The hunchback and the dancer
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The hunchback and the dancer |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1920 |
| length | 1,540 meters, corresponds to approx. 84 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau |
| script | Carl Mayer |
| production | Erwin Rosner |
| camera |
Karl Freund , Robert Baberske (assistance) |
| occupation | |
| |
The hunchback and the dancer (working title: The Green Kiss ) is a German silent film - drama by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau from 1920. The film is about a hunchback who falls in love with a beautiful dancer, which, however, is not interested in him. In lovesickness, he gives her a mysterious elixir that kills everyone who kisses her. After her fiancé and her lover had to die, he too could not resist the temptation and died because it snatched the antidote from him.
action
The young Gina works as a dancer and is the star of a cabaret. She is swarmed by the much older wholesale merchant Smith, who showered her with precious gifts. Gina sees Smith more as a friend, but accepts the favors. One day little, overgrown James Wilton appears in cabaret. He falls in love with Gina, who approaches him kindly out of pity. When Smith is absent one day for a business trip, Wilton invites Gina to his home, he wants to give her some beauty elixirs. Gina looks for him in his apartment, which is in a shabby area, but is splendidly furnished. Smith gives her several precious ointments and tells her his life story and how his hump had always marginalized him. When Gina caresses his hand comfortingly, Wilton forgets himself and kisses her hand. Gina flees the apartment in horror.
The next day, Wilton learns that Gina has surprisingly given up her engagement in cabaret and got engaged to Smith. Wilton is shaken and desperate, but his despondency soon turns into hatred. Meanwhile, Gina urges Smith to go to a ball with her. Here she meets the much younger Baron Percy, with whom she dances throughout the evening until Smith jealously intervenes.
Gina announces herself to Wilton by letter. She asks him for more ointments, as his beauty creams have been used up in the meantime. Caught in his hatred, Wilton mixes the ointments with toxic substances and gives Gina the deadly ointments. On the way back she meets Percy, who has been waiting for her. The couple is seen by Smith, who wants to challenge Percy to a duel. Gina can't calm him down. When he kisses her roughly, she pushes him back and rushes after Percy to dissuade him from the duel. Shortly afterwards, Smith's mother visits her son to prevent him from planning to marry the dancer Gina. She finds Smith dying, and the doctor later discovers that Smith was poisoned. Gina is marginalized by society because it is believed that she caused the death of her fiancé. Only Percy can relieve her from her grief for Smith, but collapses a short time later from the same poison that killed Smith. Gina realizes that Wilton must be behind the poisoning. She looks for him and he confesses to her with a mad laugh that his elixirs were the cause of the poisoning. Gina is immune to the poison, but everyone she kisses dies. Wilton kisses Gina passionately, but only then realizes that he is going to die too. He hurries into an adjoining room to take an antidote, but Gina manages to tear the ampoule out of his hand and flee. Wilton collapses, dying, and asks Gina for forgiveness in his final minutes. The antidote can save Percy's life. Wilton's body is found, along with a photo of Gina, which is brought to the young dancer. Only now can she weep for the death of the outcast Wilton.
background
The film was shot in February 1920 and produced by the Helios company. Carl Mayer provided the script based on his original "The Green Kiss". Robert Neppach was responsible for the buildings , the costumes were supplied by the Charles Drecoll fashion house . The film had a length of five acts at 1,540 meters (approx. 84 minutes) and 105 subtitles. The Berlin police imposed a youth ban on him (no. 43956), as did the Reich film censorship on December 15, 1920 (no. 950). A press screening took place in Berlin at the beginning of April 1920; the actual premiere was on July 8, 1920 in the Berlin marble house . The film is now considered lost.
Reviews
“John Gottowt as a cripple, Paul Biensfeldt as a victim: two strong and: distinguished achievements. Sascha Gura could be sure of the effect of her classy and elegant appearance even if she played less well, but this does not mean an invitation to do so. The director (FW Murnau) gives the film what the film is without making any significant artistic concessions. You go there, have a look, and you will be able to think beyond that: Praise to everyone involved. "
“A good mix of psychology and cinematic theatrical effects. The cripple is John Gottowt, less strong in the moments of raging passion than in his shy expressions of love, his awkward, embarrassed attempts to win spoiled Gina as his companion, his loneliness. As a dancer, Sascha Gura does not make sufficient use of the possibilities and the development of rich theatrical means. Paul Biensfeldt, too, considers the aging husband to be fairly unhealthy. Photography and the interiors of Neppach deserve unreserved praise, especially the equipment of the variety show with its light and shadow effects. "
“The manuscript by Karl Mayer is masterful; however, the ending could have been made more massive and less in keeping with tradition. The treatment of the subtitles was also excellent. […] The plot […] is structured logically […], especially the figure of the cripple is psychologically beautifully worked through. [...] Some of the interiors from Neppach were downright cabinet pieces. […] The portrayal is no less good, Sascha Gura is brilliant in her play […], besides that, John Gottowt in the role of the hunchback gave a very astonishing performance, which in some ways echoed Werner Kraus in Caligari , was good also Biensfeldt, […] weaker Peter Arnolds […]. The photography was artistically up to date in every respect. "
“FW Murnau [has] made a film that, a good feature and audience film, knows how to captivate its viewers for five acts. During these 5 acts, Sascha Gura carries a myriad of different toilets with elegance; through her game she knows how to rise above the mannequin and give a dancer a dazzling life. The hunchback is 'embodied' by John Gottowt, who, in a good mask and a game reminiscent of Kraus's characterization, knows how to give the psychologically interesting physiognomy a profile. "
Web links
- The hunchback and the dancer on the website of the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Society Bielefeld
- The hunchback and the dancer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Hunchback and the Dancer at The German Early Cinema Database
- The hunchback and the dancer at filmportal.de
- The hunchback and the dancer on the pages of the Deutsche Kinemathek
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b film length calculator , frame rate : 16 2/3
- ^ Film review. Berliner Börsen-Courier , quoted. According to Lichtbild-Bühne , No. 30, July 24, 1920. filmportal.de , accessed on November 21, 2013 .
- ^ Film review. BZ at noon , quoted. According to Lichtbild-Bühne , No. 30, July 24, 1920. filmportal.de , accessed on November 21, 2013 .
- ^ Film review. Berliner Börsen-Zeitung , quoted. According to Lichtbild-Bühne , No. 30, July 24, 1920. filmportal.de , accessed on November 21, 2013 .
- ^ Film review. Lichtbild-Bühne , No. 28, July 10, 1920. filmportal.de , accessed on November 21, 2013 .