# Condemned to Sin > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Condemned_to_Sin > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Condemned_to_Sin.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condemned_to_Sin > Source revision: 1355505459 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1964 film Condemned to Sin Directed by Alfred Weidenmann Written by Eberhard Keindorff Johanna Sibelius Based on Die Festung by Henry Jaeger Produced by Eberhard Klagemann Starring Martin Held Hildegard Knef Heidelinde Weis Cinematography Enzo Serafin Edited by Hermine Diethelm Music by Wolfgang Kabitzky Production companies Eichberg-Film Team-Film Distributed by Nora-Filmverleih Release date 25 September 1964 (1964-09-25) Running time 104 minutes Country West Germany Language German ***Condemned to Sin*** (German: ***Verdammt zur Sünde***) is a 1964 West German [drama film](/source/Drama_film) directed by [Alfred Weidenmann](/source/Alfred_Weidenmann) and starring [Martin Held](/source/Martin_Held), [Hildegard Knef](/source/Hildegard_Knef) and [Heidelinde Weis](/source/Heidelinde_Weis).[1] The film's sets were designed by the [art director](/source/Art_director) [Hertha Hareiter](/source/Hertha_Hareiter). [Location shooting](/source/Location_shooting) took place in Austria at [Rapottenstein Castle](/source/Rapottenstein_Castle) and around the city of [Wels](/source/Wels). ## Plot Germany at the time of the economic miracle. Hugo Starosta, expelled from the part of eastern Germany annexed by Poland after the Second World War, is one of the few who failed to get their lives back on track during the years of reconstruction. Almost twenty years after the end of the war, he and his extended family still live in a fortress-like castle that is run by the state as a reception and refugee camp and has increasingly become a social housing project. The accommodation — a one-room emergency quarters for eight people from three generations — is run-down, poor and filthy, Starosta herself is work-shy and blabbering, imperious and sometimes choleric. His children know nothing but this misery and threaten to neglect themselves. One of his offspring becomes a father at the age of 15, another, actually a factory worker, secretly works as a prostitute. Aggression, outbreaks of violence and unrestrained lifestyles are the order of the day. While other camp residents strive to leave these degrading living conditions behind as quickly as possible, old Starosta has long since come to terms with these circumstances and even feels comfortable with it. He likes to mess with the authorities and eventually gets him and his clan allowed to stay while the other residents gradually evacuate the fortress. Starosta defends his miserable "paradise" with all consistency, he drives young intruders out of the little room — throwing things and giving out kicks. More and more, Hugo Starosta has become the patriarch of a family that has settled comfortably in the suspended precariat. Starosta proves to be a sullen bon vivant who only seems to take the initiative to escape from the prevailing conditions; for example, if he founds a kind of "transport company". However, his main day-to-day activity remains lounging around, making grand speeches and getting on the nerves of others. The other Starostas and their personal environment also seem to spring from a panopticon of bizarre types; there is, for example, the elderly grandmother who simply does not want to die and complains about the coffin that she has already chosen and which she considers inferior. One of the Starosta sons, the shy Albert, has huge ears that determine all his thoughts and actions. Starosta's sister's boyfriend lives out his image as a chavish woman-pleaser, while the salesman, a gentle, modest man, represents the absolute antithesis to him. The two oldest Starosta sons have fled the fortress. Their names are Adolf and Hermann and they shed light on Hugo Starosta's political views up until 1945. Neighbor Alwine, as she says, "experienced certain things while fleeing" and hasn't really been interested in sex since then. Starosta's wife was also raped by Red Army soldiers, according to Hugo, but, according to Starosta, "it didn't bother her that much". ## Cast - [Martin Held](/source/Martin_Held) as Hugo Starosta - [Hildegard Knef](/source/Hildegard_Knef) as Alwine - [Heidelinde Weis](/source/Heidelinde_Weis) as Edeltraut - [Tilla Durieux](/source/Tilla_Durieux) as Die Großmutter - [Else Knott](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Else_Knott&action=edit&redlink=1) as Eliese Starosta - [Christa Linder](/source/Christa_Linder) as Mi Mo, deren Tochter - [Hubert Suschka](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hubert_Suschka&action=edit&redlink=1) as Victor, Alwines Mann - [Michael Ande](/source/Michael_Ande) as Albert, Starostas Sohn - [Alice Treff](/source/Alice_Treff) as Die Leiske - [René Egiomue](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ren%C3%A9_Egiomue&action=edit&redlink=1) as Bruno, das Nesthäkchen - [Robert Graf](/source/Robert_Graf_(actor)) as Der Vertreter - [Peter Vogel](/source/Peter_Vogel_(actor)) as Hans - [Gertraud Jesserer](/source/Gertraud_Jesserer) as Dora - [Alexander Braumueller](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Braumueller&action=edit&redlink=1) as Johann, Kainraths Sohn - [Joseph Offenbach](/source/Joseph_Offenbach) as Kainrath, Kantinenwirt - [Reinhard Glemnitz](/source/Reinhard_Glemnitz) as Anstaltsleiter - [Thomas Danneberg](/source/Thomas_Danneberg) as Adolf, Starostas Sohn - [Franz Stoss](/source/Franz_Stoss) as Direktor der Jugenderziehungsanstalt ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Goble p.1003 ## Bibliography - Goble, Alan. *The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film*. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. ## External links - [*Condemned to Sin*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130345/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e Films directed by Alfred Weidenmann I and You (1953) Canaris (1954) Heaven Is Never Booked Up (1955) Alibi (1955) Kitty and the Great Big World (1956) Der Stern von Afrika (1957) As Long as the Heart Still Beats (1958) Scampolo (1958) The Buddenbrooks (1959) Boomerang (1960) Sacred Waters (1960) Adorable Julia (1962) Only a Woman (1962) And So to Bed (1963) Condemned to Sin (1964) The Gentlemen (1965) Who Wants to Sleep? (1965) Shots in Threequarter Time (1965) I Am Looking for a Man (1966) Maigret and His Greatest Case (1966) Under the Roofs of St. Pauli (1970) The Bordello (1971) The Rider on the White Horse (1978) This article related to a German film of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:1960s-Germany-film-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3A1960s-Germany-film-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:1960s-Germany-film-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Condemned to Sin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condemned_to_Sin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condemned_to_Sin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.