Melody of the Heart
Melody of the Heart (German: Melodie des Herzens) is a 1929 German musical film directed by Hanns Schwarz and starring Dita Parlo, Willy Fritsch and Gerő Mály.
| Melody of the Heart | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Hanns Schwarz |
| Produced by | Erich Pommer |
| Written by | Hans Székely |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Werner R. Heymann |
| Cinematography | |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universum Film AG |
Release date | 16 December 1929 |
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
The film was the first sound film produced by the German major studio Universum Film AG and was credited with establishing the popularity of the operetta film. It was shot in Hungary. Initially the film was intended to be silent, but halfway through production its producer Erich Pommer was ordered by his superiors to convert it into a sound film.[1] The film premiered at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin on 16 December 1929.[2] It was released in four different languages, German, English, French and Hungarian.[3] Such multiple-language versions, which had been pioneered by British International Pictures, were popular in Europe until dubbing became more widespread.
Cast
- Dita Parlo as Julia Balog
- Willy Fritsch as János Garas
- Gerő Mály as Vater Garas
- Marcsa Simon as Mutter Garas
- János Körmendy as Vater Kovács
- Juliska Ligeti as Mutter Kovács
- Anni Mewes as Anna Kovács
- Tomy Endrey as Der kleine Kovács
- Ilka Grüning as Fräulein Czibulka
- László Dezsõffy as Zugführer Benézel
References
- Hardt p. 129
- Hardt p. 238
- Rogowski 237
Bibliography
- Bergfelder, Tim & Bock, Hans-Michael. The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopedia of German. Berghahn Books, 2009.
- Hardt, Ursula. From Caligari to California: Erich Pommer's Life in the International Film Wars. Berghahn Books, 1996.
- Rogowski, Christian. The Many Faces of Weimar Cinema: Rediscovering Germany's Filmic Legacy. Camden House, 2010.