Gustav Fröhlich Movies
Gustav Fröhlich is best remembered to international audiences for his performance as Freder, the young hero of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927). The role was an unexpected turn in a career that was already highly varied before he began acting. Born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Fröhlich (also often credited as Gustav Froehlich) began his dramatic career when he arrived Berlin in 1921, at the age of 19. He had already worked as a journalist and dime novelist, and as a variety-show emcee. What success he enjoyed as an actor was limited entirely to the stage, where he worked with producers such as Max Reinhardt and Erwin Piscator. Onscreen, Fröhlich's one major success of the early '20s was his portrayal of Franz Liszt in Paganini (1922).Fate took a hand in 1926, however, when Fröhlich was cast in a relatively anonymous role in Fritz Lang's Metropolis -- the original leading man, André Mattoni, portraying the young hero, walked off the set during shooting, infuriated over the hardships imposed by Lang, and Fröhlich was pulled out of the ranks of the extras in the cast and thrust into the lead. Though his range was limited in the role, his often overwrought portrayal -- whether expressing horror or joy -- fit well in a film that was filled with symbolic characters, and though the movie was not a success at the time, it established Fröhlich as a leading man.
After that, Fröhlich was typecast as the fresh-faced, naïve "boy next door." His subsequent movies included Heimkehr (1928) and Asphalt (1929), by Joe May; Voruntersuchung (1931), by Robert Siodmak; and Die Verliebte Firma (1932), by Max Ophüls. Many of Fröhlich's films of the early '30s were lighthearted musicals and romances, and Metropolis was far and away the most important movie in which Fröhlich ever appeared. He later had a brush with notoriety when he left his first wife, actress/singer Gitta Alpar, to take up with Lida Baarova, the actress and also the future lover of Dr. Josef Goebbels (the head of the Nazi government propaganda machine and one of the most powerful and feared men in Germany during the Hitler era).
Fröhlich remained in Germany during the Hitler regime and became a movie director after World War II, helming and also writing a handful of feature films in the postwar era. Fröhlich also continued to act on-stage, and in film and television, into the 1960s. He spent the last 30 years of his life living in Switzerland, and died of complications from surgery in 1987, at age 85. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1930
While attending an operatic performance, wealthy Otto van Lingen (Gustav Gruendgens) is smitten by beautiful chorus singer Floriane Bach (Alexa Engstroem). Van Lingen sends his secretary Richard Faber (played by director Carl Froelich) to arrange a romantic rendezvous between Van Lingen and Floriane, which leads to the girl's being cast in the female lead of Jacques Levy Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman. But instead of falling in love with her patron, Floriane goes ga-ga over Faber. Van Lingen is incensed, but all is forgiven when he and Floriane are rescued by Faber from an opera-house fire (hence the film's title, which translates as "Fire in the Opera"). Featured in the cast of Brand in Der Oper are several world-renowned opera luminaries, including the great Czech singer Jarmilla Novotna. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gustav Fröhlich, Gustaf Gründgens, (more)
- 1932
The full title of this German musical was Ich Will Nicht Wissen Wer Du Bist, which translates as I Care Not What You Are. Gustav Froelich stars as Bobby, an impoverished baron who takes a job as a chauffeur. Alice (Liane Haid), the niece of Bobby's employer, falls in love with the handsome car jockey, but Uncle will have none of it; he insists that Alice marry someone on her same social level. Amused by the situation, Bobby doesn't reveal his true identity until he is certain that Alice loves him for himself and not his lineage. Originally running 95 minutes, Ich Will Nicht Wissen was cut by a full reel before its American premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liane Haid, Gustav Fröhlich, (more)
- 1932
Max Ophuls' second film directorial effort, Die Verliebte Firma (The Firm in Love) wasn't quite as lavishly esoteric as his later works, but on its own pleased the crowd. While on a location shoot in the mountains, film actress Anny Ahlers quarrels with her husband and walks out of the production. Luckily, Lien Dyers, a beautiful young skier with an even more beautiful singing voice appears out of nowhere. Before long, every male member of the production company has fallen in love with the girl, and it would seem that she is a shoo-in to replace the recalcitrant Ahlers. Alas, Dyers proves to be an inept actress, but she still enjoys a happy ending in the arms of the film unit's production manager. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gustav Fröhlich, Ernst Verebes, (more)
- 1933
The title of this German musical comedy translates as Night of the Great Love. Czechoslovakian opera star Jarmila Novotna plays a famed diva who falls in love with much-younger naval officer Gustav Froehlich. Alas, Novotna is compelled to wed an elderly diplomat for the sake of her daughter Christiane Grautoff -- who is likewise smitten by Froelich. Surprise of surprises, Grautoff and Froelich aren't paid off in the final scene. Nacht der Grossen Liebe was filmed by the still-thriving German division of Universal Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jarmila Novotna, Gustav Fröhlich, (more)
- 1935
Nacht der Verwandlung (A Night of Change) stars Gustav Froelich as a globe-circling aviator, a character clearly based on America's Wiley Post. While basking in his celebrity at a nighttime carnival, Froelich romances Rose Stradner, the unhappy wife of brutish Heinrich George. When George refuses to give Stradner her freedom, she takes it anyway, but her fling with Froelich is doomed to disappointment. Our hero learns the hard way that one can be in a teeming crowd, yet still be all alone. Leading lady Stradner later resettled in Hollywood, where she appeared in such films as The Last Gangster and Keys to the Kingdom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gustav Fröhlich, Heinrich George, (more)
- 1936
Love Whispers is the English-language title of this Hungarian romantic comedy. Stage favorite Elma Bulla makes her film debut as a successful -- and gorgeous -- French lawyer. She is accosted at a train station by Gustav Frolich, a young masher whose technique consists of planting kisses on pretty strangers then claiming that he's mistaken them for his cousin. This time, however Frolich falls deeply in love with Bulla, but when she finds out that he's used his "mistaken identity" ploy on others, she instigates legal action against him. Inevitably, the courtroom trial segues into an "instant" marriage ceremony. It's an old-fashioned story, delivered in an old-fashioned manner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elma Bulla, Gustav Fröhlich, (more)
- 1951
The Sinner was heralded by a storm of publicity regarding its director Willi Forst and its star Hildergarde Neff. The film was Forst's first effort since 1942, and as such it was highly anticipated. The film was also Neff's last German production before her "new" career in Hollywood. According to most contemporary reviews, The Sinner was considered unworthy of Forst's and Neff's talents, though this may have been a negative reaction to the publicity blitz. The film casts its star as a young girl who is no better than she ought to be, but whose good intentions outweigh her bad impulses. Believing she has finally found true love in the form of an artist (Gustav Frolich), the girl is in for a major disappointment when her lover begins behaving erratically due to a brain tumor. The spectacularly tragic ending to this sorry little tale, coupled with a handful of highly censurable love scenes, seriously impaired any chances for The Sinner to achieve box-office success in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hildegarde Neff, Gustav Fröhlich, (more)
