This pre-WW II German costume drama chronicles the French Revolution with a particular focus upon Danton, Robespierre, and Marat. It depicts the dramatic downfall and execution of Georges Danton in 1794 at the hands of Maximilien Robespierre. The film also presents an interesting, if not historically inaccurate, portrayal of Louis XVI.
Acting
Kortner's Danton: thunderous, sweaty, probably too loud
Production
Impressive sets for a film that barely survived its own era
Director
Hans Behrendt
Fritz Kortner
Danton
Lucie Mannheim
Louise Gély
Gustaf Gründgens
Robespierre
Alexander Granach
Marat
Gustav von Wangenheim
Desmoulin
Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur
Malesherbes, Verteidiger von König Ludwig XVI.
Hermann Speelmans
Legendre
Werner Schott
Saint-Just
Georg John
Ankläger
Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur
Louis XVI
Ferdinand Hart
General Dumouriez
Carl Goetz
Kleinrentner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released months before Hitler's rise, this conservative critique of mob rule was later banned by the Nazis anyway — nobody was safe.
Director Hans Behrendt fled Germany in 1932; his Jewish heritage made this one of his final films before emigrating to France, then tragically dying in Auschwitz.
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