5.3 Films The first German film to be shown after WW I was Erich von

5.3 Films
The first German film to be shown after WW I was Erich von Stroheim’s “Der Hochzeitsmarsch,” which
was shown in the Monarch Theatre in Edmonton in May 1929. The following is a list of films screened in
Alberta between 1929 and 1939, as reported by the German-language newspapers of the day.
Most films were brought in by various German clubs; in some cases, the films were obtained by the
Deutscher Bund.
Location
Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton
Calgary, Edmonton
Edmonton
Stony Plain, Barrhead, Bashaw,
Leduc etc,.
Millet, Bruderheim, Barrhead,
Leduc, Fort Saskatchewan, Stony
Plain etc.
Edmonton (organized by DB)
Edmonton
Calgary
Edmonton (organized by DB)
Edmonton (organized by DB)
Edmonton, Stony Plain, Barrhead,
Wetaskiwin, Leduc, Fort
Saskatchewan, Hay Lakes, Ponoka,
Trochu
Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton
Calgary (organized by DB)
Edmonton
Screening not permitted by the
Alberta censor
Title
Der Hochzeitsmarsch
Sound film of the boxing match between Max Schmeling and
Paulino Uczudun
The Blue Angel
Zwei Herzen im Dreivierteltakt (more than 4,000 spectators)
Der Kongreß tanzt
Ein Walzer vom Strauss
Mädchen in Uniform
O du mein Heimatland, Schwäbische Heimat, Besuch bei
Hindenburg (1,200 spectators)
Zwei Herzen im Dreivierteltakt
Year
19291
Deutschland erwacht, Der Tag der nationalen Arbeit
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz
Mädchen in Uniform
Der Tag der Nationalen Arbeit, Das Erntedankfest am
Bückeberg in 1933, Die Ostsee, Schwarzwaldfrühling
Echo der Heimat (Hitler’s speech on Germany’s recent
accomplishments; a speech by Darré; reports on Kraft durch
Freude programs, etc.), Hitlerjugend im Zeltlager, Das
gestohlene Herz
Das Mädchen von der Reeperbahn
193410
193411
193412
19292
19313
19324
19325
19336
19347
19348
19349
193513
193514
193515
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz
Die Csardas-Fürstin
Der Walzerkrieg
Zwei Menschen
Urlaub auf Ehrenwort, Die Kolonialschule Rendsburg
Heimat
Gasparone
193516
193617
193718
193819
193920
193921
193922
Not all film screenings were a success. Especially in the rural areas turnout was often said to be poor,
probably “the time was needed for work in the fields.”23 The film “Zwei Menschen” about a young couple
in love—who cannot come together because the young man is made to enter the priesthood by his
domineering mother; the girl commits suicide, and the young priest must conduct a funeral service for
her— met with particular resistance: In early 1939 the Edelweiss Club said that it regretted having
screened the film. It promised to cancel all bookings already made and not to show films again unless
their quality can be guaranteed.24
The screening of two films by the Deutscher Bund in Calgary in April 1939 caused a major confrontation
between the German community and the WW I veterans. The Bund called off a meeting in Riverside after
it became known that a mob was forming to march on the gathering and to break it up. This meeting was
billed as just another concert and “two interesting talking films in the German language” (“Urlaub auf
Ehrenwort [Vacation on word of honor]” and “Kolonialschule Rendsburg [German Women's Colonial
School, Rendsburg]”). Nearly 100 persons had gathered before the hall, many of whom apparently wanted
to attend the meeting. The police put a guard at the hall’s entrance after the cancellation of the meeting. 25
The Deutsche Zeitung für Canada protested the “terror campaign against German-Canadians” (“Hetze –
Hetze – Hetze [Agitation – agitation – agitation]”) and reported that the Canadian Legion, allegedly,
promised to threaten all German meetings in the province.26
In June 1939, the film censor of the Province of Alberta refused to pass the entertainment film
“Gasparone.” Clearly, German-Canadians were second-class citizens, said the Alberta Herold. 27 The
Deutsche Zeitung für Canada alleged that the film’s made-in-Germany origin was the only reason for
prohibiting the screening of this film; after all, it was just an operetta!28
DH, May 9, 1929, 8.
DH, July 11, 1929, 8.
3 DH, Jan. 22, 1931, 8.
4 DC&DH, Sept. 21, 1932, 4.
5 DC&DH, Nov. 23, 1932, 4.
6 DC&DH, July 5, 1933, 5.
7 DC&DH, Feb. 28, 1934, 4.
8 DC&DH, Nov. 25, 1934, 4; May 9, 1934, 4; May 16, 1934, 5; May 27, 1934, 4.
9 DC&DH, June 13, 1934, 4.
10 DC&DH, Oct. 5, 1934, 4
11 DC&DH, Oct. 31, 1934, 4.
12 DC&DH, Nov. 7, 1934, 5.
13 DC&DH, Feb. 13, 1935, 4.
14 DZC, July 17, 1935, 4.
15 DC&DH, Oct. 2, 1935, 4.
16 DC&DH, Oct. 3, 1935, 4.
17 DZC, July 15, 1936, 4.
18 DZC, Oct. 20, 1937, 4.
19 DZC, Dec. 14, 1938, 4.
20 DZC, March 29, 1939, 4.
21 DZC, March 29, 1939, 4
22 AH, June 7, 1939, 2.
23 DC&DH, May 9, 1934, 4.
24 DC&DH, Feb. 8, 1939, 4.
25 Albertan, Nov. 13, 1939, 1.
26 DZC, Dec. 21, 1938, 8.
27 AH, June 7, 1939, 2.
28 DZC, June 14, 1939, 4.
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