''Crown Prince Rudolph's Last Love'' (German: ''Kronprinz Rudolfs letzte Liebe''/''Mayerling'') is a 1955 Austrian

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 ...

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

Rudolf Jugert Rudolf Jugert (1907–1979) was a German film director. Selected filmography * ''Film Without a Title'' (1948) * ''Hello, Fraulein!, Hallo, Fräulein!'' (1949) * ''A Day Will Come (1950 film), A Day Will Come'' (1950) * ''Nights on the Road'' (195 ...

and starring

Rudolf Prack Rudolf Prack (2 August 1905 – 2 December 1981) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * ''Florentine'' (1937) * ''Prinzessin Sissy'' (1939) - Prince Luitpold * '' A Mother's Love'' (1939) - Felix Pirlinger - 1922 * ''Krambambuli'' ( ...

Christiane Hörbiger Christiane Hörbiger (13 October 1938 – 30 November 2022) was an Austrian stage, film, and television actress. Her first major film role was Mary Vetsera in '' Kronprinz Rudolfs letzte Liebe'' in 1955. She appeared on the stage of the Burgthe ...

and

Winnie Markus Winnie Markus (1921–2002) was a Czechoslovakia-born Germany, German film actor, film and television actress whose captivating performances left an indelible mark on the German entertainment industry. With a career spanning over four decades, M ...

.Bock & Bergfelder p.374 The film portrays the tragic 1889

Mayerling Incident The Mayerling incident is the series of events surrounding the apparent murder–suicide suicide pact, pact of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, and his mistress, baroness Mary Vetsera. They were found dead on 30 January 1889 in an imperial ...

, in which

Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria (Rudolf Franz Karl Josef; 21 August 1858 – 30 January 1889) was the only son and third child of Franz Joseph I of Austria, Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. He was heir apparent to the imp ...

and his lover

Baroness Mary Vetsera Baroness Marie Alexandrine "Mary" von Vetsera (19 March 1871 – 30 January 1889) was an Austrian nobility, Austrian noblewoman and the Mistress (lover), mistress of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria. Vetsera and the crown prince were found dead ...

committed suicide. The film was shot in

Agfacolor Agfa-Farbenplatte of Bad Kreuznach, Germany, 1933. An Agfacolor slide of a café in Oslo, Norway, 1937. An Agfacolor slide of Paris, France, 1937. An Agfacolor slide of Stockholm, Sweden, 1938. An Agfacolor slide, Hungary, 1938. An Agf ...

, with sets designed by

Alexander Sawczynski Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

and

Werner Schlichting Werner Schlichting (1904–1996) was a German art director who worked on over a hundred films during a lengthy career. He worked on a number of Austrian films including '' The Congress Dances'' and '' The Last Ten Days'' (1955).Fritsche p.253 Sel ...

. It was made at the

Rosenhügel Studios The Rosenhügel Studios are film studios located in the Austrian capital Vienna. They were opened in 1923 and originally owned by the Vita-Film production company. After the company's bankruptcy the following year the studios were taken over by ...

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. ...

Cast

Crown Prince Rudolf Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria (Rudolf Franz Karl Josef; 21 August 1858 – 30 January 1889) was the only son and third child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. He was heir apparent to the imperial throne of the Austro ...

as Countess Larisch *

Lil Dagover Lil Dagover (; born Marie Antonia Siegelinde Martha Seubert; 30 September 1887 – 23 January 1980) was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar ...

as Empress Elisabeth *

Erik Frey Erik Frey (1 March 1908 – 2 September 1988) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1936 and 1988. He was born and died in Vienna, Austria. He was married to the actress Jane Tilden and Susi Witt. Selected ...

Emperor Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reig ...

Attila Hörbiger Attila Hörbiger (21 April 1896 – 27 April 1987) was an Austrian stage and movie actor. Life Hörbiger was born in the Hungarian capital Budapest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of engineer Hanns Hörbiger and the younge ...

as , coachman *

Adrienne Gessner Adrienne Gessner (23 July 1896 – 23 June 1987) was an Austrian actress. Gessner appeared in over fifty film and television shows during her career, including the 1955 costume film '' Royal Hunt in Ischl''. Gessner appeared in a mixture of German ...

as * Greta Zimmer as Crown Princess Stephanie *

Walter Reyer Walther Reyer (4 September 1922 – 5 September 1999) was an Austrian actor. He appeared in more than 50 films and television shows between 1954 and 1997. Filmography References External links * 1922 births 1999 deaths Austrian m ...

as Archduke Johann Salvator *

Karl Ehmann Karl Ehmann (13 August 1882 – 1 November 1967) was an Austrian stage and film actor whose career spanned both the silent and sound eras of the film industry. Career Born on 13 August 1882 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, he became interested in ac ...

as , valet *

Otto Wögerer Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

as , chief of police * Josef Kahlenberg as Adjutant of the Emperor * C.W. Fernbach as Adjutant of the Crown Prince * Eduard Volters as Baltazzi * Karl Schwetter as Stockau * Gretl Rainer as Agnes * Erich Dörner as A Viennese man

References

Bibliography

* Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. ''The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009.

External links

* 1956 films 1950s historical drama films Austrian historical drama films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Rudolf Jugert Films set in Austria Films set in 1889 Films about suicide Constantin Film films Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria Cultural depictions of Empress Elisabeth of Austria Cultural depictions of Franz Joseph I of Austria 1956 drama films Films set in Austria-Hungary Films shot at Rosenhügel Studios Films scored by Willy Schmidt-Gentner German-language historical drama films {{1950s-Austria-film-stub