Operetta films (German:Operettenfilm) are agenre ofmusical films associated with, but not exclusive to,German language cinema. The genre began in the late 1920s, but its roots stretch back into the tradition of nineteenth centuryVienneseoperettas.

Although somesilent films had based their plots on stage operettas, the genre was largely a result of the switch from silent tosound films. The first all-talking operetta wasThe Desert Song (1929). This operetta had been filmed late in 1928 and was released early in 1929. The 1929 filmMelody of the Heart, made by the German studioUFA, is credited as being the first all-talking "operetta film" made in Europe. It had been intended as a silent film, but the dramatic arrival of sound forced its production to be switched. Its combination of music and dancing proved to be a successful formula, and it was followed by many similar films.^[1]

During the 1930s the trend spread to Britain, where a number of Operetta films were made (often inco-productions with German or Austrian studios), France and the United States. Many Germanémigré film-makers following theNazi rise to power in 1933 were able to find work in other countries because of their experience in the genre.^[2] In the United States, a popular run of Operetta films were made starringJeanette MacDonald andNelson Eddy. In Britain the 1934Richard Tauber filmBlossom Time was a major hit, spawning a number of imitations.

• Hardt, Usula (1996).'From Caligari to California: Erich Pommer's Life in the International Film Wars. Berghahn Books.
• Phillips, Alastair (2004).City of Darkness, City of Light: Émigré Filmmakers in Paris, 1929–1939. Amsterdam University Press.

• Richards, Jeffrey, ed. (1998).The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929–1939'. I.B. Tauris & Co.

• Film genres
• Cinema of Germany
• Cinema of Austria
• Operetta films

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