Reviews & Ratings for
To New Shores More at IMDbPro »Zu neuen Ufern (original title)

5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Zarah Leander at her heart-rending best, 1 December 2004
Author: wlkrrch (wlkrrch@aol.com) from London, England

Nobody in German cinema ever did melodramatic suffering quite like Zarah Leander, and this - her debut film for UFA in 1937 - shows her at the peak of her allure. She plays a glamorous stage diva, and we first see her on stage in London singing her flirtatious number 'Yes, Sir'. She then takes the wrap for a fraud committed by her British officer lover (played by Willy Birgel) who is on the verge of sailing for Australia, and for her pains she is transported to Australia herself, as a convict.

In prison, accompanied by her fellow female inmates, she sings a beautiful, sad song directed to her rascally lover: 'I have such a deep longing for you'. She is released from Paramatta prison in order to marry a handsome farmer (played by Viktor Staal) - but she runs away from him, only to discover that the Birgel character is on the verge of marrying the governor's daughter.

Heartbroken, she tries to return to prison, then to the stage, but is booed by the Australian audience for her gloomy act - a real irony this, since the song she's singing, 'I'm standing in the Rain' is a real beauty, haunting and melancholy, making full use of Leander's lovely contralto voice. Zu Neuen Ufern is a very emotionally involving film, a pointer to the films Detlev Sierck would later make in the US under his anglicised name, Douglas Sirk. Perfect for a rainy Sunday, and proof of the star power of Zarah Leander.

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Moving, and almost a timeless piece of art., 27 February 2003

Author: Wolfi-10 from Gillett PA USA

This film was a sensation when it appeared in 1937; and 65 years later, one can still see why, and one is still moved by it. Despite some technical imperfections of picture and sound of those times, and despite the - initially unsettling - fact that it plays in London and Sydney while its characters and language are clearly German, it comes as close to a real work of art as a movie can. Both the tragic core of the story and its upbeat ending are entirely believable; the major characters appear human and differentiated; the sceneries and lighting are convincing; and Ralph Benatzky's songs have become treasured German folk music. Their presentation by Zarah Leander are the high points of the movie, when time stops and the here and now are forgotten. It is just a little sad that Leander's Gloria Vane was prevented from wearing a really shoulder-free evening gown, as those loud-mouthed boors accused her of. What some claimed to be immoral in England of 1846 was decreed immoral in Germany of 1937. One wonders if the '37 viewers caught on to it.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Queen of Nazi Germany's Cinema in her best-remembered role, 16 September 2006

Author: mdm-11 from United States

Zarah Leander, Swedish Import to the German Cinema of the 1930s & 40s, is best known for her stunning beauty and her deep singing voice, both of which would light up a movie screen. Often cast in the role of a suffering, unappreciated woman, this film could be her lifetime signature performance.

Mistreated by her lover, she nonetheless takes the blame for his criminal activity, accepting a prison sentence, in dim hopes of reuniting with the scoundrel years later. A twist of fate allows her to leave prison, but of course at a price. The predictable plot moves along, including 2 memorable songs, the heartbreaking "Ich steh' I'm Regen" and the up-tempo "Yes, Sir!", both becoming Leander trademarks.

Like Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis and other Classic Cinema Divas, Zarah Leander has achieved cult status. "Zu neuen Ufern" would be the first film to be mentioned by any fan. Enjoy the drama, and enjoy the queen...the Drama Queen of Old German Cinema at her best!

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
All that Heaven did not allow, 15 April 2009
Author: dbdumonteil

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

With this movie,Detlef Sierck enters the path of glory.Combining the melodramatic side of "Das Mädchen von Moorhof" and the social comment of " Stützen def Gesellshaft" ,he brings it all back home and makes his second major work (after "La Habanera" ).Since it's his last movie in Nazi Germany,it's all the more precious .

Gloria Vane is a scandalous singer in Victorian times;even if she had not been (unfairly ) accused of forgery ,they would have had her performance censored anyway.Gloria Vane is too much and the brilliant scene on stage (yes sir,no sir) shows Zarah Leander at her best ,easily equaling Marlene Dietrich singing "falling in love again" .Later ,when Sierck worked in the US ,he would search around for another Zarah Leander and Dorothy Malone ("Written on the wind" and "tarnished angels") would be some kind of replacement.

Crazy situations abound: the show in London;the parade of the fiancées which looks more like a cattle fair;the romantic suicide;the bride all in white ,waiting for her groom;and the final scene ,which continues the refinement already sketched out in " das Mädchen von Moorhof" ,a scene Sirk would carry to perfection in the grandiose finale of his final achievement "imitation of life" : the choir of altar boys who breaks into "Gloria (sic) In Exelcis Deo" predates Mahalia Jackson and choir singing "trouble in the world" by twenty years.Christian faith (which would emerge again in the Hollywood years with such works as "the first legion" "thunder on the hill" "magnificent obsession" or "imitation of life" ) is oddly absent during the whole movie but is essential to the happy ending.

Sirk does not forget his sense of humor : while the males are looking for their spouses in Paramata ,one of them complains about heat while another one thinks young men are degenerate people for they do not appreciate fat women; the cuckold's wife's attitude when she learns Finsbury's death;and last but not least ,do not forget to buy "brooms made in Paramata" by our female convicts.

"Zu neuen Ufern" compares favorably with Max Ophuls' works of the thirties ,particularly "liebelei" (there are many similarities between the two stories) and "Sans Lendemain".

One of the best Zarah pictures and her first in the dictatorship, 6 February 2010

Author: merock10 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Very ironically ,even after the Third Reich take over, certain amount of non propaganda films were continued to be distributed in the united states even without subtitles and dubbing.I don't know how those films made money in the United States without that. It proved that there were more Hollywood type productions than propaganda even after the cut off in 40. Zarah Leander had an American fan following cause her earlier films did come to the United. Zu Neuen Ufzern.It was directed by Douglas Sirk who would later leave for the united states and produce films like magnificent obsession and imitation of life, I think.He was trying to make Dorothy Malone another Zarah But Malone was different in personality.It seems that no matter how much Zarah suffers in this picture she remains glamorous unlike her friend in prison ,played by Lissy Arna,who not glamorous. Nore is the prison maiden, played by Lina Lossen, she looks like a witch.Poor Zarah, who plays Gloria,is a successful singer and stage actress in France and the prudes complain about her, Her boy friend Sir Abert Finesbury, played by Willy Birgel, expressed as Villy, has taken advantage of her and pit his Dept's he owes on her . She takes his responsibility while he escapes and ends up in a womens prison in Australia, The German actors used certain English words and there are black German actors who play bushman .She offered freedom from prison if she marries one of the farmers. Victor Skaal offers her freedom. But as soon as they are on the way home she runs away to find Willy or Villy and she does only to discover that he is engaged to the Governor Jones daughter Mary,played by Carola Hohn.He's now a notorious womanizer even Victors sister, played by squared jawed Hilda Von Stolz is interested in him.So she runs off and he starts to search for her .He finds her in a cabaret singing a ballad and he ends up messing it up for her. She rejects him now and doesn't want to come back, Mady Rahl show up in a small part in the cabaret with a 1937 hair do in the 1830 something setting. Feeling bad about screwing her life up Albert kills himself only to be found dead by Victors uncle who's the local doctor. She ends up marrying victor in a double wedding with her friend marrying Ernest Legal.This was a good German classic made under the third Reich dictatorship before it got super worst The U. S. A. would have to wait till after the war to see some of the Zarah movie. available at warfilms.com

1 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Detlev Sierck miles away from Douglas Sirk, 10 February 2000

Author: Martin Riexinger from Freiburg, Germany

Shortly before his emigration to the US Detlev Sierck made this movie. For those who love his later American movies it will be a little bit disappointing.

The story is very melodramatic but not very convincing. A man makes bad use of his fathers money for the sake of a Vaudeville singer. She is therefore sent to Australia for imprisonment. The man joins the army and they meet again...

Nevertheless you will recognize some elements of Sirk's later cinematography also in this movie, like the frequent use of mirrors an element which was later adapted by his great admirer Fassbinder). A ridiculous element of Nazi censorship is the fact that the dancing girls are forced to dance to a mock version of Offenbach's Can-Can.

Add another review

Related Links