Ossi Oswalda

Acting

Ossi Oswalda

Born — Died

1897-01-31 — 1947-03-07

Place of birth

Berlin, Germany

Known for

Acting

Credits

44 titles

Ossi Oswalda (born Oswalda Amalie Anna Stäglich, 2 February 1897 – 7 March 1947) was a German actress, who mostly appeared in silent films. She was given the nickname 'The German Mary Pickford' due to her popularity at the time. Oswalda trained as a ballerina and became a dancer for a theater in Berlin. She made her film debut in Richard Oswald's Nächte des Grauens (Night of Horrors) before being discovered by the actor and screenwriter Hanns Kräly, who in turn recommended her to director Ernst Lubitsch. During her early career, she starred in several films by Lubitsch, including The Merry Jail, I Don't Want to Be a Man, The Oyster Princess and The Doll. Her popularity at the time earned h…

Known for

Film credits

1920s · 24 titles

No artwork available
NR

Es zogen drei Burschen (1928) is a German silent comedy film directed by Carl Wilhelm. Also known by its alternative German title Drei Seelen und ein Gedanke, the movie is a lighthearted farce famously featuring an early-career performance by the legendary actor Hans Albers.

Es zogen drei Burschen

1928

Die Fahrt ins Abenteuer poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Die Fahrt ins Abenteuer

1926

The Girl on a Swing poster
9.0

The Girl on a Swing is a 1926 German silent film directed by Felix Basch and starring Ossi Oswalda, Harry Liedtke, and Lotte Lorring.

The Girl on a Swing

1927

No artwork available
9.0

The Girl with a Patron (German: Das Mädchen mit der Protektion) is a 1925 German silent comedy film directed by Max Mack and starring Ossi Oswalda, Willy Fritsch, and Nora Gregor. It was one of a number of popular comedies released by UFA during the era alongside its more prestigious art films.

The Girl with a Patron

1925

Die Kleine vom Varieté poster
7.0

Peter Verdy falls in love with Lola (Ossi Oswalda) who is mistaken for a boy when she appears in stage regalia before a rich uncle who has other marriage plans for his nephew. The tangle ensuing is finally sorted out with excellent results all round.

Die Kleine vom Varieté

1926

Sir or Madame poster
8.0

A girl posing as a knight's male valet is vamped by his fiancée

Sir or Madame

1928

No artwork available
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Die vierte von rechts

1929

Das Mädel mit der Maske poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Das Mädel mit der Maske

1922

No artwork available
7.0

Silent romantic comedy set on a train.

Express Train of Love

1925

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Ein Weihnachtsfilm für Große

1924

Gräfin Plättmamsell poster
8.0

The fun-loving laundress Mieze spends a romantic evening with the womanizer and fashion designer Max, who, however, wants nothing to do with her the next day. This only changes when Mieze appears to be the daughter of a count and "Countess Radebeul" moves into the elegant Hotel Bristol. After all sorts of complications and embarrassments, the countess turns out to be a misunderstanding, and Mieze and Max find each other after all.

Gräfin Plättmamsell

1926

No artwork available
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Der Dieb im Schlafcoupée

1929

Herrn Filip Collins Abenteuer poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Herrn Filip Collins Abenteuer

1926

No artwork available
7.0

A millionaire daughter is to be married to a man unknown to her. To get to know him, she slips into men's clothes, sticks on a mustache and is hired as a chauffeur.

Amor am Steuer

1921

A Crazy Night poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

A Crazy Night

1927

No artwork available
NR

In the summer of 1920, the staff of the Rembrandt Theatre in Amsterdam went on strike, which was especially unfortunate for the management of the theatre, since they had invited the German film stars Ossi Oswalda, Marga Köhler, and Victor Janson to the Dutch premiere of their film Wohnungsnot (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920). For this special occasion, there were even two extra segments shot with Ossi Oswalda playing the lead role. In one of those films, we see how Oswalda, dressed in traditional Volendam costume, cheerfully makes contact with the local inhabitants. But not every Volendammer seems charmed by the advances of the German diva. Because of the strike, the film could only be screened one time in the presence of the three stars.

Amsterdam Artists from the Film 'Housing Shortage' on a Trip to Volendam

1920

Frühere Verhältnisse poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Frühere Verhältnisse

1927

No artwork available
NR

The plot of the lost film is divided into two acts. Ossi Oswalda and Victor Janson play two apartment seekers, while Marga Köhler is a landlady. The housing shortage is treated in sketch form and "in a joking manner [...] the real housing calamity", whereby "humorous aspects" are wrested from the "tragedy." Lubitsch and Kräly used a sketch in the film that they had written especially for Ossi Oswalda.

The Housing Shortage

1920

Niniche poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Niniche

1925

No artwork available
NR

Eddie Polo appears in this short showing his dexterity with a horse and lasso.

Eddy Polo mit Pferd und Lasso

1928

Colibri poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Colibri

1924

No artwork available
8.0

German silent film directed by Erich Schönfelder.

Kakadu und Kiebitz

1920

No artwork available
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Schatz, mach' Kasse

1926

No artwork available
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Hundemamachen

1920

1910s · 16 titles

The Oyster Princess poster
6.8

A pampered American oyster tycoon decides to buy a husband for his daughter, but things don’t go quite as planned. Along the way there are mishaps, misunderstandings and a foxtrot sequence that must be seen to be believed.

The Oyster Princess

1919

I Don't Want to Be a Man poster
6.4

A teenage tomboy, tired of being bossed around by her strict guardian, impersonates a man so she can have more fun. She quickly discovers that being the opposite sex isn’t as easy as she had hoped for. What ensues is a gender-bending comedy decades ahead of its time.

I Don't Want to Be a Man

1918

The Doll poster
7.4

The misadventures of an effete young man who must get married in order to inherit a fortune. He opts to purchase a remarkably lifelike doll and marry it instead, not realizing that the doll is actually the dollmaker’s flesh-and-blood daughter in disguise.

The Doll

1919

The Merry Jail poster
6.4

A neglected wife disguises herself in order to lure her wastrel husband into a compromising position.

The Merry Jail

1917

Meyer from Berlin poster
6.5

Sally Meyer, a young Berliner, persuades his Doctor to convince his wife that he is ill, so that he is able to take a holiday in the Austrian Alps.

Meyer from Berlin

1919

My Wife, the Movie Star poster
7.0

While making a movie in the Alps, the female star falls in love with a nobleman.

My Wife, the Movie Star

1919

No artwork available
NR

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Lubitsch plays a book shop employee who falls in love with Jannings' daughter.

When Four Do the Same

1917

No artwork available
NR

The new artistic director Dr. Fersen is appointed at the princely court theater in Dillingen. He is not only attractive, but also a bachelor, which delights the local women. But even the men of the town suddenly show an affinity for the theater, as a new prima ballerina has been hired in the form of the dancer Ossi. Prince Adolf himself is delighted with Ossi and never misses one of her performances. The envious are not long in coming, especially the president of the Dillingen Women's Association is suspicious of the current events. This is hardly surprising, as an unwritten law in Dillingen states that the theater's prima ballerina must be married. This suits Ossi and Dr. Fersen, as the two have been seeing each other in secret for some time. The marriage is quickly arranged. The only downer for the couple is that the Dillinger's interest in art has suddenly disappeared. Lost.

The Ballet Girl

1918

Pinkus's Shoe Palace poster
5.7

Sally Pinkus is an German-Jewish boy who takes a job as a shoe store clerk after being expelled from school for goofing around. Soon fired for trying to court the owner's daughter, Pinkus lands another job in a more 'upmarket' shoe salon, only to be fired again, before charming a rich benefactress to fund his ultimate dream: Pinkus' Shoe Palace.

Pinkus's Shoe Palace

1916

Prinz Sami poster
NR

Prince Sami comes from Nigeria and is an uncivilized "nature boy." He is sent to the highly civilized court of Duchess Maria of Arragon, where he initially causes chaos. In the end, however, he becomes the duchess's husband.

Prinz Sami

1918

No artwork available
NR

Sally comes from a small town to Berlin, where he begins an apprenticeship with his uncle. He helps his uncle with the bread production and dreams of becoming a famous tenor. One day he is discovered. A group of wealthy gentlemen form a limited company and finance Sally's singing lessons. The day comes when Sally is finally allowed to sing Lohengrin in the opera. His success is prevented by his greatest rival and envy, who sprinkles itching powder on his costume shortly before the performance. Sally returns to his uncle's company, where he finds solace with his cousin.

The Tenor, Inc.

1916

No artwork available
6.0

An extremely jealous artist slips into a monkey costume and kills all those men who come too close to his wife, another artist.

A Night of Horror

1917

Der Hilferuf poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Der Hilferuf

1916

No artwork available
7.0

The Swabian journeyman watchmaker Christoph Bühler is in love with Lorle, the daughter of his boss. One day, the factory owner Ferdinand Hausegger woos Bühler away, whereupon the young man seems to forget the Swabian girl. Only after four years does he propose to her, but the marriage is not under a good star. While Christoph, who has long since moved away from the Swabian province with his wife, makes a career for himself, he neglects his Lorle more and more and soon seems ashamed of her simple origins. Feeling unloved and misunderstood, Lorle finally leaves him and returns to her familiar home in the Black Forest. Only now does Christoph realize what he has in his wife. He is transferred and becomes the manager of a Hausegger branch in the Black Forest. Now nothing stands in the way of reconciliation.

The Swabian Maiden

1919

The Toboggan Cavalier poster
NR

A young woman is forced by her father to marry a man she doesn't love and flees before the marriage takes place. In a small village she falls in love with a young man, but her father disapproves of the match.

The Toboggan Cavalier

1918

Ossis Tagebuch poster
NR

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

Ossis Tagebuch

1917

Behind the camera