Interlude (1957)

The story of a young woman, Helen Banning, who travels to Munich in search of life experience and romance. While working for America House, she meets a famous symphony conductor, Tonio ... See full summary »

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Daniel Fuchs (screenplay), Franklin Coen (screenplay),

Stars:

June Allyson, Rossano Brazzi, Marianne Koch

Cast

Complete credited cast:
June Allyson	...	Helen Banning
Rossano Brazzi	...	Tonio Fischer
Marianne Koch	...	Reni Fischer (as Marianne Cook)
Françoise Rosay	...	Countess Reinhart
Keith Andes	...	Dr. Morley Dwyer
Frances Bergen	...	Gertrude Kirk
Lisa Helwig	...	Housekeeper
Herman Schwedt	...	Henig
Anthony Tripoli	...	Dr. Smith
John Stein	...	Dr. Stein
Jane Wyatt	...	Prue Stubbins

Storyline

The story of a young woman, Helen Banning, who travels to Munich in search of life experience and romance. While working for America House, she meets a famous symphony conductor, Tonio Fischer, and begins a relationship with him. She soon finds out there is much more to this man than his music, including a wife Reni Fisher, but there's definitely more to the story, which she soon discovers. While dealing with the experiences life has thrown in her way, she is also being courted by Morley Dwyer a doctor from back home, who is currently practicing medicine in a Munich hospital. Who will she choose?

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Plot Keywords:

one word title | remake

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Forbidden Interlude

Filming Locations:

Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A Los Angeles Times newspaper ad from Oct. 1957 shows that Universal Pictures widely distributed this film as "Forbidden Interlude" on a double bill with Man of a Thousand Faces starring James Cagney.

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Connections

Remade as Interlude (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Interlude"
Music by Frank Skinner
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Sung by The McGuire Sisters

User Reviews

Tomorrow will never come,Heaven won't allow

A propos of "when tomorrow comes" ,of which "interlude" is the remake: This is not one of Stahl's best works.The movie lacks a center of gravity. Melodrama interferes with social topics(unions,strikes,meetings)and even a deluge,complete with a night in a temple.Besides,the Madeleine character appears too late and is hardly credible.She suffers from mental illness since she lost her child.And the unfortunate heroine tells her so:"you win because you're helpless". Charles Boyer plays the usual Latin lover,and Irene Dunne,the impossible love ,as she did in Fannie Hurst's famous tear-jerker. The ending is ambiguous:in his 1957 remake,the by now usual Sirk remake has a more definitive conclusion. All in all,watchable,because of the cast ,but not a great Stahl.

A propos of "interlude" : Generally Sirk used to work wonders with his remakes of John M Stahl: "magnificent obsession" and 'imitation of life" (in spite of some reservations for the latter) were ,in several respects ,superior to the thirties works ;"interlude" ,on the other hand ,is less interesting than the original,which was not a masterpiece either.Gone are the social concern,the hurricane and the flood -replaced by a little storm- We're left with an old maid (June Allyson whose performance is mediocre and no romantic at all )two suitors (an Italian buck and a handsome American physician ),plus a depressive woman ,which makes some of the final scenes look like an updated Jane Eyre .It's extraordinary that this bland soap opera should precede ,in Sirk 's filmography ,his absolute masterpiece " a time to love and a time to die" which cannot be praised too highly: one finds it hard to believe that the two movies were made by the same director.

French users will notice the presence of Françoise Rosay as the housekeeper.