''Life's Circus'' (German: ''Manege'') is a 1928 German silent

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

Max Reichmann Max Reichmann (1884-1958) was a German film director active during the silent film, silent and early sound eras. Before making his own films, Reichmann worked as an assistant director on several E.A. Dupont productions. After graduating to directi ...

and starring

Raimondo Van Riel Raimondo Van Riel (22 January 1881, in Rome – 9 May 1962, in Mentana) was an Italian actor. Raimondo Van Riel was born on January 22, 1881, in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is known for his work on Quo Vadis? (1924), The Magnificent Rogue (1935) and ...

, Ernst Van Duren and

Kurt Gerron Kurt Gerron (born Kurt Gerson; 11 May 1897 – 30 October 1944) was a German Jewish actor and film director. He had a very successful career in cabaret and film before World War II, but was then forbidden to work and was sent to Theresienstadt ...

.Bock & Bergfelder p.156 It was shot at the

Staaken Studios Staaken Studios was a film studio located in Staaken on the outskirts of the German capital Berlin. A large former zeppelin hangar, it was converted to film use following the First World War and operated during the Weimar Republic. In July 1923 it ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. The film's sets were designed by Leopold Blonder. It was made by the German branch of

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

and premiered at the

Marmorhaus The Marmorhaus (English: Marble House) was a movie theater, cinema that used to be located on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. Opened in 1913, it takes its name from a large marble façade. Designed by the architect Hugo Pál, the walls of the foyer ...

in Germany's capital city.

Cast

as Gaston Flamingo *Ernst Van Duren as Ralf Flamingo *

as Bela Garay *

Lucie Höflich Lucie Höflich (born Helene Lucie von Holwede; 20 February 1883 – 9 October 1956) was a German actress, teacher and head of the Staatliche Schauspielschule (State Drama School) in Berlin.

as Seine Frau * Mary Johnson as Eve Garay *

Valerie Boothby Valerie Boothby (born Wally Drucker, 18 October 1904 – 14 April 1982) was a German actress, painter, and writer. Biography Valerie Boothby was born Wally Drucker on 18 October 1904 in Hamburg-Mitte, Hamburg, in what was then the German Empire, ...

as Frau im Nordexpress *

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'' ( ...

as Der Stallmeister *

Alexander Murski Alexander Alexandrovich Murski (Russian: Александр Александрович Мурский) (1 November 1869 – April 1943) was a Russian-born German actor. Murski died in 1943 in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France. Murski known for ...

as Der Direktor

References

Bibliography

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

External links

* 1928 films Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films Films directed by Max Reichmann 1928 drama films Circus films German black-and-white films Silent German drama films Films shot at Staaken Studios 1920s German films 1920s German-language films German-language drama films {{1920s-Germany-silent-drama-film-stub