Ball in the Savoy (1935)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Ball in the Savoy |
| Country of production | Hungary , Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1935 |
| length | 77 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Stefan Székely |
| script |
Hermann Kosterlitz Géza from Cziffra |
| production | Hunnia-Film RTF (Budapest), City-Film GmbH (Vienna) |
| music | Paul Abraham |
| camera | Stefan Eiben |
| cut | Ladislao Vajda |
| occupation | |
| |
Ball im Savoy is an Austro-Hungarian song and love story from 1935 , based on the operetta of the same name by Paul Abraham . Directed by Stefan Székely , the main roles are cast with Gitta Alpár and Hans Jaray as well as with Rose Barsony and Willy Stettner . With Felix Bressart and Otto Wallburg, residents of Vienna at the time , two of the most popular German film comedians of the Weimar Republic also took part.
action
In the “Grand Hotel” the singer Anita Helling stands on the balcony from which you can see the Chain Bridge of Budapest and sings the song “Toujours l'amour”. A fur cape falls down, which two gentlemen are fighting over on the terrace. Baron André von Wollheim succeeds in taking the cloak. Anita has meanwhile sent her secretary Birowitsch down to find her fur cape. When Baron von Wollheim tried to hand over the cape to Anita, she thought he was a waiter. He then swaps his tuxedo jacket for his jacket with the floor waiter Jean, and serves the food, but is clumsy. Finally he reveals himself to be Baron von Wollheim. When Anita Helling hugs him, her precious follower breaks away.
When Andrés cousin Mary von Wollheim shows up at the hotel, she meets Jean and thinks he is her cousin André because of his tuxedo jacket. Since Mary works as a composer, she wants to get to know the publisher Haller. Together with Jean, she sings a song she composed impromptu on the piano and does a tap dance.
The evening performance in the Savoy begins with a large dance scene and Anita's appearance as a celebrated star guest. When the idea of a break is interrupted, Mary looks for Haller, whom she also finds.
André guides Anita into the park at night, under the pretext that her lost trailer is hidden under a bench. Your search is not particularly intense, but both are getting closer.
Haller, meanwhile, is enthusiastic about Mary's composition and ensures that it is performed that same evening. He thinks the short-term rehearsal will work, but it will have to conduct. An incident occurs when the weighty Haller accidentally steps on Mary's dress, which tears. Mary then conducts in tails, sings and does a tap dance and is celebrated by the audience.
Floor waiter Jean feels increasingly comfortable in his role as a baron, so that the two women no longer know who of the two men is who. André then confronts Jean, which leads to an exchange of blows that ends with getting along again. Everyone is now returning to their traditional role. Anita can book another big performance for herself.
Since Anita still doesn't know what the situation is, she remains reluctant. Jean now appears again as a waiter and announces that André is angry downstairs on the terrace. Anita lets her chinchilla cape fall down over the balcony railing again, which André brings back to her so that nothing stands in the way of a happy ending.
production
Production notes, publication
It is a production of City-Film (Vienna) and Hunnia-Film RTF (Budapest), made in 1934 (Hunnia-Ateliers, Budapest) and premiered in Austria on February 1, 1935, distributed by Elektra-Film. Further performances were in the same month in Hungary and Slovenia, in June 1935 in Denmark, in November 1935 in Portugal and in December 1935 in Sweden. Also in 1935 the strip started in Czechoslovakia. In Finland, Ball started at the Savoy in March 1936. It was also published in Brazil, Canada, Greece, Croatia, Italy and Yugoslavia.
Paul Abraham also took over the musical direction, Bob Gray studied the dances. Márton Vincze designed the film structures, Tichomar Varady the costumes. Co-screenwriter Géza von Cziffra also served director Székely as assistant director.
Background information
With the exception of the couples acting at the same time and the ball in the Savoy , the film story adopts almost nothing from the operetta model, and takes it less seriously. However, the three-time show in the Savoy is very elaborately designed with many participants and in front of a large backdrop.
The film presents gags in the scene at the beginning when Mary and Jean sit down at the piano: She starts the song from the operetta “Toujours l'amour”, but then says it doesn't belong here. Jean puts his cigarette in the mouth of the mask on the wall, whereupon this "mask" comes to life and the cigarette continues to smoke.
Felix Bressart in the role of secretary Birowitsch shines with skillful language acrobatics.
Music track
The following music tracks are played:
- Toujours l'amour
- Ball in the Savoy
- In my white arms
- I want a man who loves me!
- Niagara Fox
- (I dance as well as) Tangolita
In addition, other numbers of the operetta sound instrumental. The titles were published by Doremi-Musikverlag (Basel).
useful information
Ball im Savoy is one of the various emigre films in Austria that were made between 1933 and 1937. In these productions, as in Ball im Savoy , numerous Jewish artists who were marginalized and driven into exile in Germany, which has meanwhile become National Socialist, found a mostly low-paid job opportunity in front of the camera. All of the actors and some of the ball in the Savoy artist involved behind the camera were Jews and, after 1933, undesirable in the German Reich. The majority of those involved emigrated to the USA; some stayed in Europe (including several Hungarians), while Otto Wallburg fell again into the hands of the Nazis and was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944. In view of the massive Jewish participation in this film, both in front of and behind the camera, Ball in the Savoy was, as expected, banned in National Socialist Germany.
Reviews
Paimann's film lists summed up: “Well-kept, well-tempered [sic!] Game in a well-kept milieu, the conflict of which, however, appears again after it seems to have been resolved in the middle of the film, which weakens the impression. Alpar as a singer and performer is equally distinctive, Jaray is discreet and sure of the point. (...) Imaginative direction ... "
At film.at the motto is: False identities, an elegant fur cape, missing jewels and the romantic happiness of two couples - all in a remarkable film by a busy director.
Web links
- Ball at the Savoy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Ball in the Savoy Fig. Title page Illustrierter Film-Kurier No. 1005, film poster and film images see p. See rarefilmsandmore.com
- Ball in the Savoy (1935) full movie
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ulrich J. Klaus: Deutsche Tonfilme 6th year 1935. p. 32 (013.35), Berlin 1995
- ↑ cf. on this: Kay Less : 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. Pp. 16-18, ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8
- ^ Ball in the Savoy In: Paimann's film lists
- ↑ Ball in the Savoy s. S. film.at. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
