Queen's Girl Years (1936)
Girl Years of a Queen is a German feature film from 1935/1936 with Jenny Jugo in the title role . The director was Jugo's in-house director Erich Engel .
action
Princess Victoria of Kent learns from her governess that she has been chosen as the successor to the dying British King. Her mother as well as her uncle try from the beginning to patronize and tease the inexperienced 18-year-old. However, Victoria knew how to assert itself early on: Contrary to the express wishes of its whisperers, Victoria did not dismiss the government, but expressly expressed its confidence in the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. Melbourne proves to be grateful and henceforth becomes a trustworthy advisor and fatherly friend of the still inexperienced monarch.
Meanwhile, Victoria's relatives continue to pull the strings in the background. While the mother wants to marry her child as soon as possible to the Dutch Crown Prince Heinrich von Nassau, her uncle has chosen the Russian Grand Duke Alexander for this purpose. Lord Melbourne has also found a suitable man for his young queen. He considers the young German Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to be the most suitable candidate. But Victoria stands across; she generally has no intention of marrying anytime soon. Shortly before her upcoming birthday, she goes out with her teacher and her personal servant to secretly go to Paris. Since it is raining heavily on the way to the Channel coast, the decision is made to spend the night in Dover before crossing to France.
Victoria stays incognito in the inn with her entourage, where she meets a young man who pretends to be a normal German student. In truth, however, it is the Prince Albert favored by Lord Melbourne. The two young people quickly find a liking for each other. Albert is just on his way to London, where, following the will of his uncle, the Belgian king, he is supposed to become engaged to Victoria. But like Victoria, he is anything but enthusiastic about this arranged marriage. In addition, Prince Albert has some reservations about the British monarch that he does not even know.
The night together in Dover leads to Albert throwing his plans overboard and deciding to travel to Paris with the young, unknown British woman. From Albert's companion, however, Victoria learns who the young German really is. According to his guardian, Albert must definitely travel to London in order to fulfill his dynastic duty. Thereupon Victoria again throws her Paris plans overboard and thinks of officially meeting her future husband at the birthday party planned for her. Albert couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Victoria again and was embarrassed. His derogatory words about the previously unknown British monarch will not be forgotten. With the help of Lord Melbourne, the two young people finally find each other, and now nothing stands in the way of a marriage.
Production notes
A Queen's Girlhood is considered the greatest film hit in Jenny Jugo's career. Jugo's husband Friedrich Benfer was put at her side in the role of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha . This film romance was at the same time a tribute to the later, royal lovers and married couple on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of their first meeting in 1836.
The film was shot from November 18 to the end of 1935 in the Ufa studios in Berlin-Tempelhof and Neubabelsberg . The world premiere took place on February 28, 1936 in Berlin's Gloria Palast . After the war, a Queen's Girl Years was re-performed on ZDF on May 9, 1976 .
The script written by Ernst Marischka was based on the play of the same name by Sil-Vara (di Geza Silberer) from 1932. In 1954, based on this script, Marischka also directed the remake of the same name with the young Romy Schneider in the title role.
Producer Eberhard Klagemann also took over the production management. The film structures designed by Hermann Warm were made by Carl Haacker and Bruno Lutz , while the costumes were created by Arno Richter .
Jugo fan Adolf Hitler archived the girl's years of a queen in his film archive at the Berghof .
Reviews
Vienna's Neue Freie Presse reported in the edition of February 25, 1936: “The lively, dramatized biography of Queen Victoria's young girls, their accession to the throne and their engagement is born film material. The skilful and humorous editing of the script by Ernst Marischka sticks to the original in terms of content and the sequence of images, and even too precisely in the somewhat hesitant exposition. […] Erich Engel proves his always subtle directing hand here also in the light genre and achieves a very pleasant entertainment with taste, a sense of time and discreet means. A discretion that particularly benefits the acting managers. The always humorous Jenny Jugo is as a young queen as as a young girl in love of the finest charm. Her strong talent for feminine kindness and drama does not appear in any of her previous roles and is perfectly expressed. "
In the edition of February 28, 1936, page 2 of the Austrian Film Newspaper reads: “As the young Queen Victoria, Jenny Jugo […] has been given a very attractive task which she solves with a lot of grace and fresh youthfulness. In her portrayal, the change from the unsuspecting, childlike Victoria, who still knows nothing of the great responsibility that awaits her, to the purposeful ruler who is concerned about the welfare of her empire is well expressed. [...] Erich Engel staged the milieu and events with tact and taste. "
Claire Trask wrote in the New York Times on April 26, 1936 : “Erich Engel has the light touch, a rare gift with any of the German directors (…) Though Jenny Jungo (sic!) As Victoria has hardly the physical qualifications for the part, she gives a wholly delightful and spontaneous impersonation of the young girl who was compelled to adjust herself to the responsibilities of queenhood. Supported by superior camera work, witty dialogue and an intimacy of sound (...) the picture keeps on a level of excellency which bears comparison with the better foreign product. "
The Lexicon of International Films writes: "German pre-war comedy, located between feeling and humor, living on the natural charm of Jenny Jugo."
See also
Web links
- Victoria in Dover in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Girls' years of a queen at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Stefanie Mathilde Frank: Little strange queen. Erich Engels comedy “A Queen's Girl Years” (1936) . In: Filmblatt, Volume 19 [Summer 2014], No. 54, pp. 3–13.
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 4: H - L. Botho Höfer - Richard Lester. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 262.
- ↑ Cf. Bogusław Drewniaks The German Film 1938–1945, A Complete Overview. Düsseldorf 1987, p. 633
- ↑ "A Queen's Girlhood". In: Neue Freie Presse , February 25, 1936, p. 9 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ "A Queen's Girlhood". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , February 28, 1936, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ A Queen's Girlhood in the New York Times
- ↑ Translation: "Erich Engel has a light hand, a rare gift among German directors (...) Although Jenny Jungo hardly has the physical prerequisites for her role, she presents a thoroughly enjoyable and spontaneous embodiment of the young girl who is forced to do so subordinate to the responsibility of being a queen. Supported by an above-average camera performance, a witty dialogue and a delicacy of the sound (...) the film reaches a level of excellence that can definitely compete with the better foreign works. "
- ^ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Lexikon des Internationale Films, Volume 5, p. 2400. Reinbek near Hamburg 1987