Acting
Ruth Leuwerik's restrained desperation is absolutely hypnotic.
Cinematography
Venice never looked more seductively melancholic in black and white.
Direction
Käutner balances soap opera and genuine pathos with surprising skill.
Director
Helmut Käutner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rossano Brazzi was fresh off South Pacific and used his Hollywood clout to demand top billing over Leuwerik, despite her being the actual lead.
This was Käutner's deliberate attempt to make a German 'womans film' in the Hollywood tradition, subverting the male-dominated Heimatfilm genre dominating West German cinema at the time.
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