The Countess Alice is a 1993 British-American made for television drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 which was directed by Moira Armstrong

Moira Armstrong

Moira Armstrong is an English television director who has worked mainly for the BBC..Her credits include episodes of Armchair Thriller , Lark Rise to Candleford, Where the Heart Is, The Bill, Midsomer Murders, Something in Disguise, The Wednesday Play, and Adam Adamant Lives!, as well as the film...

 and starring Wendy Hiller

Wendy Hiller

Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...

, Zoë Wanamaker

Zoe Wanamaker

Zoë Wanamaker, CBE is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life and family:Wanamaker was...

 and Duncan Bell

Duncan Bell

Duncan Stuart Crampton Bell is an English rugby union player currently playing for Bath Rugby in the Aviva Premiership at the position of prop. Educated at Colston's Collegiate School, Bristol, he is an England international with five caps.Born in Norfolk, Bell was raised in the South...

. This was Wendy Hiller's last film role.

Synopsis

In 1935 a young English society woman caused a stir by marrying a German aristocrat and moving to live with him in Germany. Many decades later, shortly after German reunification, her daughter decides to make a trip to the family's former estate in East Germany. However, she discovers the grave of a child with her name in the family plot. Back in Britain, she forces a confession from her mother that she is not her natural daughter. The 'real' Konstanza had been shot by the invading Russians, and the Countess had been forced to take the daughter of a dying couple to save the child's life. She is unable to recall anything about Connie's real background. A breach between the two women is followed by a reconciliation.

Cast

• Wendy Hiller
  Wendy Hiller
  Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...
  
   ... Countess Alice von Holzendorf
• Zoë Wanamaker
  Zoe Wanamaker
  Zoë Wanamaker, CBE is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life and family:Wanamaker was...
  
   ... Connie
• Duncan Bell
  Duncan Bell (actor)
  Duncan Bell is a Scottish stage and screen actor.In September 2001 he played Sergeant Dennis Merton in Britain's biggest TV drama series Heartbeat...
  
   ... Nick Black
• Patricia Quinn
  Patricia Quinn
  Patricia Quinn, Lady Stephens is a Northern Irish actress best known for her role as Magenta in the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Hers were the red lips that appeared in the film's opening song "Science Fiction/Double Feature"...
  
   ... Margot
• Lucinda Fisher ... Jane
• Sylvia Barter ... Tilly
• Madge Ryan
  Madge Ryan
  Madge Ryan was an Australian film, theatre and television actress.-Career:Already an established theatre actor in Sydney, Australia, she emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1957 and starred in many British stage shows...
  
   ... Beattie
• Chris Stanton ... Vicar
• Martin Wimbush ... Jeremy
• Hannah Cresswell ... Debbie
• James Appleby ... Cab Driver
• Terence Donovan
  Terence Donovan (actor)
  Terence Donovan , also known as Terry Donovan, is an English-born Australian actor and the father of fellow actor and entertainer Jason Donovan...
  
   ... Himself
• Sarah Crowden ... Sarah
• Jan Van Hool ... Vivian
• Wolf Kahler
  Wolf Kahler
  Wolf Kahler is a German actor.Born in Kiel, since 1975 he has appeared in many US and UK television and film productions. Due to his height - he is 6 feet 2 inches tall - sharp features, blond hair and blue eyes he is often cast in roles as Nazis or other unsympathetic German characters...
  
   ... Werner
• Alexander Torriglia ... Restaurant Manager
• Carl Duering ... German Taxi Driver
• Michael Wolf ... Caretaker