Maskerade (1934)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Willi Forst

Writers:

Willi Forst (writer)
Walter Reisch (writer)

Release Date:

25 January 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Vienna 1905: After a carnival party the famous painter Heidenick draws his otherwise engaged girlfriend Anita Helfer with very few clothes on...

Plot Keywords:

Vienna | Mistaken Identity | Austria Hungary

Cast

Paula Wessely	...	Leopoldine Dur
Anton Walbrook	...	Heideneck (as Adolf Wohlbrück)
Olga Tschechowa	...	Anita Keller
Hans Moser	...	Zacharias, der G�tner
Walter Janssen	...	Paul Harrandt, Hofopernkapellmeister
Peter Petersen	...	Professor Harrandt
Hilde von Stolz	...	Gerda
Julia Serda	...	Frstin M.
Fritz Imhoff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Poldi Dur		(as Lisl Handl)
Grete Natzler
Wiener Philharmoniker	...	Themselves

Also Known As:

Masquerade in Vienna
Willy Forsts Maskerade (Austria) (complete title)

Runtime:

90 min | Austria:100 min | Germany:96 min

Country:

Austria

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Certification:

Germany:12

Company:

Sascha-Verleih

Movie Connections:

Remade as Escapade (1935)

Soundtrack:

Alte Kameraden

I seen thousands of rare films, this is one of the BEST

I seen thousands of rare films, this is one of the BEST!

I saw this film in the mid-1980's a film archive screening of a 35mm pristine print. It had been scheduled because no one had run the print in decades and the programmer was curious. The reviews from Variety and the New York Times said this was a wonderful, sophisticated, romantic comedy but that this Austrian version had been bought so that MGM could remake the film with Myrna Loy and William Powell. Unfortunately Loy was in a contract dispute and Luise Rainer was substituted with mixed results. The German language original version hardly got any play. When I saw it with a small group of surprised film buffs a very unusual experience happened. The lights came up after the end credits were over and we rose to our feet dumb founded. Several strangers near by turned to one anther with the same question on their lips, "Is it just me, or was that the best movie we've ever seen?' Quickly the electricity zoomed around the room and it was confirmed! The rapturous talk about this film spread like wild fire. IT'S A CHARMING MASTERPIECE! Now I'm a student of Ernst Lubitsch, Frank Capra and Billy Wilder and this film should be shown again to the public where they too can celebrate this delightful film on par with the work of these masters. Lets all support classic film and the screening of movies on the big screen where they were meant to be seen. And let's all support the film archives who's job it is to find, preserve and present these forgotten wonders of early cinema. It's been almost fifteen years since I've seen this gem and I still pray everyday to see it again. I hope someday to share more of it's charm with my old friends and to make new friends by giving them the joyous experience of this buried treasure.