The Bartered Bride A German-language version of the opera, "Die verkaufte Braut", was filmed in 1932 by Max Ophüls, the celebrated German director then at the beginning of his film-making career. The screenplay was drawn from Sabina's libretto by Curt Alexander, and Smetana's music was adapted by the German composer of film music, Theo Mackeben. The film starred the leading Czech opera singer Jarmila Novotná in the role of Mařenka ("Marie" in the film), and the German baritone Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender as Jeník ("Hans"). Ophuls constructed an entire Czech village in the studio to provide an authentic background. Following the film's US release in
The Poor Bride The Poor Bride The Poor Bride (, Romanized as Bednaya nevesta) is a play by Alexander Ostrovsky, written in 1851 and first published in the No.4, 1852 issue of "Moskvityanin" magazine. It was his first play to be staged at the Maly Theatre, where it premiered on 20 August 1853. "The Poor Bride", his second large play, caused Ostrovsky much trouble. Later he wrote: "I've had an iron-like creative prowess when I was learning how to write, but still, after having worked for a year and a half on "The Poor Bride" (my second one) I came to detest it