

Fred Bird Rhythmicans Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Rodr ...

as Singer * Oscar Marion as Oskar Haupt, Dompteur *

as Kitty Rallay * Rolf von Goth as Fred Rallay, ihr Bruder *

Karl Ludwig Diehl Karl Ludwig Diehl (14 August 1896 – 8 March 1958) was a German film actor. He appeared in 66 films between 1924 and 1957. His father was Karl Diehl, the German professor of Anarchism. Filmography * ''Die Tragödie der Entehrten'' (1924 ...

as Luftakrobat *

Walter Rilla Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent.Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He appea ...

as Morini. Kunstschütze *

Hermann Picha Hermann Picha (20 March 1865 – 7 June 1936) was a German stage and film actor. Picha was extremely prolific, appearing in over 300 short and feature films during the silent and early sound eras. Picha played a mixture of lead and supporting r ...

as Edorado, Clown *

Hermann Blaß Hermann Blaß (transliterated as Hermann Blass; 1888–1941) was an Austrian film actor and singer.Eisner p.351 The Jewish Blaß was forced to leave Germany following the rise of the Nazi Party to power in 1933. He then left Austria following it ...

as Lilienfeldt, Argent *

Valy Arnheim Valy Arnheim (born Valentin Theodor Woldemar Appel; 8 June 1883 – 11 November 1950) was a German film actor and director. Selected filmography * '' Lightning Command'' (1921) * ''Anne-Liese of Dessau'' (1925) * '' Harry Hill's Deadly Hunt'' (1 ...

as Sprechstallmeister * Rudolf Meinhard-Jünger as Chef der Mordkommission *

Georg H. Schnell Georg Heinrich Schnell (11 April 1878 – 31 March 1951) was a German actor who remains perhaps best-known for his role as shipowner Harding in ''Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens'' (1922). Georg appeared in over one hundred films. He wa ...

as 1. Kriminalkommissar * Heinrich Wilde as 2. Kriminalkommissar

References

Bibliography

* Klaus, Ulrich J. ''Deutsche Tonfilme: Jahrgang 1931''. Klaus-Archiv, 2006. *Quinlan, David. ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Movie Character Actors''. Harmony Books, 1986.

External links

* 1931 films Films of the Weimar Republic German comedy films 1931 comedy films 1930s German-language films Films directed by Heinz Paul German black-and-white films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios Films shot in Berlin Circus films 1930s German films {{1930s-Germany-film-stub