The Great King

The Great King (Der große König) is a 1942 German drama film directed by Veit Harlan and starring Otto Gebühr. It depicts the life of Frederick the Great, who ruled Prussia from 1740 to 1786. It received the rare "Film of the Nation" distinction. It was part of a popular cycle of "Prussian films".

The film is a depiction of the Führerprinzip. The analogy to Adolf Hitler was so clear that Hitler sent a print to Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Goebbels warned against the drawing of the comparison in print, in particular, because of the pessimistic mood that opens the film. After a sergeant gives an unauthorised order, the king orders him simultaneously promoted and punished. His later decision to desert results in his death because no disobedience is justified. Goebbels declared that the parallels were not a matter of propaganda, but an obvious result of the parallels of history.

Goebbels also regarded it as instructive that current sufferings would be a source of strength. Goebbels had some difficulty with the Army High Command over this film because it depicted the king as being left in the lurch by his general. He complained that the army felt that any depiction, however historical, reflected badly on them.

Cast

 * Otto Gebühr as Frederick II.
 * Kristina Söderbaum as Luise Treskow
 * Gustav Fröhlich as Treskow
 * Hans Nielsen as Niehoff
 * Paul Wegener as General Czernitscheff
 * Paul Henckels as Grenadier Spiller
 * Elisabeth Flickenschildt as Spiller's Wife
 * Kurt Meisel as Alfons
 * Hilde Körber as Elisabeth Christine
 * Claus Clausen as Prince Henry the Older
 * Klaus Detlef Sierck as Prince Henry the Younger
 * Herbert Hübner as Count Finkenstein
 * Franz Schafheitlin as Commandant Bernburg
 * Otto F. Henning as General von Finken
 * Reginald Pasch as General Manteufel
 * Otto Graf as General Seydlitz
 * Heinrich Schroth as General Balthasar Rudolf von Schenckendorf
 * Leopold von Ledebur as General von Retzow

Awards

 * Director Veit Harlan won the Mussolini Cup for Best Foreign Film at the 1942 Venice Film Festival.