Ultimatum (1938 film)

Ultimatum is a 1938 French historical drama film directed by Robert Wiene and Robert Siodmak and starring Dita Parlo, Erich von Stroheim and Abel Jacquin. The films plot is set in 1914 against the backdrop of the July Crisis between the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the beginning of the First World War. It focuses on the relationship between a Serbian officer and his Austrianborn wife and their involvement in espionage between the countries.

Wiene had been forced into exile from Germany following the Nazi rise to power. During the four years since his previous film A Night in Venice 1934 he had been struggling to raise financing in London and Paris for his projects and had not made a single film. The film was based on the novel Days Before the Storm by Ewald Bertram. The films title refers to the Austrian ultimatum issued to Serbia shortly before the outbreak of war.Because of the films casting of Parlo and von Stroheim and its wartheme, it drew comparisons with Jean Renoirs La Grande Illusion 1937. ........

Source: Wikipedia