Kolberg (1945)

During Napoleon's victorious campaign in Germany, the city of Kolberg gets isolated from the retreating Prussian forces. The population of Kolberg refuses to capitulate and organizes the ... See full summary »

Directors:

Veit Harlan, Wolfgang Liebeneiner (uncredited)

Writers:

Veit Harlan, Alfred Braun

Stars:

Heinrich George, Kristina Söderbaum, Horst Caspar

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Heinrich George	...	Bürgermeister Joachim Nettelbeck
Kristina Söderbaum	...	Maria Werner
Horst Caspar	...	Gen. Gneisenau
Gustav Diessl	...	Lt. Schill
Paul Wegener	...	Stadtkommandant Loucadou
Otto Wernicke	...	Bauer Werner
Charles Schauten	...	Napoleon
Claus Clausen	...	Frédéric-Guillaume III
Irene von Meyendorff	...	Königin
Heinz Lausch	...	Friedrich Werner
Kurt Meisel	...	Claus Werner
Paul Bildt	...	Rektor
Jakob Tiedtke	...	Reeder
Hans Hermann Schaufuß	...	Zaufke (as H.H. Schaufuss)
Franz Schafheitlin	...	Fanselow (as F. Schafheitlin)

Storyline

During Napoleon's victorious campaign in Germany, the city of Kolberg gets isolated from the retreating Prussian forces. The population of Kolberg refuses to capitulate and organizes the resistance against the French army, which immediately submits the city to massive bombardments.

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Plot Keywords:

propaganda film | nazi propaganda | prussian soldier | period drama | costume drama | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | War

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The budget was eight (8) million German marks, equivalent to over $500,000,000--this while World War II raged on.

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Goofs

August von Gneisenau was 47 when he became commandant of Kolberg, not 32 as stated in the movie.

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Quotes

Stadtkommandant Loucadou: Capitulation is better than Suicide.

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Connections

Featured in Berlin 1945: Tagebuch einer Großstadt: Episode #1.1 (2020)

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Soundtracks

Moonlight Sonata
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

User Reviews

Bad prints make it hard to judge

Kolberg isn't remotely a good movie, but at the same time it's no worse than 99.9 percent of the tripe that is and has always been made by Hollywood. It's hard to objectively discuss this film because of having to precede any actual comments with obligatory expressions of PC horror. But even more so, the quality of the copy in general circulation is so terrible it is difficult to form a fair opinion of how the film does or does not work as a piece of entertainment and or art. The structure of what I saw is so far beyond episodic as to be virtually incomprehensible at times - and I doubt that a film this professional on other levels could ever originally have been so choppy and unclear. It looks to be very heavily edited, with a meat cleaver, by a blind person. Perhaps it was cut to remove as much material as possible that would make the German cause sympathetic, or perhaps just for length (it is still quite a long movie). The color (in the copy I have) is close to indescribable. In fact, when a friend asked me if I saw it in color, it took me a few minutes to think of a way to answer him. It isn't color and it isn't black and white - but it is hideous and must be far, far removed from what Kolberg originally looked like. It's got a cast of thousands, impressive and beautiful (or so it seems through the dim veil of putrid picture quality that I experienced) locations and sets and some good acting, particularly by the patriarchal male lead. The person who plays the Queen of Prussia is outstandingly beautiful. As to 'horrible' 'terrifying' etc., propaganda, Kolberg is much subtler and less specific than the typical exercise for the moron millions churned out by Hollywood such as Casablanca, or any number of movies in which Errol Flynn or Harrison Ford single-handedly-defeats-the (fill in the blank), etc. I find it rather refreshing to get another perspective, as the old one is wearing quite thin these 60 years after 'freedom' supposedly won, and all that. Kolberg's effectiveness as propaganda (the dark days descending over Germany) is interestingly substantiated in the history of genocidal mass rape and murder of Germany civilians in the wake of the Soviet conquest of just the provinces in which Kolberg is set. That the leading actor - an actor, not a politician - was starved to death in a Soviet (you remember the Soviets - our allies in right vs. wrong, freedom vs. slavery World War II?) concentration camp in 1946 certainly gives a certain air of credence to the pronouncements of the film.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German French

Release Date:

5 October 1953 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Burning Hearts

Filming Locations:

Seeburg, Dallgow-Döberitz, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM8,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Agfacolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1