Lili Marleen (film) Lili Marleen (film) Lili Marleen is a 1981 West German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and starring Hanna Schygulla. The screenplay was produced using the autobiographical novel "Der Himmel hat viele Farben" ("The Heavens Have Many Colors") by Lale Andersen. However, according to Lale Andersen's last husband, Arthur Beul, the film's plot bore little relation to her real life. The film is set during the Third Reich and is about the forbidden love between the German singer Willie (Hanna Schygulla) and the Swiss Jewish composer Robert Mendelssohn (a character based on Rolf Liebermann), who actively seeks to help
Mel Ferrer "Lost Boundaries" (1949), playing a black person who passes for white. The film was controversial but much acclaimed. Ferrer had a support role in "Born to Be Bad" (1950) at RKO, directed by Nicholas Ray. At that studio he directed Claudette Colbert in "The Secret Fury" (1950) and did some directing on "Vendetta" (1950), "The Racket" (1951) and "Macao" (1952). Ferrer then starred as a bullfighter in "The Brave Bulls" (1951) for Robert Rossen at Columbia. Ferrer fought with Arthur Kennedy over Marlene Dietrich in "Rancho Notorious" (1952) directed by Fritz Lang at RKO. Ferrer went over to MGM replacing