1942 Austrian film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whom the Gods Love (German: Wen die Götter lieben) is a 1942 Austrian historical musical film directed by Karl Hartl and starring Hans Holt, Irene von Meyendorff, and Winnie Markus. The film is a biopic of the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.[1] It was made as a co-production between the giant German studio UFA and Wien-Film which had been set up following the German annexation of Austria. The film was part of a wider attempt by the Nazis to portray Mozart as an authentic German hero. Like many German biopics of the war years, it portrays the composer as a pioneering visionary.
Whom the Gods Love | |
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Directed by | Karl Hartl |
Written by | Richard Billinger (novel) E. Strzygowski (novel) Eduard von Borsody |
Produced by | Karl Hartl |
Starring | Hans Holt Irene von Meyendorff Winnie Markus Paul Hörbiger |
Cinematography | Günther Anders |
Edited by | Henny Brünsch Karl Hartl |
Production company | |
Distributed by | UFA |
Release date |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
Country | Austria (Part of Greater Germany) |
Language | German |
The title refers to Mozart's middle name Amadeus (Latin for "love God") and to the aphorism "he whom the gods love, dies young" (Latin: "quem di diligunt, adolescens moritur") from Plautus' Bacchides, lines 816–17, and earlier Greek sources, including Homer's mention of Trophonius; Mozart died at the age of 35.
A British film of the same title had been released in 1936.
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