Vergeßt mir meine Traudel nicht
Encyclopedia
Don't Forget My Little Traudel (German
: Vergeßt mir meine Traudel nicht) is an East German comedy film, directed by Kurt Maetzig
. It was released in 1957.
after refusing to renounce her love for a Czechoslovak prisoner. The only remnant the daughter has from her mother is a letter ending with the words "don't forget me, my little Traudel". When she turns seventeen, she flees the orphanage and ventures to Berlin, where she meets policeman Hannes, who falls in love with her and even forges documents for her. He is caught, but is only slightly reprimanded, and marries her.
enabled it to be authorized. Maetzig was influenced by The Seven Year Itch
when making Don't Forget My Little Traudel, and included a scene in which Eva-Maria Hagen
's skirt fluttered in the wind in a manner reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe
's famous appearance. The movie was the actress' debut on screen.
told that the director "betrayed Socialist Realism" after watching it. The East German authorities continued to see it in negative light after its release.
Antonin and Miera Liehm called the film "a tale of cheap sentimentality". Joshua Feinstein wrote that "the director was certainly not above... depicting women in demeaning conventions... as a voluptuos ditz". Sabine Hake noted that the film, while presenting the adventures of a teenage girl, still used the conventions of class struggle and other communist motifs when depicting society.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Vergeßt mir meine Traudel nicht) is an East German comedy film, directed by Kurt Maetzig
Kurt Maetzig
Kurt Maetzig is an East German film director who had a significant effect on the film industry in the GDR. He is one of the most respected filmmakers of East Germany. He currently lives in Wildkuhl, Mecklenburg, and has three children....
. It was released in 1957.
Plot
Traudel is a war orphan, whose mother had died in the Ravensbrück concentration campRavensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....
after refusing to renounce her love for a Czechoslovak prisoner. The only remnant the daughter has from her mother is a letter ending with the words "don't forget me, my little Traudel". When she turns seventeen, she flees the orphanage and ventures to Berlin, where she meets policeman Hannes, who falls in love with her and even forges documents for her. He is caught, but is only slightly reprimanded, and marries her.
Cast
- Eva-Maria HagenEva-Maria HagenEva-Maria Hagen is a German actress and singer. She is the mother of Nina Hagen.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
: Traudel Gerber - Horst KubeHorst Kube-Selected filmography:* Ernst Thälmann - Führer seiner Klasse * A Berlin Romance * Der Fackelträger * Schlösser und Katen * Don't Forget My Little Traudel * Zwei Mütter * The Sailor's Song...
: Hannes Wunderlich - Günther HaackGünther Haack-Selected filmography:* Alarm in the Circus * The Czar and the Carpenter * Don't Forget My Little Traudel * Das hölzerne Kälbchen * Christine -External links:...
: Wolfgang Auer - Erna SellmerErna Sellmer-Selected filmography:* Port of Freedom * Murderers Among Us * Corinna Schmidt * Das Herz von St. Pauli * Münchhausen in Afrika * Homesick for St. Pauli * Charleys Onkel...
: Mrs. Palotta - Günther SimonGünther Simon-Early life:A bank clerk's son, Simon attended an acting school already in Gymnasium. At the age of sixteen, he was sent to a pre-military training camp of the Hitler Youth and then drafted to the Reich Labour Service. He volunteered to join the paratroopers in August 1943...
: Police officer - Fred DelmareFred DelmareFred Delmare was a German actor.He was born in Hüttensteinach. He appeared in several films and television series, last in 70 episodes of In aller Freundschaft between 1998 and 2006. He died in May, 1 2009....
: Traudel's roommate - Paul R. Henker: man in the shop
- Sabine Thalbach: cashier
- Nico Turoff: night watchman
Production
At the late 1950s, the East German cultural establishment allowed a certain liberalization in the national cinema industry, and a series of entertainment-oriented films was produced by DEFA as a result, mainly comedies. Director Kurt Maetzig told an interviewer that he decided to create a light-hearted comedy after being exhausted by the work on "the all-too-serious" Castles and Cottages. He encountered difficulties when he tried to have the script approved for filming by the DEFA Commission, which criticized it for lack of morality an overly-sexual content; only the influence of the director and of writer Kurt BarthelKurt Barthel
Kurt Barthel is the father of the modern United States nudist movement. He began the American League for Physical Culture in 1929 with an ad, first in the leading German nudist magazines published in Berlin by Robert Laurer "Lichtland" and "Lachendes Leben" , then later in a newspaper seeking...
enabled it to be authorized. Maetzig was influenced by The Seven Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch is a 1955 American film based on a three-act play with the same name by George Axelrod. The film was co-written and directed by Billy Wilder, and starred Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, reprising his Broadway role...
when making Don't Forget My Little Traudel, and included a scene in which Eva-Maria Hagen
Eva-Maria Hagen
Eva-Maria Hagen is a German actress and singer. She is the mother of Nina Hagen.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
's skirt fluttered in the wind in a manner reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
's famous appearance. The movie was the actress' debut on screen.
Reception
Although Traudel was a commercial success, Maetzig complained that most critics did not respond well to the film: Mikhail RommMikhail Romm
Mikhail Ilych Romm was a Soviet film director.He was born in Irkutsk. His father was a social democrat of Jewish descent who had been exiled there. He graduated from gymnasium in 1917 and entered the Moscow College for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture...
told that the director "betrayed Socialist Realism" after watching it. The East German authorities continued to see it in negative light after its release.
Antonin and Miera Liehm called the film "a tale of cheap sentimentality". Joshua Feinstein wrote that "the director was certainly not above... depicting women in demeaning conventions... as a voluptuos ditz". Sabine Hake noted that the film, while presenting the adventures of a teenage girl, still used the conventions of class struggle and other communist motifs when depicting society.
External links
- Don't Forget My Little Traudel on cinema.de.