... just a comedian

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Movie
Original title ... just a comedian
Country of production Austria
original language German
Publishing year 1935
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Erich Engel
script Wolfgang von Herter
production Horus movie
music Willy Schmidt-Gentner
camera Bruno Mondi
cut Else Baum
occupation

... only a comedian (alternative title: King of the mask ) is an Austrian feature film from 1935. Directed by the as an emigrant in Vienna lingering Erich Engel , who with this film a statement against fascism and authoritarian regimes gave. The film escaped the strict censorship both in Germany ( National Socialism ) and in Austria ( corporate state ) because any reference to the current political situation in the Rococo period and to a royal court was hidden and thus veiled.

The film premiered on September 20, 1935 in Hamburg's Ufa-Palast . The film started in Germany on October 9, 1935 with the premiere in the Berlin Capitol and in Austria on January 10, 1936 with the world premiere in Vienna.

action

The young countess Beate von Dörnberg travels to the court of Duke Karl Theodor to stay there as a lady-in-waiting. During a break for a necessary repair on the carriage, she meets two actors. While the younger one is more intrusive, the older one, Florian Reuther, tells her about the art of acting. The conversation is interrupted by the continuation of the journey and the countess hopes to see the older actor again.

The Duke to whom she is traveling hardly bothered about his affairs of state and leaves them to the Minister of Creven. This oppresses the people and exploits them. After the Countess Beate arrived at the court, she became the lady-in-waiting of the Countess von Röderau. At an evening party she attracts the Duke's attention, who immediately proposes to her. Countess Beate and Duke Karl Theodor get married.

Florian Reuther's drama troupe appears in Schönburg. At a discussion of the performance in front of the Duke, the young actor Peter Tamm is to be drafted as a soldier for the colonial wars of the States General, to which Minister of State von Creven sold his army. During his escape, he falls from the Schnürboden onto the stage and dies. The next day the Minister of State orders Florian to perform a certain play. Florian has to refuse because his main actor is dead, for which he blames the Minister of State. This then slaps him angrily in the face. Florian takes revenge for this at a masked ball with a blow of his riding crop in Creven's face. He then threatens to get into trouble and is hidden by Beate, who recognized him.

The climax of the film, however, is the liberation of the arrested comedian Melchior by the people. Creven then rounds up the people and calls on them to hand over those responsible for the liberation action. When that doesn't happen, Creven orders his captain to shoot into the crowd. The Duke wants to prevent this, but cannot get his way. But the captain also refuses to give the order. There is an argument that Florian overhears. Without further ado, he decides to step in in the costume of the duke, whom he looks very much like, and to ask the people to leave. In the role of Duke, he also arrests the Minister of State. However, he suddenly pulls a pistol and shoots the supposed duke. Florian then retires to the Duke's room, where he dies in Beate's arms. The actual Duke is shaken awake by these events and decides that this sacrifice should not have been in vain. He promises to take his affairs of state seriously from now on, and Beate will help him.

background

Despite its anti-authoritarian action, the anti-fascism film escaped both Austrian and German censorship, presumably due to the fact that the film was set in the Rococo period. In the film, for example, there is a sequence in which the Minister of State requests the captain to shoot the 70 dissatisfied and rebellious subjects. In this scene depicting the conflict between dictatorship and humanity, the following dialogue takes place after the Minister of State asked the captain to shoot into the crowd:

Captain: I can't!
Minister of State: What do you mean? Captain, you heard my order!
Captain: I'm not a murderer, I'm an officer!
Minister of State: You were an officer!

production

The film was directed by the Vienna Horus film produced and the Sievering- and Rosenhügel film studios of Sascha film rotated. The outdoor photos were taken in Heiligenkreuz with the participation of the local population.

The sound system used was that of the Tobis sound film . The production designer was Julius von Borsody . The film had a length of 2593 meters at the censorship test. The censorship test in Germany took place on September 2, 1935 and resulted in a youth ban for the film. In Austria the film was given the title “artistically worthy of recognition”.

The film distribution was taken over by Syndikat-Film , the distribution by Tobis-Sascha-Filmindustrie .

literature

  • German sound films - Volume 06 - 1935. Ulrich J. Klaus Verlag, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-927352-05-5 .

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