Poor Thea

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Movie
Original title Poor Thea
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1919
length approx. 115 minutes
Rod
Director Carl Froelich
script Carl Froelich or Georg Tatzel based on the novel of the same name by Rudolph Stratz
production Maxim movie
camera Otto Tober (unsure)
occupation

Arme Thea is a German silent film melodrama from 1919 by Carl Froelich and Lotte Neumann in the title role.

action

Georg Textor, gentleman rider type and son of a wealthy businessman, becomes engaged to Thea von Hoffäcker, daughter of a chamberlain . When one day Georg gambled away in a race and the future father-in-law bet on the wrong horse, namely the Gaul Textors, in the truest sense of the word, the need was great. Hoffäcker is suddenly very numb and wants to borrow 50,000 marks from his friend Raschdorf. Raschdorf's pledged sum of money does not reach the treasurer quickly enough, with the creditors already in the neck, and so Hoffäcker issues a bill of exchange secured by Raschdorf, hoping that the 50,000 marks will soon arrive. But Raschdorf will never be able to confirm the guarantee for the change, because when he leaves his club, he dies from a stroke . With this, not only Raschdorf's change, but also Hoffäcker burst with him. His aristocratic relatives advise him to do what is customary in such circles in such a case: to give himself the ball. But he refuses to accept this “solution” and is instead serving a one-year sentence for counterfeiting in prison. Poor Thea, who is supposed not to know what everything has fallen on her father, is told the story of a secret diplomatic mission to the Far East that her father is said to have started.

A year has passed and Hoffäcker is free again. At his former bookmaker Heinlein, the dismissed man now finds a little work in the editorial office of a racetrack cheese sheet called “Turflaterne”. Thea learns from a reliable source that her father is said to have returned to Berlin from his “diplomatic mission”. She immediately visits him in his new, modest domicile. But after a year in jail, her old man appears to Thea only like a shadow of himself. Nothing remains of the proud representative of the upper class of civil servants. Thea cannot explain the outward decline of her father and doesn't get an answer from him either. Even the long-term fiancé Georg no longer knows, he has just returned from a trip to Mexico, where he tried - in vain - to initiate rescue measures for the troubled family business. Textor is now bankrupt too, and as luck would have it, he too ends up at Heinlein and his “Turflaterne”. Georg meets his future father-in-law, learns of Hoffäcker's decline and makes it clear to him that under these circumstances he does not intend to marry the daughter of a bill fraudster. However, Georg quickly regrets his harsh words from the day before and wants to see Thea and her father to apologize. But he has now finally followed the “advice” of the blue-blooded clan and shot himself the previous night. The debt has been paid off, and Georg now asks Thea to build a future together with him.

Production notes

Arme Thea had six files and was originally 2377 meters long, after minor cuts in the new censorship in 1921 2345 meters. The film passed film censorship in August 1919 and was banned from youth. The world premiere took place in August 1919 in Berlin's Kammerlichtspiele.

The buildings were designed by Hans Sohnle .

criticism

“The author's subtle narrative art has also given the film its shimmer. The film story also flows ... at a moderate pace. (...) A stylish social novel with more serious scenes that lead into the tragic at the end. Lotte Neumann of compelling grace and elegance in the leading role also holds the leadership of the people together. (...) Equipment such as photography are technically and artistically flawless and accordingly raise the film to an artistic level. "

- New Kino-Rundschau of October 4, 1919. p. 24

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