Legendary Film Dynasties

This film dedicates itself to the Austrian artist and actor dynasty of the Albach-Retty-Schneiders, whose most famous offspring is the film legend Romy Schneider. The members of the family clan played important roles in German-speaking cultural life for several generations. Romy Schneider's great-great-grandfather was an actor, grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty had been a court actress since 1905, her father Wolf Albach-Retty was already engaged at the Vienna Burgtheater at the age of 20. During the National Socialist era, Romy's mother Magda Schneider formed one of the dream couples of German entertainment films with Wolf Albach-Retty. Magda Schneider, in particular, behaved very ideologically and was included in the Nazi list of "God-gifted". Romy Schneider never identified with her parents' National Socialist past. Nevertheless, she was shaped by this past.

The Marischka film dynasty had a decisive influence on the film landscape, especially in post-war Austria. The Marishkas were masters of the popular directions of post-war cinema, whether it be superficially hilarious shallow entertainment or reveling in opulent pre-war past. The lavishly set story about the Austrian Empress Elisabeth, known as Sissi, was one of the greatest successes of German-speaking post-war cinema with over 6.5 million cinemagoers. Director Ernst Marischka pulled out all the stops of splendor and staged a glamorous dream finale that until then had only been seen in Hollywood cinema. His nephew Franz Marischka was probably the most dubious in the family.