Toxi

1952 film

15 August 1952 (1952-08-15)

Running time

89 minutesCountryWest GermanyLanguageGerman

Toxi is a 1952 West German drama film directed by Robert A. Stemmle and starring Elfie Fiegert, Paul Bildt and Johanna Hofer. The film's release came as the first wave of children born to black Allied servicemen and white German mothers entered school.^[1]

It was shot at the Wandsbek Studios in Hamburg. Elfie Fiegert was selected to play Toxi after a mass audition held in Munich. Publicity for the film emphasised the similarities between her own story and that of Toxi.^[2] The film was the eighth most popular release at the West German box office in 1952.^[3] The name Toxi became widely used as shorthand in the German media when referring to Afro-Germans and their social circumstances.^[4]

Plot

The melodrama film begins with a young Afro-German girl being left at the doorsteps of the Rose family—white middle-class Germans—assembled for a birthday party. Initially, most family members treat the young girl with relatively welcome arms as they believe she is only giving a performance as a birthday surprise from an aunt. The family later discovers a suitcase that was left on the doorsteps and realize that the young girl, Toxi, has in fact been abandoned. Once the family learns that Toxi has been abandoned there is a shift in feelings regarding their acceptance of her; the possibility of the girl spending more time at the home than was expected forces members of the family to confront their own views on race and discrimination.

One character in particular, Uncle Theodor—the Roses' eldest daughter's husband—is very unsettled by the idea of having Toxi stay in his white household: he does not want Toxi to interact with his two daughters who are about the same age as Toxi. Unlike the other children featured in the film, Toxi is always on her best behavior as her manners and maturity level are well beyond her age. Due to Toxi's mature behavior and her inherent goodness Uncle Theodor eventually realizes that he has made a mistake with his discrimination towards her.

By the end of the film, the entire family has approved of Toxi. However, Toxi will not stay with the family, as her father—a former American soldier—shows up at their house to find Toxi and take her back to the States with him.

Cast

Elfie Fiegert as Toxi
Paul Bildt as Grossvater Rose
Johanna Hofer as Grossmutter Helene
Ingeborg Körner as Herta Rose
Carola Höhn as Charlotte Jenrich
Wilfried Seyferth as Theodor Jenrich
Sylvia Hermann as Ilse
Karin Purschke as Susi
Elisabeth Flickenschildt as Tante Wally
Rainer Penkert as Robert Peters
Ernst Waldow as Ubelhack
Erika von Thellmann as Frau Übelhack
Willy Maertens as Kriminal-Inspektor Plaukart
Lotte Brackebusch as Frau Berstel
Al Hoosmann as James R. Spencer
Gustl Busch as Anna
Julia Fjorsen as Fanny
Katharina Brauren as Vorsteherin
Gertrud Prey as Fursorgeschwester
Ursula V. Bose as Krankenschwester
Leila Negra as Singer
Renate Feuereisen as Frau im Wohnwagen

References

^ Davidson & Hake p.166
^ Biess, Rosman & Schissler p.347
^ Davidson & Hake p.167
^ Fehrenbach, Heide (2005). Race After Hitler: Black Occupation Children in Postwar Germany and America. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11906-9.^{[page needed]}