The secret of the air
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The secret of the air |
| Country of production |
Austria-Hungary France |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1913 |
| length | 82 to 93 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Felix Fischer |
| script | Ernst Klein |
| production |
Erich Pommer Marcel Varndal |
| occupation | |
| |
The Secret of the Skies is an Austro-French silent film from 1913.
action
The film, which draws its charm almost exclusively from the aerial photographs over Vienna and the surrounding landscape, which were made from the airplane of the aerobatic pilot Karl Illner, tells of the suffering of a young girl who gradually matures into a woman. A young man who desires her is so persistent in his striving to win her heart that the young lady urgently seeks help from a detective. During a flight high in the air over Vienna, there is a showdown between detective and stalker, in which the false friend and self-proclaimed lover falls from a balloon and is killed in the process.
Production notes
The Secret of the Skies was filmed in the spring of 1913, was between 1,500 and 1,700 meters long and had five acts. The premiere was in August 1913 in the Vienna Grabenkino. In the German Reich, the strip (censored January 1914) started the following year.
The film was the first production by the Wiener Autorfilm company, for which Erich Pommer appeared as a producer.
Actor Max Ralph-Ostermann in the role of the annoying admirer completed the fall from the balloon himself. It was a fall of about 15 meters, and on the ground he was caught by members of the Austro-Hungarian military with a jumping mat. "The effect of this death-fall is staggering".
criticism
“Ernst Klein knew how to give his film drama everything that makes the cinema thrill. This is above all the exciting plot and the continued juggling with sensations. And it is certainly one of those when Karl Illner ... appears in the picture not only as a pilot alone, but as a skilful and talented film actor. (...) It is a sensation to follow the Austrian steering balloon “Austria” in one of its trips over Vienna. (...) The actress in the female lead, Eva Roth from the Dagmartheater in Copenhagen, also arouses a lot of interest. (...) She shows an excellent talent and achieves a great dramatic effect in the narration of her ordeal, in the scene with the detective. (...) An actor who has tremendous skill and from whom good performances for the film can still be expected is Mr. Julius Brandt from the Residenztheater, the actor of Detective Brandt. The pleasant calm and balance of his playing style cannot be appreciated enough. (...) An elegant performer is Mr. Ralf-Ostermann, who also has courage. The fall from the balloon is the original recording. (...) Wonderful atmospheric pictures from the Vienna Woods ..., the Danube floodplains, from the airfield and the Hungarian border areas fill the open-air pictures. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cinematographische Rundschau of August 17, 1913, p. 54