Lilian Harvey

Lilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey
	Lilian Harvey in 1932
Born	Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906; London, United Kingdom
Died	27 July 1968 (aged 62); Juan-les-Pins, France
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1924–1940
Spouse	Hartvig Valeur-Larsen (1953–1957)

Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906^[1] – 27 July 1968^[2]) was a British-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film Der Kongreß tanzt.

Career[edit]

After an engagement as a revue dancer in Vienna in 1924, Harvey received her first movie role as the young Jewish girl "Ruth" in the Austrian film The Curse directed by Robert Land. Subsequently, she starred in many silent films. In 1925, she was cast in her first leading role in the film Passion by Richard Eichberg, alongside Otto Gebühr.

Because of her training as a singer, Harvey was able to pursue a successful acting career during the initial talkie era of the early 1930s. Her first movie with Willy Fritsch was the operetta film Chaste Susanne in 1926. Harvey and Fritsch became the "dream couple" of German movies in the early 1930s with the romantic love story Waltz of Love; she was called the "sweetest girl in the world" by the press, after a song featured in the film. She and Fritsch starred in a total of 11 movies together, among them the criminal comedy Hokuspokus (1930) after a play by Curt Goetz, directed by Gustav Ucicky, which became a box office success. An English version (The Temporary Widow) was filmed simultaneously, starring Lilian Harvey and Laurence Olivier, who thereby made his film debut. She also appeared in the musical film The Three from the Filling Station of the same year, which also became a major success and gave the young actor Heinz Rühmann his break. During this period she became the muse of the composer Charles Koechlin who, in his sixties, wrote numerous pieces in her honour; initially flattered, she soon became disturbed by his apparent obsession with her.^[3]

In 1931, Harvey played the leading part in the film Der Kongreß tanzt (The Congress Dances); her song Das gibt's nur einmal written by Werner R. Heymann became a most popular melody. Her subsequent movies were filmed in English and French versions, so Harvey became known outside of Germany. She was invited to Hollywood and made four movies for the Fox Film Corporation, but these were not as successful as her German films. She eventually abandoned George White's Scandals, leading executives to cast Alice Faye in the part, and Faye became an overnight sensation. After leaving Hollywood she appeared in a British film Invitation to the Waltz. In 1935, Lilian Harvey returned to Germany.

Emigration from Germany[edit]

As she was still in touch with her Jewish colleagues, Harvey was placed under close observation by the Gestapo.^{[citation needed]} Nevertheless she pushed the career of her protégé, director Paul Martin, performing in his screwball comedy Lucky Kids (1936) and further successful movies for the UFA until 1939, such as Seven Slaps, the biographical film Fanny Elssler (1937) together with Willy Birgel and Capriccio; as well as Woman at the Wheel in 1939.

In June 1937 Harvey had helped the choreographer Jens Keith, prosecuted under the homosexual acts Paragraph 175, by posting a bail for him. Released from custody, Keith escaped to Paris; this led to a stern interrogation by the Nazi authorities. He subsequently returned to Berlin and UfA. In spring 1939, Harvey left Germany and her real-estate fortune, which was confiscated;^{[citation needed]} she was to be deprived of her German citizenship in 1943 because she had performed for French troops.^{[citation needed]}

Harvey went to live at her residence in Juan-les-Pins in Vichy France. In France she made two movies in 1940 – Serenade and Miquette (her last), both directed by Jean Boyer. After the occupation of southern France by German forces in November 1942, Harvey emigrated to the USA spending most of the time in Los Angeles working as a volunteer nurse, but also went on tour performing in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit.^{[citation needed]}

After World War II[edit]

After the war, Harvey moved to Paris. In the following years, she travelled as a singer through Scandinavia and Egypt. In 1949, she returned to West Germany giving several concerts. Harvey retired to the resort town of Antibes on the French Riviera, where she operated a souvenir shop and raised edible snails. In 1955/1956 she met Else Wirth on a tour of the GDR, who from then on became her partner and colleague. Harvey received compensation in the form of a pension from the federal government for the assets confiscated during the Nazi era.^[4]

Private life[edit]

On 7 February 1953 Harvey married the Danish concert manager Hartvig Valeur-Larsen in Copenhagen, Denmark.^[5]

Death[edit]

Lilian Harvey died in her own hotel in Juan-les-Pins of liver failure on 27 July 1968, aged 62.^[2] She was buried at the Robiac Cemetery in Antibes.

Filmography[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes
1925	The Motorist Bride	(uncredited)	Silent	Stunt double for Lee Parry
	The Curse	Ruth	Silent
	Passion	Hella von Gilsa	Silent
	Love and Trumpets	Komtesse Maria Charlotte	Silent
	The Girl on the Road	Die 'Kleine'	Silent
1926	Princess Trulala	Prinzessin Trulala	Silent
	Chaste Susanne	Jacqueline	Silent
	It's Easy to Become a Father	Harriet	Silent
1927	Fabulous Lola	Tänzerin Tilly Schneider aka Lola Cornero	Silent
1927	Vacation from Marriage	Hella Strakosch	Silent
1928	The Love Commandment	Lotte	Silent
1928	A Knight in London	Aline Morland	Silent
1929	Her Dark Secret	Lilian von Trucks / Yvette	Silent
	Rund um die Liebe		Silent	Archive footage
	The Model from Montparnasse	Mascotte	Silent
	Once You Give Away Your Heart	Dolly	German
1930	Waltz of Love	Princess Eva	German	MLV
	The Love Waltz	Princess Eva	English	MLV
	Hocuspocus	Kitty Kellermann	German	MLV
	The Three from the Filling Station	Lilian Cossmann	German	MLV
	The Temporary Widow	Kitty Kellermann	English	MLV
	Burglars	Reneé	German
	The Road to Paradise	Liliane Bourcart	French	MLV
1931	The Girl and the Boy	Jenny Berger / Ria bella	French	MLV
	Princess, At Your Orders!	La princesse Marie-Christine	French
	No More Love	Gladys O'Halloran	German	MLV
	Calais-Dover	Gladys O'Halloran	French	MLV
	Der Kongreß tanzt	Christel Weinzinger, Gloves-seller	German	MLV
	Le congrès s'amuse	Christine "Christel" Weizinger	French	MLV
1932	Two Hearts Beat as One	Jenny Müller	German	MLV
	Congress Dances	Christel	English	MLV
	Quick	Eva	German	MLV
	Quick	Christine Dawson	French	MLV
	A Blonde Dream	Jou-Jou	German	MLV
	Un rêve blond	Jou-Jou	French	MLV
	Happy Ever After	Jou-Jou	English	MLV
1933	The Empress and I	Juliette	German	MLV
	Moi et l'impératrice	Juliette	French	MLV
	The Only Girl	Juliette	English	MLV
	My Weakness	Looloo Blake	English
	My Lips Betray	Lili Wieler	English
	I Am Suzanne	Suzanne	English
1935	Let's Live Tonight	Kay 'Carlotta' Routledge	English
	Invitation to the Waltz	Jenny Peachey	English
	Schwarze Rosen	Tania Fedorovna	German	MLV
1936	Roses noires	Tatiana	French	MLV
	Black Roses	Tania Fedorovna	English	MLV
	Lucky Kids	Ann Garden	German	MLV
	Les gais lurons	Ann Garden	French	MLV
1937	Seven Slaps	Daisy Terbanks	German
1937	Fanny Elssler	Fanny Elssler	German
1938	Capriccio	Madelone d’Estroux	German
1939	Castles in the Air	Annie Wagner	Italian	MLV
	Ins blaue Leben	Annie Wagner	German	MLV
	Woman at the Wheel	Maria Kelemen	German
1940	Serenade	Margaret Brenton	French
1940	Miquette	Miquette Grandier	French

In popular media[edit]

In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Lillian Harvey's duet with Willy Fritsch from the 1936 film Lucky Kids, "Ich wollt' ich wär ein Huhn" ("I wish I were a chicken") can be heard playing on a phonograph in the basement scene "La Louisiane" as well as in the extended scene "Lunch With Goebbels", as Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) happily sings a portion of the song after deciding to hold a private screening of the film. After the screening, cinema owner Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), under the alias "Emmanuelle Mimieux", comments on liking Lilian Harvey in the film – to which an irritated Goebbels angrily insists her name never be mentioned again in his presence. The song as performed by the Comedian Harmonists remains popular in Germany to date.

The music from Der Kongreß tanzt appears in the movie The Wind Rises (2013) from Miyazaki.

References[edit]

^ Friedemann, Beyer (1992). Die Gesichter der UFA: Starportraits einer Epoche. München: Wilhelm Heyne Verlag. Page 58. ISBN 3-453-05971-9.
^ ^a ^b "Lilian Harvey, Actress, Dead. Star of 'The Congress Dances'. Popular Screen Performer of the 20s and 30s. Operated Souvenir Shop in Antibes". The New York Times. 28 July 1968. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
^ Orledge, R. (1989) Charles Koechlin, 1867 – 1950, his life and his works. Harwood Academic Publishing.
^ "Gerade auf LeMO gesehen: LeMO Biografie".
^ "Lillian Harvey, Actress, Wed". The New York Times. Associated Press. 8 February 1953. p. 76. Retrieved 23 September 2021.

External links[edit]

[1] Friedemann, Beyer (1992). Die Gesichter der UFA: Starportraits einer Epoche. München: Wilhelm Heyne Verlag. Page 58. ISBN 3-453-05971-9.

[NYT-2] "Lilian Harvey, Actress, Dead. Star of 'The Congress Dances'. Popular Screen Performer of the 20s and 30s. Operated Souvenir Shop in Antibes". The New York Times. 28 July 1968. Retrieved 19 March 2010.

[Orledge-3] Orledge, R. (1989) Charles Koechlin, 1867 – 1950, his life and his works. Harwood Academic Publishing.

[4] "Gerade auf LeMO gesehen: LeMO Biografie".

[5] "Lillian Harvey, Actress, Wed". The New York Times. Associated Press. 8 February 1953. p. 76. Retrieved 23 September 2021.

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