Ich will nicht wissen wer du bist (1932)

Liane Haid, Gustav Fröhlich and Szöke Szakáll were the stars of the delightful romantic comedy Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are (1932), scripted by Ernst Marischka and Robert Weil and directed by Géza von Bolváry. A year later, Szakall but also Fröhlich's wife and daughter had to go into exile because of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The rise of the fascists also ended the careers of the Jewish publishers of the postcards in this post, Heinrich Ross of Ross Verlag and Joseph Peter Welker of JosPe.


Dutch postcard by JosPe, Arnhem, no. 385. Photo: City Film. Liane Haid, Gustav Fröhlich and Szöke Szakáll in Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 158/1. Photo: Boston-Film. Gustav Fröhlich, Liane Haid and Betty Bird in Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932).


German postcard by Ross Verlag. no. 7086/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Boston-Film. Gustav Fröhlich in Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want to Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932).

A comedy of mistaken identities

Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932) is a comedy of mistaken identities, written by Ernst Marischka and Robert Weil.

The penniless Count Lerchenau (Gustav Fröhlich) has to work as a chauffeur under the name Robert Lindt. However, he lost his last job, because women love him so much.

His former servant Ottokar (Szöke Szakáll) remains loyal to him and tries to get him to marry a rich woman. However, at the restaurant where he is supposed to meet a suitable lady, he ends up flirting with the attractive Alice (Liane Haid) instead.

Robert gives Count Lerchenau as a reference to get a job on President Fuhring's (Max Güllstorff) staff. But then Führing wants to speak to Lerchenau, and Franz has to play the role of the count...

Alice, it turns out, is Führing's niece. When she learns that Robert is only a chauffeur, she wants nothing more to do with him. But after all sorts of turbulence, they find each other after all.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 6498. Photo: Boston Film / Lux Film. Gustav Fröhlich in Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want to Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932).


Dutch postcard, no. 360. Photo: City Film. Liane Haid and Gustav Fröhlich in Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist (Géza von Bolváry, 1932). The mark on the right side of the card refers to the Dutch censorship approval.

Because of the regime, because everything was bombed, and because all the good directors had left

The male star of Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932) was Gustav Fröhlich, who had his breakthrough as Freder Fredersen in Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927). Fröhlich often played smart gentlemen in lighthearted musicals and romances. Because of his carefree attendance, Fröhlich was seldom allowed to play other characters. He frequently worked with Hungarian film director Géza von Bolváry, who specialised in Viennese Operettas and romantic comedies. Between 1931 and 1933 they made six films together. These include Liebeskommando/Love's Command (Géza von Bolváry, 1931), Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Do Not Want to Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932), and Was Frauen träumen/What Women Dream (Géza von Bolváry, 1933), which was co-written by Billy Wilder.

In 1931, Fröhlich married Hungarian opera star and actress Gitta Alpár, with whom he had a child, Julika. Alpár was Jewish and the rise to power of Adolf Hitler in 1933 destroyed her successful film career in Germany. Mother and child were forced to leave Germany and fled to the U.S. Fröhlich distanced from his wife because he didn't want to endanger his career. During the Third Reich, he remained one of the most prominent German film stars. Their marriage was dissolved in 1935 as 'illegal' in National Socialist Germany. After the war, Fröhlich tried to apologise for his behaviour but Alpár could not answer his pleas. A circumstance which, according to IMDb, gave Fröhlich a hard time in his last years and beclouded his lust for life.

Liane Haid was the first Austrian movie star in film history. She already appeared in operas and operettas before she made her first film appearance. Very popular were her silent film operettas Im weißen Rößl/The White Horse Inn (Richard Oswald, 1926) and Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927). The transition to sound film, which required a different way of acting, she mastered very well. In the hit film Das Lied ist aus/The Song Is Over (Géza von Bolváry, 1930), she sang the song that became famous: 'Adieu mein kleine Gardeoffizier' composed by Robert Stolz. Haid was at the height of her popularity. In 1933 alone, she appeared in nine feature films. From the mid-1930s, she refused film offers and instead focused on her stage career. In 1942, she escaped from Nazi Germany to Switzerland "because of the regime, because everything was bombed, and because all the good directors had left".

In the early 1930s, Hungarian actor Szöke Szakáll was, next to Hans Moser, the most significant representative of the Wiener Film, the Viennese light romantic comedy genre. Among his German films was Géza von Bolváry's Zwei Herzen im 3/4 Takt/Two Hearts in Waltz Time (1930). The Jewish Szakáll was forced to return to Hungary, because of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi movement. He was involved in over 40 films in his native land, including Skandal in Budapest/Romance in Budapest (Steve Sekely, Géza von Bolváry, 1933). When Hungary joined the Axis in 1940, he went into exile with his wife and became famous in Hollywood as S.Z Sakall. Many of Szakáll's close relatives later died in Nazi concentration camps, including all three of his sisters and his niece, as well as his wife's brother and sister.

The sets of Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are were designed by the art director Franz Schroedter. The music was by Robert Stolz. The title song 'Ich will nicht wissen wer du bist', composed by Stolz with lyrics by Ernst Marischka, was sung by Liane Haid. In the cast were also Adele Sandrock as Emerenzia, Betty Bird as Käthe, her niece, Julius E. Herrmann as Councillor of Commerce Blume, and Lotte Lorring as his wife Helga. At VPRO, the reviewer writes: 'An upbeat film operetta with very nice songs by Robert Stolz and fine roles by Liane Haid and Gustav Fröhlich. In 1942, scriptwriter Ernst Marischka directed a remake of the film, Abenteuer im Grandhotel/Adventures in the Grand Hotel (Ernst Marischka, 1942) with Wolf Albach-Retty and Carola Höhn. Hans Moser now played the role of Szöke Szakáll.


Dutch Postcard, no. 362. Photo: City Film. Gustav Fröhlich in Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932).


Dutch Postcard, no. 382. Photo: City Film. Liane Haid and Gustav Fröhlich in Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932).


Dutch postcard by JosPe, Arnhem, no. 384. Photo: City Film. Liane Haid and Gustav Fröhlich in Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Want To Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932).

Source: VPRO (Dutch), Filmportal (German), Wikipedia (English) and IMDb.

Liane Haid

Prima ballerina, dancer, singer, and actress Liane Haid (1895-2000) was the first film star of Austria. She was the epitome of the Süßes Wiener Mädel (Sweet Viennese Girl), and from the mid-1910s on she made close to a hundred films.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 543/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 544/4, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1075/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3104/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4886/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5034/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Manassé, Wien (Vienna).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5075/2, 1930-1931. Photo: Manassé, Wien.

Propaganda film

Juliane Haid was born in Vienna, Austria in 1895. As a child, Liane studied singing and dancing, and she danced at the Viennese Opera Ballet.

Later she worked in Budapest and Vienna as a dancer and in Berlin and Vienna as a stage actress. She had already become a popular opera and operetta singer and dancer before she made her first film appearance.

Her debut was a propaganda film made during the First World War, Mit Herz und Hand fürs Vaterland/With Heart and Hand for the Fatherland (Jacob Fleck, Luise Fleck, 1915).

Most of her early silent films were directed by the husband and wife team Jacob and Luise Fleck for Wiener Kunstfilm. These films include the silent historical film Der Verschwender/The Spendthrift (Jacob Fleck, Luise Fleck, 1917). It is an adaptation of Ferdinand Raimund's play of the same name. Her leading men in these silent films were often Wilhelm Klitsch or Max Neufeld.

After the war, Haid's first husband, Baron Fritz von Haymerle, built her own film studio in Vienna and gave her her own company.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2377. Photo: Willinger, Wien.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 462/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Riess.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 690/2. Photo: Terra-Film, Berlin. Liane Haid, Warwick Ward and Betty Blythe in the British-Austrian silent film Südliche Liebe/Southern Love (Herbert Wilcox, 1923). It is based on the verse drama 'The Spanish Student' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It is known by the alternative title Woman's Secret. The plot deals with Dolores (Blythe), a young gypsy woman, who escapes from an arranged marriage and makes a living as a dancer.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 76/1. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 76/4. Photo: Ufa. Liane Haid in Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927). The young man with the cap is Imre Raday.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 81/3/3, 1925-1935. Photo: Parufamet. Publicity still for Der Letzte Walzer/The Last Waltz (Arthur Robison, 1927) with Suzy Vernon, Willy Fritsch, Hans Adalbert Schlettow and Liane Haid.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1430/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ernst Sandau, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1732/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.

Popular pin-up

In the early 1920s, Liane Haid moved to Berlin and had her breakthrough opposite Conrad Veidt in the historical film Lady Hamilton (Richard Oswald, 1921). The film depicts the love affair between the British Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton.

Next, she played opposite Reinhold Schünzel in Geld auf der Straße/Money on the Street (Reinhold Schünzel, 1922). She also became a popular pin-up.

Haid appeared again opposite Conrad Veidt in the historical film Lucrezia Borgia/Bride of Vengeance (Richard Oswald, 1922) and the drama Die Brüder Schellenberg/The Brothers Schellenberg (Karl Grune, 1926) with Lil Dagover. The first portrayed the life of the Renaissance Italian aristocrat Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519).

Also popular was the operetta Im weißen Rößl/The White Horse Inn (Richard Oswald, 1926) with Max Hansen and based on the play The White Horse Inn by Oskar Blumenthal and Gustav Kadelburg.

Another box-office hit was another silent operetta Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927) opposite Hungarian star Imre Ráday. It was an adaptation of the operetta by Emmerich Kálmán.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 6139.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 506/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Ring-Atelier, Wien.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1732/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 2074/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3643/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Schrecker, Berlin.


German postcard by H.C. Stöcker, Hannover-Linden, for Bemberg. Caption: "Bemberg-Seide zu tragen ist ein Vergnügen, Liane Haid". (Bemberg silk is a pleasure to wear, Liane Haid).


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 575. Photo: First National. The card refers to Liane Haid's film Lady Hamilton (Richard Oswald, 1921), but there her hair is very different - so this may be a modern portrait, just referring to her reputation from the historical film.


French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, no. 576. Photo: First National. Liane Haid in Two Red Roses/Zwei rote Rosen (Robert Land, 1928). This is a German silent film directed by Robert Land and starring Liane Haid, Alexander Murski, and Harry Halm. The film was released in a sound version in England by First National Pathé. While the sound version has no audible dialogue, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process.

Smooth switch

Liane Haid's switch to sound film went smoothly, because of her training as a singer. Her song Adieu, mein kleiner Gardenoffizier, sung in Géza von Bolváry's popular operetta Das Lied ist aus/The Song Is Over (Géza von Bolváry, 1930), was a huge success at the time.

In the biography Grock (Carl Boese, 1931) she played the wife of the famous clown (played by himself).

For Paramount she appeared in alternate language versions of their productions such as Die Männer um Lucie/The Men Around Lucy (Alexander Korda, 1931), a German version of Laughter (Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast, 1930) with Nancy Carroll.

Haid became one of the main stars of the German cinema and she appeared opposite leading men like Willi Forst, Georg Alexander, and Gustav Fröhlich. In Ungeküsst soll man nicht schlafen gehn/You should not go to sleep unkissed (E.W. Emo, 1936), she starred opposite Heinz Rühmann, Theo Lingen and Hans Moser.

In these films, she was often typecasted as the Süßes Wiener Mädel (sweet Viennese girl).


German collectors card in the series 'Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Tonfilm', album no. 11, picture no. 6, group 44. Photo: Ufa / Ross Verlag. Gustav Fröhlich and Liane Haid in Die unsterbliche Lump/The Immortal Vagabond (Gustav Ucicky, Joe May, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5689/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Super-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5893/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5994/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Paramount Pictures.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6280/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Manassé.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7308/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Glogau, Wien.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7395/1. Photo: Aafa Film. Liane Haid and Ivan Petrovich in Der Diamant des Zaren/Der Orlow/The Diamond of the Czar (Max Neufeld, 1932).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7731/1, 1932-1933. Photo: H.

Switzerland

From the mid-1930s Liane Haid's roles were less frequent. She played a part in the British production Whom the Gods Love: The Original Story of Mozart and His Wife (Basil Dean, 1936). The film was a disaster.

She refused offers from Hollywood and instead focused on her stage career. In 1942 she emigrated with her son to Switzerland. According to Wikipedia she later said about it: "because of the regime, because everything was bombed, and because all the good directors had left".

In Switzerland, she married Dr. Carl Spycher. It was her third marriage. Their son is the jazz musician Pierre Spycher.

Haid made her last film appearance in the Austrian romantic comedy Die Fünf Karnickel/The Five Rabbits (Kurt Steinwendner, Paul Löwinger, 1953), starring Ingrid Lutz.

Liane Haid died in 2000 in Wabern near Bern, at the age of 105. Her sister Grit Haid was less fortunate. Grit was an equally well-known film actress, who was active in the late 1920s and early 1930s. She suddenly died tragically in a plane accident in 1938.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8856/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.


Dutch postcard by Filma, no. 448. Photo: publicity still for Eine Frau wie Du/A Woman Like You (Carl Boese, 1933) with Georg Alexander.


Dutch postcard by JosPe, Arnhem for City Film, no. 385. Photo: publicity still for Ich will nicht wissen, wer du bist/I Don't Wanna Know Who You Are (Géza von Bolváry, 1932) with Gustav Fröhlich and Szöke Szakáll.


Dutch postcard by City Film, no. 501. Photo: publicity still for Das Schloß im Süden/The Castle in the South (Géza von Bolváry, 1933) with Viktor de Kowa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7847/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Der Stern von Valencia/The Star of Valencia (Alfred Zeisler, 1933) with Paul Westermeier.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8256/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Ideal-Film, Berlin. Ralph A. Roberts and Liane Haid in for Keine Angst vor Liebe/Don't Be Afraid of Love (Hans Steinhoff, 1933).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8258/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Ufa / Cine Allianz. Publicity still for Ihre Durchlaucht, die Verkäuferin/Her Excellency, the Salesgirl (Karl Hartl, 1933) with Willi Forst.


Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 586.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Rudi Polt (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 29 July 2024.

Die Csardasfürstin (1927)

Die Csardasfürstin (Hanns Schwarz, 1927) was a silent version of a popular operetta about a Hungarian cabaret performer, about to go on an American tour, who negotiates the complex demands of three aristocratic admirers. Star of the film was the Austrian prima ballerina, dancer, singer, and actress Liane Haid.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1732/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Liane Haid in Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927). Collection: Didier Hanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 76/1. Photo: Ufa. Liane Haid in Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 76/2. Photo: Ufa. Liane Haid and Oscar Marion in Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 76/4. Photo: Ufa. Liane Haid in Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927). The young man with the cap is Imre Ráday.

A silent operetta

The German-Hungarian coproduction Die Czardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (1927) is a silent romance directed by Hanns Schwarz. The film was produced by Peter Ostermayr Produktion, supported by the Hungarian Film Fund, and was distributed by the Ufa. The exteriors were shot in Hungary and the film was finished at Ufa's Babelsberg Studios in Berlin.

The film is based on the 1915 operetta 'Die Csárdásfürstin' by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán (Hungarian: Kálmán Imre). Kálmán's compositional style was influenced by Hungarian folk music and the title of his operetta refers to the popular Hungarian Csárdás dance. 'Die Csárdásfürstin' remains Kálmán's most successful operetta.

Emmerich Kálmán was a prominent figure in the development of Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most popular works are 'Die Csárdásfürstin' (1915), 'Gräfin Mariza' (Countess Maritza, 1924) and 'Die Zirkusprinzessin' (The Circus Princess, 1926). These operettas were in the Viennese style of precursors such as Johann Strauss II and Franz Lehár. As a result of the Anschluss in 1936, Kálmán and his family fled to Paris and then to the United States. His later works were influenced by American jazz.

The silent film version, Die Czardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (1927) had an Austrian-Hungarian cast. Austria's first film star, Liane Haid played Sylva Verescu, the Csardas Princess. Her three admirers were played by Imre Ráday in his film debut, Ferenc Vendrey, and the popular film star Oscar Marion. Among the supporting players was the Italian film actor Oreste Bilancia.

Hanns Schwarz's Die Czardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (1927) was not the first silent film version of the operetta. The first version was the German film Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Emil Leyde, 1919). Many sound films followed. In 1944 it was made into the Soviet operetta film Silva (Aleksandr Ivanovsky, 1944). It was one of the most successful releases in the Soviet Union that year. In 1981, it was made again into another successful Soviet operetta film, Silva (Yan Frid, 1981).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 76/3. Photo: Ufa. Liane Haid and Imre Ráday in Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927).


German collectors card in the series 'Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Tonfilm', album no. 11, picture no. 136, group 44. Photo: Ufa / Ross Verlag. Liane Haid in Die Csardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Hanns Schwarz, 1927).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1732/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.

Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.