Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations (1938) Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker (original title)

Director:

Leni Riefenstahl

Writer:

Leni Riefenstahl (writer)

Release Date:

8 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Sport

Plot:

The document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.

Plot Keywords:

Olympics | Jesse Owens | Stadium | Marathon | Hitler

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

David Albritton	...	Himself - High Jump, USA (uncredited)
Arvo Askola	...	Himself - 10000 Metres, FIN (uncredited)
Jack Beresford	...	Himself - Carries British Flag (uncredited)
Erwin Blask	...	Himself - Hammer Throw, German (uncredited)
Sulo Bärlund	...	Himself - Shot Put, Finland (uncredited)
Ibolya Csák	...	Herself - High Jump, Hungary (uncredited)
Henri de Baillet-Latour	...	Himself - IOC, Stands with Hitler, with Hurdlers (uncredited)
Philip Edwards	...	Himself - 800 Metres, Canada (uncredited)
Donald Finlay	...	Himself - 110m Hurdles, GB (uncredited)
Tilly Fleischer	...	Herself - Javelin Throw, Germany (uncredited)
Wilhelm Frick	...	Himself - Spectator (uncredited)
Josef Goebbels	...	Himself - Spectator (uncredited)
Hermann Göring	...	Himself - Spectator (uncredited)
Ernest Harper	...	Himself - Marathon, GB (uncredited)
Karl Hein	...	Himself - Hammer Throw, Germany (uncredited)
Rudolf Hess	...	Himself - Stands with Hitler (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself - Declares Games Open (uncredited)
Volmari Iso-Hollo	...	Himself - 10000 Metres, FIN (uncredited)
Cornelius Johnson	...	Himself - High Jump, USA (uncredited)
Matti Järvinen	...	Himself - Javelin, FIN (uncredited)
Elfriede Kaun	...	Herself - High Jump, Germany (uncredited)
King Umberto II	...	Himself - Stands with Hitler, Salutes Italian Team (uncredited)
Kalevi Kotkas	...	Himself - High Jump, FIN (uncredited)
Gustaf Alfons Koutonen	...	Himself - Hammer Throw, FIN (uncredited)
Luise Krüger	...	Herself - Javelin Throw, Germany (uncredited)
Maria Kwasniewska	...	Herself - Javelin Throw, Poland (uncredited)
Theodor Lewald	...	Himself - German Olympic Committee, Stands with Hitler (uncredited)
Luz Long	...	Himself (uncredited)
Spiridon Louis	...	Himself - Walks Behind Greek Flag, in Greek Costume (uncredited)
John Lovelock	...	Himself - 1500 Metres, NZ (uncredited)
Gisela Mauermayer	...	Herself - Discus Throw, Germany (uncredited)
Earle Meadows	...	Himself - Pole Vault, USA (uncredited)
Ralph Metcalfe	...	Himself - Sprinter, USA (uncredited)
Paula Mollenhauer	...	Herself - Discus Throw, Germany (uncredited)
Väinö Muinonen	...	Himself - Marathon, FIN (uncredited)
Seung-yong Nam	...	Himself - Marathon, Japan (uncredited)
Henri Nannen	...	Announcer (uncredited)
Yrjö Nikkanen	...	Himself - Javelin, FIN (uncredited)
Shûhei Nishida	...	Himself - Pole Vault, Japan (uncredited)
Paavo Nurmi	...	Himself - Spectator Watching 10000 Metres Race (uncredited)
Dorothy Odam	...	Herself - High Jump, GB (uncredited)
Martinus Osendarp	...	Himself - 100 Metres, Holland (uncredited)
Jesse Owens	...	Himself (uncredited)
Leni Riefenstahl	...	Nude Dancer - Prologue (uncredited)
Mack Robinson	...	Himself - Second, After Owens (uncredited)
Ilmari Salminen	...	Himself - 10000 Metres, FIN (uncredited)
Julius Schaub	...	Himself - Spectator, with Glasses, Behind Hitler (uncredited)
Kee-chung Sohn	...	Himself - Marathon, Japan (uncredited)
Julius Streicher	...	Himself - Spectator (uncredited)
Gerhard Stöck	...	Himself - Shot Put, Javelin Throw, Germany (uncredited)
Naoto Tajima	...	Himself - Triple Jump, Japan (uncredited)
Erkki Tamila	...	Himself - Marathon, FIN (uncredited)
Kalervo Toivonen	...	Himself - Javelin, FIN (uncredited)
Forrest Towns	...	Himself - 110m Hurdles, USA (uncredited)
Werner von Blomberg	...	Himself - Spectator (uncredited)
August von Mackensen	...	Himself - Spectator (uncredited)
Hans von Tschammer und Osten	...	Himself (spectator, in white suit) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Hans Woellke	...	Himself - Shot Put, Germany (uncredited)
Sueo Ôe	...	Himself - Pole Vault (uncredited)

Directed by
Leni Riefenstahl

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Leni Riefenstahl		writer

Produced by
Leni Riefenstahl	....	producer

Original Music by
Herbert Windt
Walter Gronostay		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Wilfried Basse		(uncredited)
Leo De Lafrue		(uncredited)
Josef Dietze		(uncredited)
E. Epkins		(uncredited)
Hans Ertl		(uncredited)
Walter Frentz		(uncredited)
Hans Karl Gottschalk		(uncredited)
Richard Groschopp		(uncredited)
Willy Hameister		(uncredited)
Wolf Hart		(uncredited)
Hasso Hartnagel		(uncredited)
Walter Hege		(uncredited)
Paul Holzki		(uncredited)
Werner Hundhausen		(uncredited)
Albert Höcht		(uncredited)
Carl Junghans		(uncredited)
Herbert Kebelmann		(uncredited)
Sepp Ketterer		(uncredited)
Albert Kling		(uncredited)
Ernst Kunstmann		(uncredited)
Leo de Laforgue		(uncredited)
Lagorio		(uncredited)
E. Lambertini		(uncredited)
Guzzi Lantschner		(uncredited)
Otto Lantschner		(uncredited)
Waldemar Lembke		(uncredited)
Georg Lemke		(uncredited)
C.A. Linke		(uncredited)
Kurt Neubert		(uncredited)
Erich Nitzschmann		(uncredited)
Albert Schattmann		(uncredited)
Hans Scheib		(uncredited)
Wilhelm Schmidt		(uncredited)
Hugo O. Schulze		(uncredited)
Leo Schwedler		(uncredited)
Alfred Siegert		(uncredited)
W. Siehm		(uncredited)
Ernst Sorge		(uncredited)
Károly Vass		(uncredited)
Andor von Barsy		(uncredited)
Eberhard von der Heyden		(uncredited)
Fritz von Friedl		(uncredited)
Heinz von Jaworsky		(uncredited)
Hugo von Kaweczynski		(uncredited)
Alexander von Lagorio		(uncredited)
H. von Stwolinski		(uncredited)
Willy Zielke		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Leni Riefenstahl

Production Management
Walter Traut	....	production manager (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Luggi Waldleitner	....	assistant camera
Georg Fleischmann	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Erna Peters	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Thanks
Pierre de Coubertin	....	dedicatee (as Baron Pierre de Coubertin)

Production Companies

• Olympia Film GmbH
• International Olympic Committee (uncredited)
• Tobis Filmkunst (uncredited)

Distributors

• Tobis-Filmverleih (1938) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Tobis-Cinema-Film A.G. (1938) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Excelsior Pictures Corp. (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Arte Edition (1999) (Germany) (video)
• Arthaus Filmverleih (1999) (Germany) (video)
• Belle & Blade Studios (video)
• Criterion Collection, The (1997) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Happinet Pictures (1998) (Japan) (DVD)
• I.V.C. (1993) (Japan) (VHS)
• I.V.C. (1998) (Japan) (VHS)
• I.V.C. (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• I.V.C. (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• I.V.C. (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)

Also Known As:

"Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker" - Germany (original title)
"The Olympiad" - USA

Runtime:

Sweden:121 min | USA:111 min | UK:66 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German | English | Italian | French | Japanese | Portuguese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Acropolis, Athens, Greece

Company:

Olympia Film GmbH

Trivia:

Producer Winfield R. Sheehan and his wife, Viennese opera singer Maria Jeritza offered to help Riefenstahl to find a US distributor for the film but no contract ever materialised.

Movie Connections:

Edited into The Negro Soldier (1944)

Soundtrack:

Olympische Hymnne

Comment on gbheron Review

As you nicely pointed out the NFL footages that you watch today, and those of Olympia that were shot some 60+ years are the same. Which means that NFL is still using techniques that Leni Riefenstahl explored long time ago, which further means that she's 60+ years ahead of her time. When you denounce something you have to look at it from the historical context. This was groundbreaking at time, and every sport event coverage since borrowed from it. Leni Riefenstahl actually wanted to be catapulted with a camera to give an incredible feel of one of a kind sports event, but this could not be carried out. NFL ought to try some of this innovation that Leni considered long time ago, we're much more technologically advanced now...