The fatherland calls
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The fatherland calls |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1914 |
| length | 29 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | NN |
| script | Walter Turszinsky |
| production | Franz Vogel |
| camera | Paul Adler |
| occupation | |
| |
The Fatherland Calls is a German short- silent film from 1914 with Manny Ziener and Harry Liedtke in the leading roles.
action
Fritz is a soldier, but leads a dissolute life and is not averse to gambling. His father, General Santen, pays great attention to form and demeanor. The fact that his Fritz is now having an affair with the actress Hertha Keller and that this person also wants to marry, the officer arrested for the arrogance of class is appalled and he expelled his son. He then has to leave the army, as such a constellation is not appropriate for the honor of the army.
War broke out in August 1914. Fritz, a very patriotic German, like many other young men, volunteered to take up arms with enthusiasm, and his Hertha, who did not necessarily have the best reputation as an actress, also knows where she has to stand as a loyal German: she becomes a nurse in the Hospital and worries about the first war wounded. Fritz's father is among them. When one day an enemy attack occurs, it is Hertha who, through her courageous efforts, can save the patients. Fritz, in turn, is given the chance to show that he can be relied on when the fatherland is in need: When he encounters a troop of opposing soldiers on a scouting tour, he wants to be killed by them in order to kill his comrades to warn.
Production notes
The Fatherland is calling is a typical example of German national and patriotic film, as it was launched immediately after the outbreak of World War I and flooded the cinemas. This three-act film measured only 775 meters and was therefore less than half an hour long. He passed film censorship in September 1914 and was banned from youth on October 20 of the same year. It is currently unknown who directed it. For the later screen star Harry Liedtke, the young soldier Fritz Santen was one of his first film roles.
Contemporary history
In 1935, from a National Socialist point of view, Oskar Kalbus tried to classify this film genre under the chapter heading “Feldgrauer Filmkitsch”, which experienced a real boom in the German Reich in 1914 and 1915 in particular. He writes:
“A certain trunk of experienced film manufacturers could not be frightened, however. First of all, they let their manifold relationships play out in order to be exempted from military service, because they felt called to offer the German people sensational hits "panem et circensis" in their quieter homeland, bearing in mind an ancient Roman experience : Relaxation and distraction, encouragement and encouragement. The cinema should now offer all of this. It was hoped that the general joy in the victories of our army would give rise to the desire for communication, for distracting experiences and, above all, for people to be gathered together in the “little man's theater”. In addition to the current film recordings from the theaters of war, the field-gray film kitsch - or the so-called "patriotic" film of 1914/15. "
criticism
“It is difficult to use contemporary history dramatically with taste and tact. We succeeded here. The piece is really a beautiful, as well as uplifting and at the same time very gripping time picture. Besides, it is played excellently by the three main actors. "