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The Beautiful Galatea (film)

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The Beautiful Galatea
German film poster
GermanDie wunderschöne Galathee
Directed byRolf Meyer
Written byKurt E. Walter
Produced byRolf Meyer
Starring
CinematographyIgor Oberberg
Edited byMartha Dübber
Music byFranz Grothe
Production
company
Junge Film-Union Rolf Meyer
Distributed byNational-Film
Release date
  • 13 April 1950 (1950-04-13)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman

The Beautiful Galatea (German: Die wunderschöne Galathee) is a 1950 West German romantic comedy film directed by Rolf Meyer and starring Hannelore Schroth, Viktor de Kowa and Willy Fritsch.[1] It is inspired by the story of Pygmalion's statue Galatea and is based on the play of the same name by Franz von Suppé.

It was shot at the Bendestorf Studios and the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by Franz Schroedter.

Plot

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During the first 18 years of the 20th century, in a small town, two men, the sculptor Viktor Kolin and the Kapellmeister Marcel Thomas work on the Galathée theme, each in his own way. While one tries to approach the Galathée in a musical way, the other plans to carton the nymph in stone. Viktor has already chosen a young woman to model for the statue: it is the young Leni, a simple girl from the people who works as a temp at the vegetable market.

Leni feels very flattered and promptly falls in love with Viktor, making her a competitor of the singer Victoria Mertens, the sculptor's girlfriend. Viktor on the other hand, also shows interest in Victoria, which gives the erotic round additional piquancy. Upon completing his masterpiece, Marcel suddenly loses interest in Leni, who had hoped that the sculpture would attract him more to her. Full of anger, she goes to his studio and smashes the artwork. A court case is scheduled, and only then does Viktor realizes Leni's true feelings. Following the court order, he no longer opposes Victoria's decision to marry Kapellmeister Thomas.

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ Hake, Sabine (2009). Bock, Hans-Michael; Bergfelder, Tim (eds.). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. New York, NY: Berghahn Books. p. 134. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1x76dm6. ISBN 978-1571816559. JSTOR j.ctt1x76dm6. S2CID 252868046.
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