Master of Life and Death

Master of Life and Death (German: Herr über Leben und Tod) is a 1955 West German drama film directed by Victor Vicas and starring Maria Schell, Ivan Desny and Wilhelm Borchert.[1] It was shot at the Spandau Studios in West Berlin and on location around the city and in Brittany. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Hans Ledersteger and Ernst Richter. It is based on the 1938 novel of the same title by Carl Zuckmayer.[2]

Master of Life and Death
Directed byVictor Vicas
Written byFrédéric Grendel
Horst Hächler
Victor Vicas
Based onMaster of Life and Death by Carl Zuckmayer
Produced byWenzel Lüdecke
StarringMaria Schell
Ivan Desny
Wilhelm Borchert
CinematographyGöran Strindberg
Edited byIra Oberberg
Music byHans-Martin Majewski
Production
company
Interwest
Distributed byGloria Film
Release date
  • 7 January 1955 (1955-01-07)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman

Synopsis

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Barbara is married to the distinguished professor of medicine Georg Bertram who once saved her father's life. When they have a mentally handicapped child together his clinical coldness comes to the fore and he wants to commit euthanasia on the child. She stops him and takes the child away to Brittany in the hope that a change of location and nursing will help them to improve. While there she encounters a much more sympathetic doctor.

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ Bock & Bergfelder p.84
  2. ^ Goble p.796

Bibliography

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  • Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema. Berghahn Books, 2009.
  • Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
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