Sweetheart of the Gods

Sweetheart of the Gods
Directed by Gottfried Reinhardt
Produced by Artur Brauner
Wolf Brauner
Written by George Hurdalek
Starring Ruth Leuwerik
Peter van Eyck
Harry Meyen
Robert Graf
Music by Franz Grothe
Cinematography Göran Strindberg
Edited by Walter Wischniewsky
Production
company
CCC
Distributed by Bavaria Film
Release dates
 12 April 1960
Running time
 99 minutes
Country West Germany
Language German

Sweetheart of the Gods (German:Liebling der Götter) is a 1960 West German biographical film directed by Gottfried Reinhardt and starring Ruth Leuwerik, Peter van Eyck and Harry Meyen. The film portrays the life of Renate Müller, a German film actress who died in 1937 in mysterious circumstances. A variety of rumours about Müller's death had developed, but the filmmakers chose to portray it as suicide following Nazi pressure over her relationship with a Jewish diplomat. Following legal objections from Müller's family, the ending was toned down to make her final fate more vague.[1]

Leuwerik recreates scenes and songs from several of Müller's films. However their star personae were very different, with Müller famous as a girl-next-door while Leuwerik played the role in her more usual refined fashion. Although set in the 1930s, stylistically the film often resembles the late 1950s.[2] Willy Fritsch, a German star of the 1930s who had acted alongside Müller in two films, appears in a small role.[3]

The film was moderately successful commercially on its release in West Germany.[4]

Cast

References

  1. ↑ Bergfelder p.111
  2. ↑ Bergfelder p.112-114
  3. ↑ Bergfelder p.114
  4. ↑ Bergfelder p.112

Bibliography

External links