| The Empress and I | |
| Director: | Friedrich Hollaender |
| Producer: | Erich Pommer |
| Distributor: | UFA |
| Runtime: | 82 minutes |
| Country: | Germany |
The Empress and I (German: '''Ich und die Kaiserin''') is a 1933 German musical comedy film directed by Friedrich Hollaender and starring Lilian Harvey, Mady Christians and Conrad Veidt.[1] It is also known by the alternative title of The Only Girl. The film was produced as a multi-language version. Moi et l'impératrice a separate French-language version was released as well as The Only Girl in English. The multilingual Harvey played the same role in all three films.
It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig. It was made by Erich Pommer's production unit at UFA, several of whom left the country after the film's release due to the Nazi Party's assumption of power.
After a fall from a horse, a wealthy Marquis is believed to be dying. While he lies there, he is comforted by the singing of a beautiful woman. When he unexpectedly recovers, he tries to seek out this young woman. Due to a series of confusions, he believes her to be Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III of France. In fact, the woman was a Eugenie's hairdresser, a vivacious young woman engaged to be married to an aspiring composer and conductor currently working for the celebrated Jacques Offenbach.