---
name: "Anton Walbrook"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/anton-walbrook"
fi1m_id: "anton-walbrook"
imdb_id: "nm0906932"
tmdb_id: 88935
wikidata_id: "Q79005"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "19 November 1896"
died: "9 August 1967"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 86
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-25T06:57:08.887041+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Anton Walbrook

## Identity

Anton Walbrook

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/anton-walbrook
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** anton-walbrook
- **IMDb ID:** nm0906932
- **TMDB ID:** 88935
- **Wikidata ID:** Q79005
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Walbrook, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79005, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906932/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/88935

Actor. Born 19 November 1896 in Wien, Austria. Died 9 August 1967.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 19 November 1896, Wien, Austria
- **Died:** 9 August 1967
- **Active:** 1941–1955
- **Also known as:** Adolf Wohlbruck, Adolphe Wohlbruck, Adolph Wohlbruck, Adolf Wolhbrueck, Adolf Wohlbrück, Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbrück 
- **Frequently works with:** [Emeric Pressburger](https://film.one/person/emeric-pressburger.md), [Michael Powell](https://film.one/person/michael-powell.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 86, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 87 (3), 1950s 81 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 86 to 80 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Romance 3, War 2, Comedy 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $16m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Walbrook, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79005, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0906932/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/88935

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The Red Shoes*](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md) (92), [*The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp*](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp.md) (91), [*Lola Montès*](https://film.one/film/lola-montes.md) (81), [*49th Parallel*](https://film.one/film/49th-parallel.md) (79)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Anton Walbrook

> Anton Walbrook gives controlling men enough charm and conviction to make their approval matter. We rate him especially highly in *The Red Shoes*, where his belief in ballet makes his possessiveness all the more frightening.

In *The Red Shoes* (1948), Anton Walbrook makes being taken seriously by Boris Lermontov seem worth the trouble of working for him. He believes in ballet so completely that his demands cannot simply be written off as a bully’s whims. We found him frightening because we could understand the wish to please him. A performance built only on cruelty would have made the choice easy. Walbrook is superb here because his possessiveness grows out of a devotion we believe.

He had played romantic leads in German and Austrian sound films in the 1930s, and that charm remained useful when the parts became harsher. Thorold Dickinson gives that elegance a cruel use in *Gaslight* (1940), with Walbrook as the sadistic husband Paul Mallen. The sympathetic German officer of Powell and Pressburger’s *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943) puts that controlled manner to a kinder use.

Powell and Pressburger get the most from him in *The Red Shoes* by allowing Lermontov’s belief in his own judgement to meet a convincing dancer. Shearer’s assurance as Victoria matters as much as Walbrook’s intensity: her dancing gives us a reason to understand why his attention is tempting. The film shows what the discipline can produce before asking how much authority one person should be allowed over another. The dialogue sometimes sounds too impressed by its own seriousness, and Walbrook’s conviction has to do more work than it should. But Victoria never becomes merely the person listening to him, which keeps his forcefulness from exhausting the film.

The move into Ophüls’ films in the 1950s gave his elegance other uses. In *La Ronde* (1950), he is the master of ceremonies; *Lola Montès* (1955) casts him as the ageing king of Bavaria. The charm and melancholy belong as naturally to these parts as the arrogance does to Lermontov. Start with *The Red Shoes*, and pay attention to how readily we understand why a dancer would want his approval.

## Biography

Anton Walbrook was an Austrian actor, born Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbrück in Vienna on 19 November 1896. He worked in Austrian and German theatre and film before leaving Germany in 1936. He settled in the United Kingdom, where he adopted the name Anton Walbrook and appeared in British cinema.

Walbrook is known for his roles in films including *Gaslight* (1940), *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943) as Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff, *The Red Shoes* (1948) as Boris Lermontov, and *La Ronde* (1950). He also played Prince Albert in *Victoria the Great* (1937). He died on 9 August 1967 in Bavaria, West Germany.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Lola Montès* (1955), Fi1m 81, as Ludwig I, King of Bavaria — [page](https://film.one/film/lola-montes.md)
- *The Red Shoes* (1948), Fi1m 92, as Boris Lermontov — [page](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md)
- *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943), Fi1m 91, as Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff — [page](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp.md)
- *49th Parallel* (1941), Fi1m 79, as Peter — [page](https://film.one/film/49th-parallel.md)

## Complete filmography (54)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Robert und Elisabeth* (1966), Actor
- *Der Arzt am Scheideweg* (1963), as Sir Colenso Ridgeon
- *Laura* (1962), as Waldo Lydecker
- *Venus im Licht* (1960), as Herzog von Altair
- *I Accuse!* (1958), as Maj. Esterhazy
- *Saint Joan* (1957), as Cauchon - Bishop of Beauvais
- *Lola Montès* (1955), as Ludwig I, King of Bavaria — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/lola-montes.md)
- *Oh... Rosalinda!!* (1955), as Dr. Falke
- *On Trial* (1954), as Grégoire Waremme
- *Le Plaisir* (1952), as Narrator, German version
- *Vienna Waltzes* (1951), as Johann Strauss (Vater)
- *König für eine Nacht* (1950), as Count von Lerchenbach
- *La Ronde* (1950), as Raconteur - le meneur de jeu
- *The Queen of Spades* (1949), as Capt. Herman Suvorin
- *The Red Shoes* (1948), as Boris Lermontov — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/the-red-shoes.md)
- *The Man from Morocco* (1945), as Karel Langer
- *Information Please* (1944), as German Major
- *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943), as Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp.md)
- *49th Parallel* (1941), as Peter — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/49th-parallel.md)
- *Dangerous Moonlight* (1941), as Stefan 'Steve' Radetzky
- *Gaslight* (1940), as Paul Mallen (as Anton Wahlbrook)
- *Sixty Glorious Years* (1938), as Prince Albert
- *The Rat* (1937), as Jean Boucheron, the 'Rat'
- *Victoria the Great* (1937), as Prince Albert
- *The Soldier and the Lady* (1937), as Michel Strogoff
- *Port Arthur* (1936), as (as Adolphe Walbrook) Lt. Boris Ranewsky
- *Port Arthur* (1936), as Boris Ranewsky
- *Allotria* (1936), as Philip
- *Michel Strogoff* (1936), as Michel Strogoff
- *The Czar's Courier* (1936), as Michael Strogoff
- *The Student of Prague* (1935), as Balduin, der Student
- *I Was Jack Mortimer* (1935), as Ferdinand 'Fred' Sponer
- *Gypsy Baron* (1935), as Sandor
- *The Gypsy Baron* (1935), as Sandor Barinkay
- *Regine* (1935), as Frank Reynold
- *The English Marriage* (1934), as Warwick Brent
- *Masquerade in Vienna* (1934), as Heideneck
- *A Woman Who Knows What She Wants* (1934), as Axel Basse
- *The Switched Bride* (1934), as Charles
- *Georges et Georgette* (1934), as Robert
- *Victor and Victoria* (1933), as Robert
- *Don't Be Afraid of Love* (1933), as Helmut Höfert
- *Waltz War* (1933), as Johann Strauß
- *Baby* (1932), as Lord Cecil
- *Right to Happiness* (1932), as Kapellmeister
- *The Five Accursed Gentlemen* (1932), as Petersen
- *Three from the stamp office* (1932), as Max Binder, Arbeitsloser
- *The Pride of Company Three* (1932), as Prinz Willibald
- *Trapeze* (1931), as Robby
- *The Secret of Castle Elmshoh* (1925), as Ihr Sohn Axel
- *Das Geheimnis von Schloß Elmshöh* (1925), Actor
- *Wüstenrausch* (1923), as Lord Burton
- *Martin Luther, His Life and Time* (1923), Actor
- *Marionetten* (1915), as Zirkusdirektor

## Gallery

- ![40's publicity still (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-9c49238c6876.jpg) 40's publicity still (2013) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Anton_Walbrook.jpeg/1280px-Anton_Walbrook.jpeg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Anton Walbrook](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-73aa2d8f4db1.jpg) Anton Walbrook — Family archive, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Anton_Walbrook_cleaned.jpg/1280px-Anton_Walbrook_cleaned.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Memorial plaque, Adolf Wilhelm Anton Wohlbrück, Waltraudstraße 17, Berlin-Dahlem, Deutschland (2023)](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-608c28099fbd.jpg) Memorial plaque, Adolf Wilhelm Anton Wohlbrück, Waltraudstraße 17, Berlin-Dahlem, Deutschland (2023) — OTFW, Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Gedenktafel_Waltraudstr_17_%28Dahlem%29_Adolf_Wilhelm_Anton_Wohlbr%C3%BCck.jpg/1280px-Gedenktafel_Waltraudstr_17_%28Dahlem%29_Adolf_Wilhelm_Anton_Wohlbr%C3%BCck.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Grave of Anton Wallbrook at the Additional Burial Ground of St John-at-Hampstead (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-038dfa557b0f.jpg) Grave of Anton Wallbrook at the Additional Burial Ground of St John-at-Hampstead (2021) — No Swan So Fine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Grave_of_Anton_Walbrook%2C_Additional_Burial_Ground_of_St_John-at-Hampstead%2C_November_2021.jpg/1280px-Grave_of_Anton_Walbrook%2C_Additional_Burial_Ground_of_St_John-at-Hampstead%2C_November_2021.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Anton Walbrook](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-dc4a390b7684.jpg) Anton Walbrook — Image via TMDB
- ![Anton Walbrook](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-f5336aca4ac1.jpg) Anton Walbrook — Image via TMDB
- ![Anton Walbrook](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-fe6e65053eb2.jpg) Anton Walbrook — Image via TMDB
- !["Maskerade" (Operettenfilm von 1934), Tuschzeichnung aus einem Konvolut von 6 Zeichnungen zur Familie Hörbiger-Wessely, um 1935, Karton, 21 x 23,5 cm](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-e31a8cc714f8.jpg) "Maskerade" (Operettenfilm von 1934), Tuschzeichnung aus einem Konvolut von 6 Zeichnungen zur Familie Hörbiger-Wessely, um 1935, Karton, 21 x 23,5 cm — Ladislaus Tuszyński, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Ladislaus_Tuszy%C5%84ski_H%C3%B6rbiger-Wessely_05.jpg/1280px-Ladislaus_Tuszy%C5%84ski_H%C3%B6rbiger-Wessely_05.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Anton Walbrook](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-52273bf25f7f.jpg) Anton Walbrook — Image via TMDB
- ![Anton Walbrook](https://film.one/media/person/59005/gallery-e740c613ac9e.jpg) Anton Walbrook — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/anton-walbrook