Dolly Gets Ahead
Muñeca
1930 · Germany · 87 min
- Director
- Anatole Litvak
- Screenplay
- Irma von Cube
- Producer
- Gregor Rabinovitch
- Music
- Rudolf Nelson
- Cinematography
- Fritz Arno Wagner
Cast
What it is about
Dolly Klaren works in a hat shop and dreams of a career as a stage actress. She is an energetic, unconventional young woman, and her friendship with Fred, a gifted but unlucky musician, runs on teasing, since he does not take her theatrical plans seriously. Through a clever ruse she manages to meet the theatre director Silbermann, who urgently needs a new lead for a revue. Silbermann, skilled at publicity, decides to launch the unknown Dolly with a flashy campaign, and the rumours that follow begin to complicate her life and that of the people who care for her.
How it was made
The film was directed by Anatole Litvak, with a screenplay by Irma von Cube and production by Gregor Rabinovitch. The music was composed by Rudolf Nelson and the cinematography was by Fritz Arno Wagner. Shooting took place at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin, and the sets were designed by Heinz Fenschel and Jacek Rotmil. The cast is headed by Dolly Haas, Oskar Karlweis and Grete Natzler, alongside Kurt Gerron and Alfred Abel.
Reception and legacy
The available sources offer little information about its critical and commercial reception, so it is not possible to say with confidence how it was received on release or what legacy it left. As a German musical from the early 1930s, it belongs to the country's early sound-film era, and its main interest today lies in what it reveals about that period.
Trivia
Shot at Babelsberg
The film was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin, one of the most important production centres of German cinema at the time.
Sets by two designers
The sets were designed by the art directors Heinz Fenschel and Jacek Rotmil.
More films by Anatole Litvak
The Snake Pit
Anastasia
The Night of the Generals
Sorry, Wrong Number
Decision Before Dawn
All This, and Heaven TooOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.