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Movie Detail
Name Occurs Before Title Offscreen Credit Print Viewed By AFI Stub Record
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
Alternate Title: Old Heidelberg
Director: Ernst Lubitsch (Dir)
Release Date:   30 Jan 1928
Premiere Information:   New York opening: 21 Sep 1927
Duration (in mins):   105
Duration (in feet):   9,435
Duration (in reels):   10
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Cast:   Ramon Novarro (Prince Karl Heinrich)  
    Norma Shearer (Kathi)  
    Jean Hersholt (Dr. Juttner)  
    Gustav von Seyffertitz (King Karl VII)  
    Philippe De Lacy (Heir Apparent)  
    Edgar Norton (Lutz)  
    Bobby Mack (Kellerman)  
    Edward Connelly (Court marshal)  
    Otis Harlan (Old Ruder)  
    John S. Peters (Student)  
    George K. Arthur (Student)  
    Edythe Chapman    
    Lionel Belmore    
    Lincoln Steadman    

Summary: Crown Prince Karl Heinrich, nephew of the king of a small domain, has a joyless existence in the pretentious formalism of the moribund court until his tutor, Dr. Juttner, arrives. After several years, Juttner takes Karl Heinrich to Heidelberg to study at the university. Here the prince falls in love with Kathi, the niece of the owner of an inn where the tutor and the prince have taken rooms. Karl Heinrich's happiness is shattered when the king dies and he must return to take the throne. Lonely and still in love with Kathi, although he is betrothed to an unattractive princess, Karl Heinrich returns to Heidelberg and finds that everything has changed: the students who were once his comrades salute him stiffly; his tutor has died; and only Kathi welcomes him as of old. After brief reunion they part again, for the Princess Ilse and he are celebrating their betrothal. 

Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. (Loew's Inc.)
Distribution Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. (Loew's Inc.)
Director: Ernst Lubitsch (Dir)
Writer: Hans Kraly (Scen)
  Marian Ainslee (Titles)
  Ruth Cummings (Titles)
Photography: John Mescall (Dir of photog)
Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons (Art dir)
  Richard Day (Art dir)
Film Editor: Andrew Marton (Film ed)
Costumes: Ali Hubert (Ward)
  Eric Locke (Ward)
Music: David Mendoza (Mus score)
  William Axt (Mus score)
Country: United States
Language: English

Music:
Songs:
Source Text: Based on the novel Karl Heinrich by Wilhelm Meyer-Foerster (New York, 1904), the play Old Heidelberg by Meyer-Foerster (New York, 1903) and the operetta The Student Prince , book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly, music by Sigmund Romberg (New York, 2 Dec 1924).
Authors: Sigmund Romberg
  Dorothy Donnelly
  Wilhelm Meyer-Foerster

Copyright Claimant Copyright Date Copyright Number
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. 30/1/1928 dd/mm/yyyy LP25374

Physical Properties: Si:
  b&w:

 
Genre: Romance
 
Subjects (Major): Heidelberg (Germany)
  Mythical lands
  Innkeepers
  Royalty
  Students
  Tutors and tutoring

Note: Although the onscreen credits and copyright records list the film's full title, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg , most contemporary reviews listed it simply as The Student Prince . Wilhelm Meyer-Förster's story previously had been filmed in 1915 by the Fine Arts Film Co. under the title Old Heidelberg . That version was directed by John Emerson and starred Wallace Reid and Dorothy Gish (see entry above). M-G-M made a musical version of the story, based also on Sigmund Romberg's operetta The Student Prince , in 1954. That version was directed by Richard Thorpe and starred Edmund Purdom and Ann Blyth, featuring the singing voice of Mario Lanza (see entry above). 

Bibliographic Sources:   Date   Page
Film Daily   2 Oct 1927   p. 6.
Moving Picture World   24 Sep 1927   p. 250.
New York Times   22 Sep 1927   p. 250.
Variety   28 Sep 1927   p. 24.

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