''The Emperor's Waltz'' () is a 1933 German

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed by

Frederic Zelnik Frederic Zelnik (born Friedrich Zelnik; 17 May 1885 – 29 November 1950) was an Austrian producer, director, and actor. He was one of the most important producers-directors of the German silent cinema. Zelnik achieved success through period oper ...

and starring

Mártha Eggerth Marta Eggerth (17 April 1912 – 26 December 2013) was a Hungarian actress and singer from "The Silver Age of Operetta". Many of the 20th century's most famous operetta composers, including Franz Lehár, Fritz Kreisler, Robert Stolz, Oscar Str ...

Paul Hörbiger Paul Hörbiger (29 April 1894 – 5 March 1981) was an Austrians, Austrian theatre and film actor. Life and work Paul Hörbiger was born in the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, Hungarian capital Budapest, then part of Austria-Hungary, the ...

, and

Carl Esmond Carl Esmond (born Karl Simon; June 14, 1902– December 4, 2004) was an Austrian-born American film and stage actor, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Although his age was given as 33 in the passenger list when he arrived in the USA in January 19 ...

. It was shot at the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial back ...

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 ...

with sets 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 ...

Franz Schroedter Franz Schroedter (9 May 1897 – 14 November 1968) was a German art director.Giesen p.212 Selected filmography * '' The Black Count'' (1920) * ''The Dance of Love and Happiness'' (1921) * '' The New Paradise'' (1921) * '' The Queen of Whitechapel ...

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

took place around the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the river Traun in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden ...

Plot

In the days of

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

Emperor

Franz Josef 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 ...

, an

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

and his son both fall for the same woman.

Distribution

Distributed by

Aafa-Film Aafa Film or Aafa-Film was a German film production and distribution company which operated during the 1920s and 1930s. Established in 1920 as Radio-Film the company was controlled by the producer Gabriel Levy and the director Rudolf Dworsky. Th ...

, the film was released in German cinemas on 24 January 1933 with the censorship visa granted on 21 December 1932. In Austria, the film was released in 1933 by Koppelmann & Reiter under the title Audienz in Ischl. General Foreign Sales Corp. oversaw its release in the United States.

Partial cast

as Mizzi Schlaghofer, mistress of Olgahof *

as Count Eggersdorf *

as Viktor Eggersdorf *

Fritz Kampers Fritz Kampers (14 July 1891 – 1 September 1950) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1913 and 1950. Early life Fritz Kampers was the son of a Munich hotel owner, spent his early childhood in Garmisch-Partenk ...

as Dr. Scharfinger *

Hansi Niese Johanna Jarno-Niese (10 November 1875 in Vienna – 4 April 1934; née Johanna Niese), commonly known as Hansi Niese, was an Austrian actress and operetta singer (soprano). Career Hansi Niese made her debut on stage for the first time in 1 ...

as Stasi, head maid * S. Z. Sakall as Leitner - manufacturer from Budapest *

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 ...

as Annemarie Schulz from Berlin *

Olly Gebauer Olly Gebauer (1908–1937) was an Austrian film actress.Vieira p.151 During the early sound era she established herself in the German film industry. Following the rise of the Nazi Party to power in 1933 she fled into exile with her Jewish husband, ...

as Lori Stübinger - Soubrette *

Arthur Bergen Arthur Bergen (24 October 1875 – 1943) was an History of the Jews in Austria, Austrian Jewish actor and film director. He was murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.Mary Nolan, Ziegfeld Girl and Silent Movie Star: A Biogra ...

*Rupert Fischer *

Fritz Spira Fritz Spira (1 August 1881 – c. 1943) was an Austrian stage actor, stage and film actor. He appeared frequently in films during the silent film, silent and early sound film, sound eras. Spira played the role of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef ...

*Helmut Krauss *

Ernst Pröckl Ernst Johann Pröckl (21 June 1888 – 26 November 1957) was an Austrian stage actor and director.Hardt p.219 He also appeared in numerous films, mainly German. Selected filmography * '' The Peruvian'' (1919) * '' Judith Trachtenberg'' (1920) * '' ...

Josef Reithofer Josef Reithofer (1883–1950) was an Austrian stage and film actor. Selected filmography * '' In the Line of Duty'' (1917) * '' Without Witnesses'' (1919) * '' The Dancer from Tanagra'' (1920) * ''The Princess of the Nile'' (1920) * '' Fanny Els ...

*Wera Schultz *Rudolf Weinmann *

Betty Bird Betty Bird (born Hilde Elisabeth Ptack; 18June 19014March 1998) was an Austrian actress known for ''Die spanische Fliege'' (1931), ''Corazones sin rumbo'' (1928) and ''Sturm auf drei Herzen'' (1930). She was married to Gustav Ucicky until their ...

References

Bibliography

* Klaus, Ulrich J. ''Deutsche Tonfilme: Jahrgang 1933''. Klaus-Archiv, 1988.

External links

* 1933 musical films Films of the Weimar Republic German musical films Films directed by Frederic Zelnik Films scored by Nico Dostal German black-and-white films 1930s German films Films shot at Tempelhof Studios Films shot in Austria German-language musical films {{Musical-film-stub