Fritz Bauer Institut · Cinematography of the Holocaust


Watch on the Rhine. D: Shumlin [US, 1943]

ID

FBW000487      Fiction

Country / Year

USA, 1943

Original Title

Watch on the Rhine

Directed by

Herman Shumlin

Produced by

Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., Burbank, CA / New York, NY

Staff

Executive producer: Hal B. Wallis, Jack L. Warner; Dialoge direction: Edward A. Blatt; Assistent director: Richard Mayberry; Script: Dashiell Hammett; Based on: Lilian Hellman (gleichn. Bühnenstück); Dialogues: Lilian Hellman; Camera: Merritt Gerstad, Hal Mohr; Special optical effects: Jack Holden, Edwin B. DuPar; Editing: Rudi Fehr; Sound: Dolph Thomas; Art direction: Carl Jules Weyl; Set decoration: Julie Heron; Costumes: Orry-Kelly; Makeup: Perc Westmore; Music: Max Steiner; Musical direction: Leo F. Forbstein; Orchestration: Hugo Friedhofer

Cast

Bette Davis (Sara Muller); Paul Lukas (Kurt Muller); Geraldine Fitzgerald (Marthe de Brancovis); Lucile Watson (Fanny Farrelly); Beulah Bondi (Anise); George Coulouris (Teck de Brancovis); Donald Woods (David Farrelly); Henry Daniell (Phili von Ramme); Donald Buka (Joshua Muller); Eric Roberts (Bodo Muller); Janis Wilson (Babette Muller); Mary Young (Mrs. Mellie Sewell); Kurt Katch (Herr Blecher); Erwin Kalser (Dr. Klauber); Rudolf Amendt-Anders (als: Robert O. Davis) (Oberdorff); Clyde Fillmore (Sam Chandler); C. Frank Wilson (Joseph); Helmut Dantine (Young Man); Clarence Muse (Horace); Jean DeBriac (Mr. Chabeuf); Howard C. Hickman (Cyrus Penfield); William Washington (Doc); Violet McDowell (Belle); Joseph Bernard (Trainman); Jack Mower (Trainman); Creighton Hale (Chauffeur); Elvira Curci (Italian Woman); Anthony Caruso (Italian Man); Michele Fehr (Baby); Leah Baird (Miss Drake); Frank Reicher (Admiral); Robert C. Fischer (German Ambassador); Walter O. Stahl (German Embassy Butler); Glen Cavender (German Embassy Servant); Joe DeVillard (Spanish General); Wedgwood Nowell (American Diplomat); Hans Tanzler (German Diplomat); Herma Cordova (Woman); Gretl Dupont (Woman); Alan Hale, Jr. (Boy); Garry Owen (Taxi Driver); Hans von Morhart (German)

Length

3067 m / 112'06''

Format

35mm/sw/1:1,37

Dates

- 04 Sep 1943: Copyright
- 00 00.1977: First run, GFR OmdU

Abstract

Kurt and Sara Muller, refugees from Nazi Germany, arrive with their children after a long absence to visit Sara's mother in her Washington, DC, home. Already there are Teck de Brancovis, a Rumanian count, and his American wife. The Mullers plan to stay in the US only until Kurt's health improves. Then he will return to his "business" abroad, the exact nature of which is unclear. When the count, who socializes at the German embassy, hears of the Gestapo's unsuccessful attempts to crack an underground resistance group, he suspects that Kurt may be one of them and offers to spy on him, then in turn tries to blackmail Kurt, who must take desperate measures to protect himself and his family.

Subject Terms

Anti-Nazi films (US)

Bibliography

- Kafka, Hans: "Hollywood Calling"., in: Aufbau (New York, NY), Jg. 8, Nr. 8, 20.02.1942
- Kafka, Hans: "Hollywood Calling"., in: Aufbau (New York, NY), Jg. 8, Nr. 16, 17.04.1942
- Kafka, Hans: "Hollywood Calling"., in: Aufbau (New York, NY), Jg. 8, Nr. 24, 12.06.1942
- , in: Today's Cinema, Vol. 61, Nr. 4916, 13.08.1943
- , in: Kinematograph Weekly (London), Nr. 1896, 19.08.1943
- Kafka, Hans: "Hollywood Calling", in: Aufbau (New York, NY), Jg. 9, Nr. 46, 12.11.1943
- Goetz, Alice: Hollywood und die Nazis. Filme, die Hollywood gegen Hitler-Deutschland drehte. Hamburg: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kino, 1977
- Horak, Jan-Christopher: Anti-Nazi-Filme der deutschsprachigen Emigration von Hollywood 1939-1945. Münster: Maks, 1984
- Nash, Ray R. / Ross, Stanley R. / Conelly, Robert B. (Ed.): Motion Picture Guide. Chicago, IL: Cinebooks, 1987