A German Robinson Crusoe () is a 1940 German drama film directed by Arnold Fanck and starring Herbert A.E. Böhme, Marieluise Claudius, and Claus Clausen. Written by Arnold Fanck and Rolf Meyer, the film is a modern-day Robinson Crusoe story about a man so angry about the post-World War I conditions in Weimar Germany that he voluntarily goes to live on a desert island. The film was shot partly on location in South America. Plot During World War I, the German cruiser SMS Dresden is attacked by British ships off the coast of Chile. The crew manages to abandon ship before it sinks. They make their way to an isolated island where they are taken prisoner. After spending three years in custody, the sailors manage to escape and make their way back to Germany, intending to continue fighting for their Fatherland. When they arrive, however, they encounter a different Germany from the one they left behind—one where they are ridiculed and attacked by mutineers. One of the returning crew, Carl Ohlse, leaves Weimar Germany and returns to the island where he had been held prisoner for three years, determined to live out the rest of his life as a Robinson Crusoe. Some time later, he hears a radio report that describes how things have improved in Germany during the 1930s. Later, when the new SMS Dresden passes the island, he makes his way to the ship and is taken aboard by his new respectful comrades. Cast Herbert A.E. Böhme as Carl Ohlsen Marieluise Claudius as Antje Claus Clausen as Fritz Grothe Oskar Marion as captain Malte Jäger as officer Wilhelm P. Krüger as Pagels Otto Kronburger as commander Wolf Dietrich as officer Ludwig Schmid-Wildy as sailor Leopold Kerscher as sailor Martin Rickelt as sailor Peter Georg Völkel as 1. officer Hans Kühlewein as Obermaat Charly Berger as staff surgeon Günther Polensen as sailor Hans-Joachim Fanck as little Peter References Notes Bibliography External links Films directed by Arnold Fanck Films of Nazi Germany 1940s adventure drama films Seafaring films Films set in Germany Films set in the 1910s Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s German World War I films Films set on uninhabited islands Films about castaways German black-and-white films German adventure drama films 1940 drama films 1940s German films 1940s German-language films