Zarah Leander

Glamorous, mysterious diva Zarah Leander (1907-1981) was a Swedish actress and singer, who is now best remembered for her German songs and films from the late 1930s and early 1940s. With her fascinating and deep voice, she sang melancholic and a bit frivolous songs that were specifically composed for her. Zarah was for a time the best-paid film star of the Third Reich. In her Ufa vehicles, she always played the role of a cool femme fatale, independently minded, beautiful, passionate, self-confident and a bit sad. It gave her the nickname 'the Nazi Garbo', but a 2004 book claimed that she was in fact a Soviet spy.


French postcard by EPC, no. 249. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by SERP, Paris, no. 77. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by EPC, no. 29. Photo: Studio Harcourt.


French postcard by Film-Foto Verlag, Berlin/ Continental Films, Paris, no. 134A. Photo: Ufa.


Belgian postcard, no. 850. Photo: Real Film.

A new muse for the cinema of the Third Reich

Zarah Leander was born Sara Stina Hedberg in Karlstad, Sweden, in 1907. Her parents were Anders Lorentz Sebastian Hedberg and Matilda Ulrika Hedberg. Although she studied piano and violin as a small child and sang on stage for the first time at the age of six, Sara initially had no intention of becoming a professional performer and led an ordinary life for several years. As a teenager, she lived for two years in Riga (1922–1924), where she learned German and took up work as a secretary.

She married actor Nils Leander in 1926, and they had two children: Boel (1927) and Göran (1929). In 1929 she had her breakthrough when her counter-alt voice was recognised by revue King Ernst Rolf. In his touring cabaret, she sang for the first time 'Vill ni se en stjärna' (Do You Want to See a Star?) which soon would become her signature tune.

She got a record contract with the Odeon company, for which she recorded 80 songs till 1936. One of the songs she recorded in 1930 was Marlene Dietrich's Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt from Der Blaue Engel/The Blue Angel (Josef von Sternberg, 1930). In the early 1930s, Leander played in several shows and performed in three Swedish films, including Dantes Mysterier/Dante's Mysteries (Paul Merzbach, 1930) and Falska Millionären/The False Millionaire (André Berthomieu, Paul Merzbach, 1931). Her persona in those films was already that of the singing, mundane vamp.

She had her definitive breakthrough as Hanna Glavari opposite the legendary Swedish film star Gösta Ekman in Franz Lehár's operetta 'Die lustige Witwe' (The Merry Widow) (1931). In 1932 she divorced Nils Leander. She declined American work offers but she opted for an international career on the European continent because of her two school-age children. In 1936 she went to Vienna to star at the Theater an der Wien in the operetta 'Axel an der Himmelstür', composed by Ralph Benatzky and directed by Max Hansen. This parody of Hollywood and Greta Garbo was a huge success.

She also got the role of a successful revue star in the Austrian film Premiere (Geza von Bolvary, 1936) with Karl Martell. Then she was offered a three-film contract by the German Universum Film AG (Ufa) studios, as propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was looking for a new muse for the cinema of the Third Reich. She would earn approximately 200,000 Reichsmark and 53% of her gage would be paid in Swedish Kronor (crowns). Leander said "yes", despite the political situation.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9957/1, 1935-1936. Photo: Gloria-Syndikat-Film. Zarah Leander in Premiere (Géza von Bolváry, 1937).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 9957/2, 1935-1936. Photo: Gloria-Syndikat-Film. Zarah Leander in Premiere (Géza von Bolváry, 1937).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2034/2, 1939-1940. Photo: Von Santho / Ufa. Zarah Leander in Der Blaufuchs / The Blue Fox (Carl Froelich, 1938).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2264/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Froelich-Film / Ufa. Zarah Leander in Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht/It Was a Gay Ballnight (Carl Froelich, 1939).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2872/3, 1939-1940. Photo: Ufa.

Independent, fatal women, with strong will-power but haunted by destiny

Zarah Leander's first film at Ufa was Zu neuen Ufern/To New Shores (1936) directed by Detlef Sierck, who later became known in Hollywood as Douglas Sirk. After the other two films of her contract, La Habanera/Cheated by the Wind (Detlef Sierck, 1937) with Ferdinand Marian, and Heimat/Home (Carl Froelich, 1938) with Heinrich George, she was so popular that Josef Goebbels, who according to his diaries did not like her, had to continue her contract.

On renewal, her salary increased even further, and in 1940 the Ufa offered her a contract for six films, to be produced in the following two years, for a total of 1 million Reichsmark. Zu neuen Ufern had launched songs such as 'Ich steh' im Regen' (Standing in the rain) and 'Yes, Sir', that were sold on record in various languages. Actually, these songs earned her more money than her films, even if she was the best-paid German female film star in the early 1940s.

Her songs 'Davon geht die Welt nicht runter' (It is not the End of the World) and 'Ich weis, es wird einmal ein Wunder gescheh'n' (I Know One Day a Miracle Will Happen) from her film Die grosse Liebe/The Great Love (Rolf Hansen, 1942) received double entendre in the time they were distributed and struck chords with the Germans.

Among her other films in those years were the comedy Der Blaufuchs/The Blue Fox (Viktor Tourjansky, 1938) with Paul Hörbiger, a biopic of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Es war eine rauschende Ballnacht/It was a Gay Ball Night (Carl Froelich, 1939) with Marika Rökk, Der Weg ins Freie/The Way to Freedom (Rolf Hansen, 1941) with Hans Stüwe, and the crime film Damals/In the Past (Rolf Hansen, 1942) again opposite Hans Stüwe.

In her films, Leander often portrayed independent, fatal women, with strong will-power but haunted by destiny. In real life, she was a 'tough cookie' too, as she demanded that she should select her own scripts and composers. At a party, Goebbels once asked her ironically: "Zarah... Isn't this a Jewish name?" "Oh, maybe", she answered him, "but what about Josef?" "Hmmm... yes, yes, a good answer", Goebbels had replied, according to IMDb.


Dutch or Belgian postcard, no. A.X. 290-89.


German postcard. Editor unknown.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3010/3, 1941-1944. Photo: Georgi / Ufa.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3474/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Foto Quick / Ufa.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3474/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Georgi / Ufa.

Disappointments

Zarah Leander never became a party member and refused to take German citizenship, but her films and song lyrics were viewed by some as propaganda for the Nazi cause. After her villa in the fashionable Berlin suburb of Grunewald was bombed during an air raid in 1942 and the increasingly desperate Nazis pressured her to apply for German citizenship, she decided to break her contract with Ufa.

In 1943, she secretly left Germany and retreated to Sweden, where she bought a mansion at Lönö, not far from Stockholm. Initially, she was shunned by much of the artistic community and public in Sweden. In 1936 the reactions had been completely different when she started to work in Nazi Germany. Most of her Ufa films were very popular in Sweden as in the rest of Europe.

In November 1944, Swedish radio decided to no longer play her records. But, as Antje Ascheid describes in her in-depth study 'Hitler's Heroines', Zarah's role was complex: "She regularly supported communal fundraisers and appeared in 'request concerts' - live radio shows in which famous star singers performed songs requested mostly by soldiers at the front - that aired all over the Reich. In addition, Leander was frequently depicted attending social functions at the homes of political leaders, which further linked her public persona to Nazi officials in power."

After the war, Zarah Leander was severely questioned, but in 1947 she managed to record her songs again in Switzerland, where she also sang for the radio. Concert tours followed, first in Switzerland, then in 1948-1949 in Germany; and in 1949 she performed in Sweden again.

Leander tried her luck once more in the film. Gabriela (Geza von Cziffra, 1950) was the third biggest box office hit of that year in Germany. The following films, Cuba Cubana (Fritz Peter Buch, 1952) with the new and younger idol O. W. Fischer, and Ave Maria (Alfred Braun, 1953) with her old partner Hans Stüwe, were both disappointments.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3742/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Quick / Ufa.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3742/3, 1941-1944. Photo: Foto Quick / Ufa.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3872/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Foto Quick / Ufa.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3872/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Quick / Ufa.


With Hans Stüwe. German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. A 3145/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Lindner / Ufa.

Evergreens

Thus Zarah Leander's film career came to an end, even though she still did four more films till 1966. Her last film was the Italian comedy Come imparai ad amare le donne/Love Parade (Luciano Salce, 1966) with Michèle Mercier, Nadja Tiller and Anita Ekberg.

Leander would continue with musicals and operettas on stage, however, and she also sang her now evergreens in TV shows. She published her memoirs, 'Zarah's minnen' (Zarah's Memories), in 1972. In 1975 she played in her last musical, 'Das Lächeln einer Sommernacht' by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler based on Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film Sommernattens leende / Smiles of a Summer Night.

In 1979 Zarah Leander officially retired and in 1981 she died of a stroke in Stockholm and was buried on her estate Lönö. She was married three times. After Nils Leander, she was married to journalist Vidar Forsell (1932-1943). Her third husband was pianist Arne Hülphers from 1956 till his death in 1978.

In 2003 a bronze statue was raised in Zarah Leander's hometown of Karlstad at the Opera House of Värmland where she began her career. After years of discussions, the town government at last accepted this statue on behalf of the first Swedish local Zarah Leander Society. A year later the book 'The Mystery of Olga Chekhova' (2004) by Anthony Beevor was published, in which the author claimed that both Olga Tschechova and Zarah Leander worked for Soviet intelligence during World War II. According to the author she supplied information about Nazi Germany to a Soviet contact during her visits home to Sweden.

In Germany, Zarah Leander is still an icon of the gay community, and her persona has been recreated by many drag queens. Performers like Nina Hagen have covered her songs, and director Quentin Tarantino used her song 'Davon geht die Welt nicht runter' (It is not the End of the World) in his successful war thriller Inglourious Basterds (2009).


German postcard by Ross Verlag for Das Programm von Heute. Photo: Ufa / Baumann. Publicity still for Das Herz einer Königin/A Queen's Heart (Carl Froehlich, 1940) about the life of the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart.


German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, G.m.b.H., Minden / Westf, no. 905. Photo: Berolina / Kurt Schulz / Union / Stempka. Zarah Leander and Christian Wolff in Der blaue Nachtfalter / The Blue Moth (Wolfgang Schleif, 1959).


Yugoslavian postcard, no. P 4144. Photo: Ufa. Zarah Leander in Die große Liebe (Rolf Hansen, 1942).


German Songtext postcard by Spezial Verlag Robert Franke, Hamburg, no. 13. Zarah Leander sings 'Von der Pussta will ich träumen' in Der Blaufuchs/The Blue Fox (Victor Tourjansky, 1938). Songtext distributed by Ufaton Verlags-G.m.b.H., Berlin, published for voice and piano.


Zarah Leander sings 'Kann denn liebe sünde sein?' (Can Love be a Sin?) in Der Blaufuchs/The Blue Fox (1938). Source: zarahlilawen (YouTube).


Zarah Leander sings 'Davon geht die Welt nicht runter' (It is not the End of the World) in Die grosse Liebe/The Great Love (1942). Songwriter Bruno Balz wrote this song in 1941 when he was in Gestapo arrest because of his homosexuality. Source: zarahlilawen (YouTube).


A campy Zarah Leander sings 'Wunderbar' in 1977 at one of her last concerts in Stockholm. Source: Creaturefree (YouTube).

Sources: Antje Ascheid (Hitler's Heroines), Paul Seiler (Das Zarah-Leander-Archiv - Now defunct), Lennart Haglund (Find A Grave), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Das Herz der Königin (1940)

The German historical film Das Herz der Königin/The Heart of a Queen (Carl Froehlich, 1940), stars Swedish diva Zarah Leander as Mary Stuart Queen of Scots and Nazi heartthrob Willy Birgel as Lord Bothwell. The film was intended as anti-English propaganda in the context of the Second World War, presenting English Queen Elizabeth I as a cold, scheming queen striving for domination, while the Scottish Mary is presented as the Queen of Hearts.


German postcard by Das Illustrierte Blatt, Frankfurter Illustrierte. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Das Herz der Königin (Carl Froehlich, 1940), starring Zarah Leander as Mary, Queen of Scots.


German postcard by Das Illustrierte Blatt, Frankfurter Illustrierte. Photo: Ufa. Willy Birgel in Das Herz der Königin (Carl Froehlich, 1940).

Waiting for the judgement

Originally, the cast & crew of Das Herz der Königin were signed on to film a biopic on Catherine the Great of Russia. Zarah Leander would star in the title role, but once war broke out between Germany and the Soviet Union, Joseph Goebbels ordered the film scrapped and the production team was told to make a film about Mary Stuart instead.

In Das Herz der Königin, Mary Stuart (Zarah Leander) is presented as the Queen of Hearts, whose actions are only led by emotions and indirectly cause her the loss of the men around her and herself too. Not only Elzabeth, but the Scottish men and women in Mary's life make her life misery as well: the evil, brutal half-brother Jacob, the coward Bothwell, the vengeful Gordon.

Scottish nobility is no positive alternative to the English court, the film suggests. This deviates from other anti-British propaganda films of the Third Reich in which e.g. the Irish or the Australians are presented as the positive, honest alternative.

The film is mostly told in flashback. It starts with Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, held prisoner in the Tower in London and waiting for the judgement of her court case. Soon she finds out that she is sentenced to death by the scaffold on the next day. Breaking down, she recalls the events leading to her imminent death.

The flashback starts with young Mary arriving from France to Scotland, as the lawful Queen of Scots, only to encounter a strong opposition by all parties around her. First of all is her half-brother Jacob Stuart (Walther Suessenguth), who is the former Scottish ruler. He asserts that a woman is incapable of ruling the 'rough' and 'male' land of Scotland.

Also the lords, headed by Lord Bothwell (Willy Birgel), face Mary Stuart critically. Moreover, upon her arrival Mary faces an assassination attempt by Johanna (Jean) Gordon (Lotte Koch), whose clan is at feud with the Stuarts for ages. Her Privy Council refuses to show up, apart from Jacob Stuart, who tears up the document presented for his signature. When the Queen is alone again, Bothwell arrives and confesses that he had fallen in love with her. Mary orders him arrested for insulting the Queen, even though impressed by him.


German postcard by Das Illustrierte Blatt, Frankfurter Illustrierte. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Das Herz der Königin (Carl Froehlich, 1940), starring Zarah Leander (standing in the middle), with on the right is Friedrich/Enrico Benfer as David Riccio, and on the left Will Quadflieg as Page Olivier.


German postcard by Das Illustrierte Blatt, Frankfurter Illustrierte. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Das Herz der Königin (Carl Froehlich, 1940), with Zarah Leander and Willy Birgel.

Motivated by revenge and lust for power

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth I (Maria Koppenhofer), angered by the competition of the new Scottish queen and even suspecting a threat to her right to the English throne, sends her confidant Lord Henry Darnley (Axel von Ambesser), a Scottish-born dandy to Scotland to spy for her and to raise the population against Mary.

Yet, Darnley himself falls in love with Mary and leads her to Bothwell's Castle, where the Scottish lords plot the Queen's deposition. Mary ventures alone into the meeting. She is imprisoned, but released the next day on condition she will marry a Scot. Mary chooses lord Bothwell, whom she believes to be still in captivity, but who has fled with Jean Gordon and has married her. The two of them raise an army to overthrow Mary – motivated by revenge and lust for power.

The Queen is forced to marry Darnley, but becomes involved with Italian singer David Riccio (Enrico Benfer). Eventually, she gives birth to a boy child, James - the future King James I. A troupe of travelling actors stages a play, openly hinting that Riccio is the Queen's lover and might be the father of her child, so the insulted and angered Darnley has Riccio assassinated.

At this time Bothwells' army appears, which The Queen allows to enter his own Castle and temporarily take over power in the land "for the Queen's own protection". Lord Darnley has meanwhile fallen ill with smallpox. On advice of the true stern Scottish Lord Bothwell, now her lover, Mary sends her ill husband to Edinburgh, where he dies in an explosion at his home.

Queen Elisabeth sends an army to Scotland to release Mary from the power of Bothwell and to offer to her refuge in England - actually a trap meant to imprison Mary and keep her away from the throne of Scotland. Meanwhile, Mary has married Bothwell, who has separated from Gordon, but the wedding is interrupted when the English army appears under the guidance of Jacob Stuart. He presents secret love letters which Mary had sent to Bothwell while still married to her previous husband.

Olivier (Will Quadflieg), the Queen's page, is killed while trying to hide the letters. Bothwell is faced with the choice of standing by Mary and dying, or denying her. He turns away from her, but the treacherous Jacob still sentences him to death. When Jacob takes from his half-sister her only child James, to protect him against Elizabeth, Mary accepts the offer of the English Queen and goes into exile in England, which leads to her imprisonment and death.

The frame story from the beginning resumes. Mary makes peace with dying and pledges her undying love to her ladies-in-waiting, the Scottish people, and the men she loved and lost. The next morning Mary, in a stunning bejewelled gown, is led to the scaffold and kneels down in prayer as she awaits the sharp hatchet to fall.

Das Herz der Königin became a failure in its time and also today counts as one of the weakest of Zarah Leander's films.


German postcard by Das Illustrierte Blatt, Frankfurter Illustrierte. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Das Herz der Königin (Carl Froehlich, 1940), with from left to right Will Quadflieg (Page Olivier), Zarah Leander (Mary Queen of Scots), Enrico Benfer (David Riccio), and Anneliese von Eschstruth.


German postcard by Das Illustrierte Blatt. Photo: Ufa / Lindner. Publicity still for Das Herz der Königin/The Heart of a Queen (Carl Froelich, 1940) with Willy Birgel and Lotte Koch.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

Guest post on Starland

Please check out Starland. Edited by my friend David - better known as Bunched Undies, Starland is is one of my favourite 'Stars in the Blogosphere'. David invited me for a guest post and I decided to write about the poster De vrouw met den blauwvos (The woman with the blue fox) for the film Der blaufuchs (Victor Tourjansky, 1938) featuring Zarah Leander.



Frans Mettes
This poster from the collection of the EYE Film Institute Netherlands in Amsterdam was created by Dutch artist and illustrator Frans Mettes. Gielijn Escher, Paul Mertz and I co-wrote a book on Mettes, Frans Mettes Affichevirtuoos (yes, in Dutch). It got very kind reviews in the Dutch newspapers De Volkskrant and Het Parool. This Friday, Starland will publish a review (in English) and a short interview with me about Frans Mettes Affichevirtuoos.

David, thank you!


Bob a.k.a. Paul van Yperen.