A 1956 German melodrama where an old man falls for his secretary—what could possibly go wrong?
Based on a play by Gerhardt Hauptmann, the film details a bittersweet May-December romance between ageing Mathias Clausen and young, beautiful Inken Peters.
Acting
Hans Albers carries every frame with weary gravitas.
Direction
Reinhardt stages it like claustrophobic theatre on screen.
Director
Gottfried Reinhardt
Hans Albers
Generaldirektor Mathias Clausen
Annemarie Düringer
Inken Peters
Martin Held
Erich Klamroth
Hannelore Schroth
Ottilie Klamroth, geb. Clausen
Claus Biederstaedt
Egbert Clausen
Maria Becker
Bettina Clausen
Erich Schellow
Wolfgang Clausen
Inge Langen
Paula Clausen, geb. Rübsamen
Wolfgang Preiss
Dr. Hahnefeld, Syndikus der Clausen-Werke
Hans Nielsen
Dr. Steynitz, Sanitätsrat
Johanna Hofer
Frau Peters, Inkens Mutter
Kurt Vespermann
Wuttke, Fahrer bei Clausen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hans Albers was Nazi Germany's biggest star; this post-war role was his calculated image rehab. The irony of playing a man judged for his choices wasn't lost on audiences.
Hauptmann's original 1932 play was banned by the Nazis for 'decadence'—the 1956 film adaptation quietly restored its critique of bourgeois hypocrisy.
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