| Liebelei | |
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| Directed by | Max Ophüls |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Felix Salten |
| Based on | Liebelei byArthur Schnitzler |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Franz Planer |
| Edited by | Friedel Buckow |
| Music by | Theo Mackeben |
Production company | Elite Tonfilm |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Liebelei ([ˌliːbəˈlaɪ̯],lit. 'Affair') is a 1933 Germanperioddrama film directed byMax Ophüls and starringMagda Schneider,Wolfgang Liebeneiner, andLuise Ullrich.[2]
In Vienna during the lateImperial era, Lieutenant Fritz Lobheimer is having an affair with Baroness Eggersdorf. When he meets Christine, the humble daughter of a opera musician, after she has sneaked into a performance with her friend Mizzi, he is smitten. The two young people quickly fall in love. But Lobheimer is haunted by his past, which he is unable to escape: his affair with the married Baroness.
One day, the unfaithful Baroness's husband discovers evidence of her extramarital affair. Baron Eggersdorf is a man of rigid conventions, and his rank and social background demand gratification in the form of a formal satisfaction, and the nobleman challenges the young Lieutenant Lobheimer to a duel. Lobheimer's best friend, First Lieutenant Theo Kaiser, who had warned him away from the affair, tries in vain to convince the unmoving military leadership to intervene in the matter before it is too late. Lobheimer attempts to see Christine the day before the duel, but she is at an audition to realise her dream of becoming a singer, and he instead meets her father, who has encouraged the relationship over his guilt at stifling the past romantic prospects of his sister, who died unmarried. Lobheimer is fatally wounded in the duel. The Baron, his honor restored, leaves victorious.
Embittered by the completely outdated and senseless code of honor that cost his friend his young life, First Lieutenant Kaiser resigns from the army and returns to civilian life and a relationship with Mizzi. When Christine learns of her lover's death, she commits suicide by throwing herself out of the window of Lobheimer's lodgings.
Liebelei was directed byMax Ophüls and produced by Elite Tonfilm.[3] The film, based on a play of the same name (Liebelei) byArthur Schnitzler, describes an ill-fated love affair. A 1927silent film version was previously produced. A separate French-language version –A Love Story (1934) – was also released, using most of the original cast.
The film's sets were designed by theart directorGabriel Pellon.Location shooting took place inBerlin andVienna.
AfterWorld War II the film was approved for showing in occupied Germany by the United Kingdom, but was banned by theFreiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft in 1951.[3]
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