| Comedian Harmonists | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Joseph Vilsmaier |
| Screenplay by | Klaus Richter, Jürgen Egger |
| Produced by | Reinhard Klooss |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Joseph Vilsmaier |
| Edited by | Peter R. Adam |
| Music by | Harald Kloser, Thomas Schobel,Walter Jurmann (Songs) |
Production company | Perathon Film und Fernseh GmbH |
| Distributed by | Senator Film(Germany) Miramax Films(USA) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 127 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Box office | $16 million (Germany)[1] |
Comedian Harmonists (English title:The Harmonists) is a 1997 German film, directed byJoseph Vilsmaier, about the popular German vocal group of the 1920s and '30s, theComedian Harmonists. The film was supported by the German and Austrian film fund.
In 1927, unemployed German-Jewish actor Harry Frommermann is inspired by the American groupThe Revelers to create a German group of the same format. He holds auditions and signs on four additional singers and a pianist. Naming themselves the "Comedian Harmonists", they meet international fame and popularity. However, they eventually run into trouble when theNazis come to power, as half the group is Jewish.
Comedian Harmonists succeeded in Europe and was the highest-grossing German film of 1998 with a gross of over $16 million.[1][2] U.S. PresidentBill Clinton told criticRoger Ebert it was among his favorite films of the year, although the movie did not get widespread release, hence reception in the United States.
Bernd Reinhardt of theWorld Socialist Web Site called it "an exciting film which is well worth seeing and which pays proper attention to the sextet's music." He also remarked on the film's attention to historical detail and the importance of its theme of musical internationalism.[3]
At the 1998German Film Awards,Comedian Harmonists won the awards forBest Fiction Film, Best Editing (for Peter R. Adam), Best Actor (for Ulrich Noethen), Best Supporting Actress (for Meret Becker), and Best Production Design (for Rolf Zehetbauer). Joseph Vilsmaier was nominated forBest Direction, losing toWim Wenders forThe End of Violence.At the 1998Bavarian Film Awards Joseph Vilsmaier won the awards forBest Director. Ben Becker, Heino Ferch, Ulrich Noethen, Heinrich Schafmeister, Max Tidof and Kai Wiesinger won aSpecial Prize.
Vilsmaier was nominated forBest Cinematographer forComedian Harmonists at the 1998European Film Awards.
The U.S.Miramax release contains at least one difference from the original: in the original, there is a scene, when the Harmonists arrive in New York and perform in front of theU.S. Navy, where the camera singles out oneAfrican American navy man who is visibly enjoying the music, until he gets a stinging look of rebuke from a superior officer. This segment was cut from the American release.[citation needed]
The film led to the writing of a musical play,Veronika, der Lenz ist da – Die Comedian Harmonists, which opened at theKomödie on theKurfürstendamm inBerlin on 19 December 1997. When this production closed, the actors who had played the original sextet formed themselves into a new group called theBerlin Comedian Harmonists,[4] which is still in existence in2024.
