Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Willi Forst is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter and Producer Autrichien born on 7 april 1903 at Vienna (Austria)

Willi Forst

Willi Forst
  • Infos
  • Photos
  • Best films
  • Family
  • Characters
  • Awards
If you like this person, let us know!
Birth name Wilhelm Anton Frohs
Nationality Austria
Birth 7 april 1903 at Vienna (Austria)
Death 11 august 1980 (at 77 years) at Vienna (Austria)

Willi Forst, born Wilhelm Anton Frohs (7 April 1903 – 11 August 1980) was an Austrian actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer and singer. As a debonair actor he was a darling of the German-speaking film audiences, as a director, one of the most significant makers of the Viennese period musical melodramas and comedies of the 1930s known as Wiener Filme. From the mid-1930s he also recorded many records, largely of sentimental Viennese songs, for the Odeon Records label owned by Carl Lindström AG.

Biography

His first major role was opposite Marlene Dietrich in the silent film Café Elektric in 1927. He was best known, however, for his characters in light musicals, which rapidly made him a star. He developed the genre of the Viennese Film with writer Walter Reisch in the 1930s, beginning with the Franz Schubert melodrama Leise flehen meine Lieder (1934) which became an iconic role for actor Hans Jaray and Maskerade (1934), which launched his fame as a significant director and brought Paula Wessely to international fame. He founded his own film company, Willi Forst-Film, in 1937 and considered a move to Hollywood the same year.

Following the annexation of Austria in 1938, he was much courted by the National Socialists but succeeded in avoiding overt political statement, concentrating entirely on the opulent period musical entertainment for which he was famous and which was much in demand during World War II. During the seven-year period of National Socialist rule in Austria, he only made four films, none of them political (although his ardent Vienna-Austrian topos is considered subversive of pan-German Nazism by many film historians), and which are considered among his finest and classics of the Viennese Film genre.

He had comparatively little success after the war with the exception of the film Die Sünderin ("The Sinner") (1950) starring Hildegard Knef, which became a scandal because of the protests of the Roman Catholic church against its nudity, the first in German-speaking cinema, but which subsequently attracted an audience of seven million people. He gave international actress Senta Berger her first role in 1957 and that same year directed his last film (Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume), after which he retired from the industry, suggesting that his style was no longer in demand.

After the death of his wife in 1973 he lived a reclusive life in the Swiss canton of Tessin. He died of cancer in Vienna in 1980 and is buried in Neustift am Walde. Forst is today considered one of Europe's important early sound directors.

Usually with

Hans Wolff
Hans Wolff
(9 films)
Franz Planer
Franz Planer
(7 films)
Walter Reisch
Walter Reisch
(12 films)
Hans Moser
Hans Moser
(7 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Willi Forst (41 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Vienna Girls, 1h49
Directed by Willi Forst
Genres Drama, Historical, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about classical music and musicians, Musical films, Operetta films
Actors Anton Edthofer, Willi Forst, Judith Maria Holzmeister, Hans Moser, Friedl Haerlin, Leopold Hainisch
Roles Carl Michael Ziehrer
Rating68% 3.444393.444393.444393.444393.44439
The composer Carl Michael Ziehrer produces twenty two operettas during his career, although he is overshadowed by the more successful Strauss Family.
Bel Ami
Bel Ami (1939)
, 1h40
Directed by Willi Forst
Origin German
Genres Drama
Actors Olga Tschechowa, Ilse Werner, Hilde Hildebrand, Willi Forst, Hubert von Meyerinck, Will Dohm
Roles George Duroy
Rating67% 3.352023.352023.352023.352023.35202
In Paris, in about 1900, George Duroy, just returned from Morocco, spends a night with the singer Rachel, who is rehearsing the song Bel Ami. Later at a party he tells the newspaper editor Forestier about Morocco. At the request of the ladies present Duroy is engaged by Walter, proprietor of La Vie Française, as a journalist.
The Stars Shine, 1h43
Directed by Hans H. Zerlett
Origin German
Genres Musical theatre, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Ernst Fritz Fürbringer, La Jana, Carla Rust, Karel Štěpánek, Paul Verhoeven (réalisateur allemand), Arthur Schröder
Roles Gast
Rating62% 3.130313.130313.130313.130313.13031
A young secretary leaves the country and travels to Berlin to seek work as an actress. In a comedy of errors, she is mistaken for a famous dancer, which results in her heading the cast of a star-studded musical. The plot acts as a backdrop for this musical revue film, which includes many German film, sports, and entertainment stars of the 1930s.
Mazurka
Mazurka (1935)

Directed by Willi Forst
Genres Drama
Actors Pola Negri, Albrecht Schoenhals, Franziska Kinz, Paul Hartmann, Willi Forst, Friedrich Kayßler
Roles Extra
Rating72% 3.607523.607523.607523.607523.60752
Une femme est jugée pour le meurtre d'un musicien qui a ruiné son mariage.
So Ended a Great Love, 1h34
Directed by Karl Hartl
Origin German
Genres Drama, Historical
Actors Paula Wessely, Willi Forst, Gustaf Gründgens, Franz Herterich, Maria Koppenhöfer, Rose Stradner
Roles Franz, Duke of Modena
Rating67% 3.361273.361273.361273.361273.36127
Comme Joséphine ne peut pas donner un héritier à Napoléon, Talleyrand, conseiller politique de Napoléon, fait tout son possible pour la convaincre que le divorce est inévitable. L'empereur a absolument besoin d'un fils. Joséphine a à cette époque 47 ans et souffre beaucoup d'avoir à se séparer de son mari. Après la prononciation du divorce, Metternich, qui contrôle le destin de l'Autriche, reçoit une lettre de Talleyrand. Napoléon lui-même se rapproche de L'empereur François d'Autriche, car le Corse veut une princesse Habsbourg à ses côtés et sur le trône français. Metternich lui répond que l'empereur est d'accord et lui présentera sa fille Marie-Louise, 19 ans.
The Burning Secret
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Origin German
Genres Drama
Actors Alfred Abel, Hilde Wagener, Hans Joachim Schaufuß, Willi Forst, Lucie Höflich, Hans Richter
Roles Herr von Haller, Rennfahrer
Rating61% 3.0889653.0889653.0889653.0889653.088965
Dans les années 1930, un garçon séjourne avec sa mère dans un hôtel suisse, près d'un lac. L'adolescent rencontre un homme qui le fascine, peut-être chanteur ou prestidigitateur. L'homme lui propose de l'emmener faire un tour dans sa voiture de sport, et la mère semble aussi attirée par ce bel homme. La jalousie du garçon va croissante, culminant dans une scène sur la route la nuit, où le garçon attend l'homme qui lui vole sa mère. Le garçon découvre combien il est difficile de grandir.
Peter Voss, Thief of Millions, 1h44
Directed by Ewald André Dupont
Origin German
Genres Comedy, Adventure, Crime
Actors Willi Forst, Alice Treff, Paul Hörbiger, Ida Wüst, Otto Wernicke, Josef Eichheim
Roles Peter Voß
Rating66% 3.337373.337373.337373.337373.33737
Alors que le riche M. Pitt annonce un montant de millions, la banque Schilling & Co. est menacé par la faillite. C'est pourquoi le représentant autorisé Peter Voss simule une effraction, un vol de deux millions de marks. Il veut se cacher maintenant jusqu'à ce que les parts de marché augmentent à nouveau.
A Blonde Dream, 1h40
Directed by Paul Martin
Origin German
Genres Comedy, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, Willi Forst, Paul Hörbiger, Trude Hesterberg, Hans Deppe
Roles Willy II
Rating62% 3.141253.141253.141253.141253.14125
Berlin au début des années 1930. Deux laveurs de vitres de l'entreprise Blitz-Blank, Willy et Willy, pédalent, l'échelle sous les bras et leurs ustensiles dans les mains, ils vont dans la grande ville de mission en mission, de bâtiment en bâtiment. Ils travaillent bien ensemble, jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient intéressés par la même fille, la blonde Jou-Jou. Ils voient derrière la fenêtre de l'ambassade américaine. Alors qu'elle est sur le point d'être mise dehors par le portier, ils la soutiennent.
The Theft of the Mona Lisa
Directed by Géza von Bolváry
Genres Drama
Themes Heist films
Actors Willi Forst, Trude von Molo, Gustaf Gründgens, Max Gülstorff, Fritz Odemar, Paul Kemp
Roles Vincenzo Peruggia
Rating64% 3.2146753.2146753.2146753.2146753.214675
In 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia is a poverty-stricken Italian glazier who falls in love with Mathilde, a French hotel maid. Struck by the girl's resemblance to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Vicenzo manages to steal the painting from the Louvre in hopes of impressing his sweetheart. But when the girl proves to be a fickle sort, the crestfallen hero confesses his crime and is carted off to jail. Unwilling to admit that he'd been led astray by a woman, Vicenzo claims that he stole the Mona Lisa to restore it to his native Italy, and as a result is hailed as a national hero!