Venus vor Gericht (1941)

 Venus on Trial (1941)

 

Directed by: Hans H. Zerlett

Written by: Hans H. Zerlett

Produced by: Ottmar Ostermayr

Cinematography: Oskar Schnirch

Edited by: Gottlieb Madl

Music by: Leo Leux

Production company: Bavaria Film

Distributed by: Bavaria Film

Release date: 4 June 1941

Running time: 90 minutes

Country: Germany

Language: German

 

Starring:

 

Hannes Stelzer: Peter Brake, sculptor

Hansi Knoteck: Charlotte Böller

Paul Dahlke: Gottlieb Böller, mayor

Siegfried Breuer: Benjamin Hecht, art dealer

Charlott Daudert: Marianne

Ernst Fritz Fürbringer: Paul Dreysing, draughtsman

Josef Eichheim: Prof. Semmel, sculptor

Erhard Siedel: The Minister of Culture

Carl Wery: Senior Prosecutor

Hans Brausewetter: Prosecutor

Hubert von Meyerinck: Dr Knarre, expert witness

Justus Paris: Prof. Grimm, expert witness

Fritz Reiff: Judge

Peter Elsholtz: Defence lawyer

Adolf Gondrell: Bronsky, Agent

Albert Hörrmann: Dr Wertheimer, advisor to the Minister of Culture

Peter Pasetti: Party comrade

Liesl Karlstadt: housemaid

Fritz Hoopts: Brinkmann, bailiff

Eva Tinschmann: Rita, receptionist

Carl Ballhaus: Alfred, Peter's friend

Heini Handschumacher: Reporter

Rudolf Vogel: Dr Gerhard Hümmelmann

Heinrich Hauser: Obersturmbannführer Lotze

Gabriele Reismüller: Secretary

Charles Willy Kayser

Walter Lantzsch

Kurt Stieler

 

Venus on Trial (German: Venus vor Gericht) is a 1941 German drama film directed by Hans H. Zerlett and starring Hannes Stelzer, Hansi Knoteck, and Paul Dahlke. The film was part of the National Socialist campaign against the degenerate art, and depicts the trial of a young artist who has resisted the trend towards it.

 

The film was made by Bavaria Film at their Emelka Studios in Munich. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Max Seefelder, Hans Sohnle and Wilhelm Vorwerg.

 

Plot

 

The film is set in the 1920s. Peter Brake, a sculptor, believes modern art to be decadent. He creates a neoclassical-style statue of Venus, which he then buries in a Bavarian field in order to protect the identity of Charlotte, the woman who modelled for it. When it is dug up, experts believe that Venus vom Acker (“Venus of the Fields”) is an ancient statue made by Praxiteles.

 

Peter is unable to prove that he is the creator of the statue, as the only person able to verify his claim is the model. He tries to keep her out of the matter, as she is now a respectable housewife. Ultimately, however, she decides to come forward as a witness.