Ray of Sunshine (1933)

Vienna, at the height of the Great Depression. Like so many others, Hans has no work, no money, nowhere to live. Having lost his livelihood as a taxi driver, he decides that the only ... See full summary »

Director:

Pál Fejös (as Paul Fejos)

Writers:

Pál Fejös (as Paal Fejos), Adolf Lantz (screenplay)

Stars:

Annabella, Gustav Fröhlich, Paul Otto

Cast

Credited cast:
Annabella	...	Anna
Gustav Fröhlich	...	Hans (as Gustav Froehlich)
Paul Otto	...	Ein Polizeikommissär
Hans Marr	...	Ein Priester
Walter Brandt	...	Ein Geldeinnehmer
Annie Rosar	...	Eine Zimmervermieterin
Jaro Fürth	...	Ein Drogeriebesitzer
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Karl Forest	...	Buerovorsteher
Norbert Rohringer	...	Ein Jung
Franz Schafheitlin	...	Ein Arzt im Unfallkrankenhaus
Wilhelm Schich	...	Ein Wiener Hausbewohner
Irene Seidner

Storyline

Vienna, at the height of the Great Depression. Like so many others, Hans has no work, no money, nowhere to live. Having lost his livelihood as a taxi driver, he decides that the only solution is to kill himself. But just as he is about to drown himself, he sees a young woman dive into the river, obviously with the same intention. Without a thought, Hans pulls the woman out of the water and does his best to comfort her. Her name is Anna and she is only 18, but like Hans she no longer has the strength to go on living.

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Plot Keywords:

fired from the job | tramway | tram accident | traffic accident | car salesman | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany Austria

Language:

German

Release Date:

10 December 1933 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Ray of Sunshine

Filming Locations:

Friedrich-Engels-Platz, Vienna, Austria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Serge Otzoup-Filmproduktion der Tobis-Sascha

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French actress Annabella only speaks a little more than a dozen lines throughout the whole film, mostly monosyllables.

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Connections

Alternate-language version of Gardez le sourire (1933)

User Reviews

Need to Be Needed

A man who has lost his job trudges to the Danube to kill himself. When a young woman throws herself in, he rescues her and they begin their long and erratic journey to love.

Writer-Director-Epidemiologist-Archaeologist Paul Fejos -- I'm pretty sure he didn't wear all his hats on this shoot -- offers us a charming view of Vienna from the underside, with leads Annabella and Gustav Fröhlich most charming. The ups and downs go on a little too often. I would have cut it one iteration short, but he directs it as a silent with enough sound sequences to let you know this is the sound era. The leads mime their performances very nicely. Annabella is almost mute (perhaps her German was not so good) in her shy, mousy role and Fröhlich's performance suggests Bill Haines in one of his more down-to-earth roles.

Anyone who has seen Fejos' LONESOME will recognize this as another film in the same vein, a corrective to King Vidor's THE CROWD. Between the players and the city of Vienna, this is a good one to see.