The Kaiser of California
Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (English: The Emperor of California), is a 1936 film that was the first Western film made in Nazi Germany. Some exterior scenes were shot on location in the United States at Sedona, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, and Death Valley in California.
Plot
The film follows the life story of Johann Augustus Sutter, the owner of Sutter's Mill, famous as the birthplace of the great California Gold Rush of 1849. However much of the story re-writes the actual history of Sutter. While the basic story of Sutter's life is retained, the producers inserted some notable changes reflecting the political environment of the film's creation: though Sutter was a Swiss-German, the film emphasizes his German ethnicity, and though he changed his name to John when he came to the United States, throughout the film he retains the name Johann.
Cast
- Alexander Golling
- Armin Schweizer
- Bernhard Minetti
- Berta Drews
- Bruno Ziener
- Elise Aulinger
- Erich Dunskus
- Hans Zesch-Ballot
- Heinrich Marlow
- Josef Reithofer
- Luis Trenker
- Marcella Albani
- Melanie Horeschovsky
- Otto Hermann August Stoeckel
- Paul Verhoeven
- Reinhold Pasch
- Rudolf Klein-Rogge
- Viktoria von Ballasko
- Walter Franck
- Wolfgang Staudte
More details
| author | Luis Trenker |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | California |
| director | Luis Trenker |
| genre | historical western |
| keywords | american west california gold rush easy money german ethnicity german-speaking switzerland gold rush hard work impoverish johann augustus sutter karl may life story native american native americans native americans in the united states sutter\'s mill swiss-german wash |
| musicBy | Giuseppe Becce |
| publisher | Tobis Film |
| recordedAt | Arizona California |
| theme | biographical epic |