Cherchez la femme (1921)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Duchess Satanella |
| Original title | Cherchez la femme |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1921 |
| length | 112 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Kertesz |
| script | Friedrich Porges |
| production |
Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky Arnold Pressburger for Sascha-Film (Vienna) |
| camera | Gustav Ucicky |
| occupation | |
| |
Cherchez la femme is an Austrian silent film from 1921. Directed by Michael Kertesz , Lucy Doraine plays the role of a male-devouring femme fatale .
action
The Duchess Leda Orlonia returns from a masked ball in the company of an admirer who introduced himself to her as the aristocrat Mario Barbarini. Suddenly a stranger stands in front of her in her boudoir, who is none other than an ordinary convict and escapee. The stranger vehemently protests his innocence and, like all men who meet the Duchess, succumbs to her beauty. The aristocrat also takes a liking to the escape, who introduces himself as Guido Cavalcanti, and a rather unusual love story develops between the two.
Mario Barbarini does not want to be outdone, however, and duels with Cavalcanti, but is defeated and dies. Cavalcanti has no idea what he has gotten into with the Duchess, a woman who "kills men" and plays games, in whose clutches many a man has perished. Guido's great luck is that he gets to know the other side of the "Duchess Satanella" (the German title) in a dream act and is finally cured of his mad love for her. Instead, he finds his true love happiness in the kind-hearted and decent American Bessie.
Production notes
Cherchez la femme was filmed in 1920 and shown for the first time on January 11, 1921 in the Central Palace Cinema in Vienna as part of a so-called press screening. The audience start was on February 7, 1921. The six-act film was 2350 meters long and was banned from young people. In Germany the film ran under the title Duchess Satanella .
Reviews
Vienna's Neue Freie Presse reported in its February 4, 1921 edition: “Under the artistic direction of director Michael Kertesz, the local film industry has once again created a work of art that is on par with the most beautiful foreign films. Lucy Doraine, the beautiful film diva, has the opportunity to shine in four different roles in this play, and Alfons Fryland, already a favorite of the cinema audiences, turns out to be her congenial partner. The adventurous, captivating plot unfolds in front of our eyes in a series of wonderful photographic images, and in this enchanting outer frame the perfect and rounded play of the artist couple is sparkling and enchanting. "
Web links
- Cherchez la femme in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Cherchez la femme at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Cherchez la femme". In: Neue Freie Presse , February 4, 1921, p. 9 (online at ANNO ).