''I Kiss Your Hand, Madame'' () is a 1929 sound 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Robert Land starring
Harry Liedtke and
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. It was released in the United States in 1932. It was produced by Super-Film.
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 ...
Robert Neppach
Robert Neppach (2 March 1890 – 18 August 1939) was an Austrian architect, film producer and art director. Neppach worked from 1919 in the German film industry. He oversaw the art direction of over 80 films during his career, including F.W. Mur ...
.
Plot
Madame Gerard is a divorcee living the high life 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 ...
. Her current lover is the overweight Percy Talandier but then she meets Count Lerski and sets her sights on him. Then she hears from her ex-husband Adolphe that Lerski is not a count, but works as a waiter.
Cast
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Harry Liedtke as Jacques/Count Lerski
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Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
as Laurence Gerard
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Pierre de Guingand as Adolphe Gerard
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Charles Puffy
Charles Puffy (born Károly Hochstein; 3 November 1884 – 1942 or 1943) was a Hungarian film actor.
Biography
Hochstein appeared in more than 130 films between 1914 and 1938. He was the only slapstick star in Hungary's silent film era, appeari ...
as Percy Talandier
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Richard Tauber as Vocalist
Music
The theme song was entitled "Ich Küsse Ihre Hand Madame" with music by
Ralph Erwin and lyrics by
Fritz Rotter. The tenor
Richard Tauber is heard on the soundtrack singing the theme song. The song became a world-wide hit for that year and was translated and recorded in dozens of languages. The English version was known as "I Kiss Your Hand, Madame."
See also
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List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
This is a list of early pre-recorded sound and part or full talking feature films made in the United States and Europe during the transition from silent film to sound film, sound, between 1926 and 1929. During this time a variety of recording syst ...
References
Bibliography
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External links
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1929 films
Films of the Weimar Republic
German black-and-white films
German silent feature films
German drama films
1920s German-language films
Films directed by Robert Land
1929 drama films
Transitional sound drama films
Films set in Paris
Films shot in Paris
1920s German films
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