The favorite of Schönbrunn
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The favorite of Schönbrunn |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1929 |
| length | approx. 108 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Erich Waschneck Max Reichmann (sound film scenes) |
| script | Ladislaus Vajda |
| production |
Hermann Millakowsky for Greenbaum Film |
| music |
Ralph Zürn (at the premiere of the silent film version) Giuseppe Becce (at the premiere of the sound film version ) |
| camera | Friedl Behn-Grund |
| occupation | |
| |
The Favorite of Schönbrunn is a mostly silent German fiction film from 1929 directed by Erich Waschneck and Max Reichmann , who oversaw the sound film scenes. Iván Petrovich and Lil Dagover are cast in the lead roles.
action
Austria and Hungary, in the 1740s. The Pandur Colonel Baron von Trenck resides in a half-ruined castle in the Hungarian Puszta . One day he has to rescue two noble ladies from the hands of robbing gypsies. He quickly falls in love with one of the women who claims that she is the wife of a Viennese jeweler. When they have to say goodbye to each other again, she gives Trenck a precious ring in gratitude for the manly and brave rescue operation. Fascinated by the beautiful stranger, one day Colonel Trenck went to Vienna on horseback to look for the lady of his heart. Finally, the baron receives an invitation to the court of Schönbrunn Palace and is introduced to Empress Maria Theresa . Trenck doesn't believe he can believe his eyes: it is the lady to whom he has given his heart, and her company is none other than her lady-in-waiting, Countess Nostiz.
For Trenck, a world collapses for a short time, knowing that the empress of his heart will always be out of reach for him. In order to show his loyalty and veneration to her, Colonel Trenck volunteered to go to the field against the Turks who threatened the country. Before he goes to war, Trenck goes gambling one evening. To his greatest misfortune, he lost the imperial gift, the ring, to a comrade who was commissioned by Maria Teresia's husband, Emperor Franz, to steal this ring, once a gift from Franz to the Empress. Trenck desperately wants to get the ring back, but the new owner refuses this request and even defends his new possession with a sword in hand. This duel leads to Trenck losing his command post. Nevertheless he fights very brave and can take a big win. But since Trenck disregarded an order, he was punished with imprisonment despite the glorious outcome of the battle. But his empress has long since forgiven him and helps her favorite escape. Finally, the ruler couples her daring hussar with the still single Countess Nostiz.
Production notes
The favorite of Schönbrunn was made mainly in May and June 1929. Since sound film gradually began to gain acceptance in the second half of the same year, several sound film passages were shot in September 1929 in order to sell this largely silent film as “sound film”. In its silent version, The Favorite of Schönbrunn passed the censorship on August 14, 1929 and received a youth ban. At the time, the strip was 2,721 meters long, divided into seven acts. The favorite of Schönbrunn was presented to the censors on October 25, 1929 as a “sound film” . At this point it was only 2521 meters, still spread over seven files.
The premiere (as a silent film) took place on August 30, 1929 in Leipzig , the Berlin premiere on September 16 of the same year. On November 4, 1929, Schönbrunn's favorite could also be viewed with sound and noise effects as a “sound film”.
Georg Witt was in charge of production. Alfred Junge and Erich Czerwonski were responsible for the film construction.
Additional participants in the sound film version included a. the sound expert Guido Bagier , the composer Fritz Wenneis , the production manager Ludwig Behrends and Andrew Marton .
A corresponding version was also produced for the English-speaking audience under the titles The Second Kiss and The King of the Empress . This started on April 15, 1930 in London. The French-speaking audience could see the film in the appropriate version La baue impériale . In Austria the film ran under the title Maria Theresia , other titles were Trenck, der Pandur , Die Kaiserin , Der Ring der Kaiserin , Der König der Kaiserin and Der Kaiserring .
Reviews
“ The favorite of Schönbrunn … is a sound film toothless around the romance of Maria Theresa with Colonel Trenck, a gently dancing court intrigue, with hoop skirts that glide through history as if on wheels, with gavottes, minuets, and some singing interludes by the audibly moved Pandur chief Ivan Petrovich, who, like the majestically winking Empress Lil Dagover, is drowning in a sea of whipped cream, Rococo music and historical boredom. "
“ Schönbrunn's favorite … is an interesting experiment under any circumstances. (...) The happy ending is a spoken dialogue. In and of itself it is entirely correct to lift a prominent point out of the flow of the presentation. But the art of conducting a dialogue is still in a bad way. To disregard the inadequacy of technical reproduction: the reality of the sound destroys that of the image strip. (...) Whatever the outcome of the experiment, it is worth seeing and hearing. "
“ The favorite of Schönbrunn - that was certainly once a very charming, silent film. Built on a somewhat thin, almost sufficient plot by Ladislaus Vajda, who makes ample use of the right of every comedian to tailor the history to his liking. In addition, there is an amiable representation with really beautiful people, pretty costumes, good photography ... Then came the sound film fever. The result was the decision of the producer to "add music" to the film afterwards. (...) And there is to say: sound film is already difficult, but the subsequent dubbing of a film that was shot completely close to the laws of silent film - that is even more difficult. (...) Not only is Mr. Petrovich missing a good part of the singer's voice, but he also suddenly discovers in these scenes a tendency towards empty pathos. The game master Erich Waschneck ... lets the star go. (...) Waschneck rightly puts Lil Dagover out as a star. This woman amazes again and again with her charm, which is beyond all wholesome film loveliness. (…) Waschneck lacks the last big momentum in all his directorial work. he is an idea too sober, perhaps also unimaginative. He delivers clean, sophisticated arts and crafts. "
“A German sound film from which she could learn a lot. There are already absolutely perfect recordings in terms of voice and facial expression and the optical-acoustic chamber effect (...) Rococo is indeed made for sound film, cimbala, viola, viola d'Amour, thin, bell-like laughter, lisp and giggles, tepid things that the can reproduce today's sound film quite well. (...) If you deduct the accompanying phenomena described, what remains is a normal, quite well staged silent film, a film of ridiculous k. and k. Amours in Schönbrunn, very unhistorical, but with the exception of operetta sentimentality and operetta happiness, very graceful and especially played by Lil Dagover, Vera Malinovskaya and Ivan Petrovich with ravishing grace. "
“So-called historical films that are set in royal courts can, yes, must always be treated with the greatest suspicion. What the mostly Jewish film directors allowed themselves here by means of quickly ascending compliant "stars" in the form of brazen forgeries and lascivious meanness is characteristic. Today, the Jew is allowed to let off steam with impunity on this land of lost royal families - in the past he would therefore have justly landed on the gallows. Even the subtitle that the Jewish director [sic!] Erich Waschneck has in the favorite of Schönbrunn … is a genuinely Jewish cheek and reads “The gallant adventure of a courtesan”, which means none other than Empress Maria Theresa. (...) But the hour will come when trash and dirt will be impossible in the film too. "
Karlheinz Wendtland summed up: “The film failed because of the inadequacy of its dubbing. The sound was sometimes too quiet, and parts of the dialogue were almost inaudible due to noise and music. Ivan Petrovich's singing was pathetic. Shortly after the premiere as a 'sound film' it disappeared and was shown again as a silent film in the province, which was not yet equipped with the appropriate devices for playing the sound. "
Web links
- Schönbrunn's favorite at filmportal.de
- The favorite of Schönbrunn in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The favorite of Schönbrunn at hohedumont.ch
- ↑ a b Karlheinz Wendtland: Beloved Kintopp. All German feature films from 1929–1945 with numerous artist biographies born in 1929 and 1930, Medium Film Verlag Karlheinz Wendtland, Berlin, first edition 1988, second revised edition 1990, pp. 10–11, film N6 / 1929. ISBN 3-926945-10-9
- ↑ Monday Morning , Berlin, No. 45, November 11, 1929
- ^ Frankfurter Zeitung , No. 827, November 5, 1929
- ^ Film-Kurier , Berlin, No. 263, November 5, 1929
- ^ Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung , Berlin, No. 515, of November 5, 1929
- ^ Völkischer Beobachter , Bayernausgabe, Munich, No. 300, December 28, 1929