The galley convict
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The galley convict |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1919 |
| length | approx. 64 (1st part) approx. 70 (2nd part) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Rochus Gliese |
| script |
Paul Wegener based on templates ( The Human Comedy , Father Goriot ) Honoré de Balzacs |
| production | Paul Davidson for PAGU, Berlin |
| camera |
Frederik Fuglsang Fritz Arno Wagner |
| occupation | |
| |
The Galley Convict is a two-part German film from 1919. Paul Wegener plays the main and title role under the direction of Rochus Gliese .
action
First part
Colin is a sturdy, beefy and not very scrupulous guy who already has a lot going for it. For his actions, the criminal and notorious prison escape has now been sentenced to serve his sentence in the galley . There he met a much more filigree fellow prisoner, called by everyone just "the Corsican". He was condemned to tougher on the ship because he committed a murder out of jealousy. Both completely different men quickly become friends. When Colin dares to break out again, he takes the Corsican with him. In Paris, Colin takes up his old habits, associates only with criminal circles and eventually becomes the doyen of the underworld. The Corsican no longer leaves his side and learns.
In order to tackle his next coup, Colin builds up a second, “legal” and “official” existence. He is now called Vautrin and creates the vita of an honorable businessman as a camouflage. He rents a room in Madame Vanquer's pension. There he met the young aristocrat Monsieur de Rastignac, also a guesthouse. The young man is in love with the charming but impoverished Victorine de Courbet. Victorine once lost all of her fortune because her villainous stepbrother Valentin cheated on her. Vautrin alias Colin then provokes Valentin until he agrees to a duel in which he dies. The police prefect Peyrath has already cast an eye on Vautrin / Colin, as if he suspected of the double existence of this ominous businessman. Peyrath takes Victorine into his trust, and she gives Colin an anesthetic. When Peyrath recognizes the convict's mark on his chest, everything is clear to him. Colin is chained again, but this time the hangman is waiting for him.
Second part
And again Colin escapes the executioner. He flees to Spain, kills Abbot Herrero, who was on his way to Paris as the Spanish envoy, and takes over both his clothing and identity. The young aristocrat Lucien, who is carelessly found in an emergency from which the escaped criminal helps him out, becomes Colin's private secretary. Back in Paris, Colin finally seems to have arrived where he always wanted to be: in the haute volée. Lucien also enjoys life in the upper class. But Colin wants to land the really big coup. He succeeds in manipulating the beautiful Coralie, once the bride of an executed fellow prisoner, so that she ensnares the very wealthy Baron Nucingen, although she actually likes the pretty Lucien much better.
Nevertheless, she agrees to Colin's plan to exempt the old aristocrat according to every trick in the book. Colin's seemingly perfect camouflage threatens to be exposed when Abbot Herrero, who was murdered by him, is about to be appointed bishop by the Spanish royal court. A clergyman recognizes Colin's deceit because he is well aware of Herrero. Colin / Herrero is about to be ordained bishop in the church when the police break into the holy halls. Colin seeks his salvation by fleeing to the church roof. The policemen shooting at him from below hit the fugitive who fell into the depths. Colin's lifeless body, clad in bishop's robe, remains bleeding on a gargoyle.
Production notes
Was filmed the galley slave in the summer of 1919. The first performance took place the first part on 17 October 1919 Berliner UT Kurfürstendamm , the second the following month at the same place. Both parts each had a length of five acts and a total playing time of almost two and a quarter hours. A youth ban has been issued.
The film was shot in the Ufa Union studio in Berlin-Tempelhof . The extensive film structures were designed by Ernst Lubitsch's long-time film architect Kurt Richter .
Reviews
On the photo stage it was read: "" The galley convict, copied by Wegener himself from a Balzac novel, captivates at the beginning, with gripping images of strong realism and brings very original excerpts from the life of the galley convicts, their head and king Colin, called "Betrüdentod", which means Wegener is. His herculean body, his face twitched by internal weather, predestine him for this role of a genius criminal. Ernst Deutsch seemed less comfortable in his skin than his fellow convict and protégé. The visionary look, the slim, delicate figure of this artist do not fit the format of such existence. After the promising beginning, however, the film flattens to the extent that, with Colin's escape and his billeting under a false name in a middle-class guesthouse, it becomes an ordinary company film with the usual entanglements and improbabilities. (...) Paul Wegener, who, as his previous films have shown, has such a fine feeling for the specific possibilities of film, has allowed himself to be seduced by a less effective film because the role with its various disguises perhaps attracted the comedian in him . But the stimulus remains external, and the elemental, the animal-like power of his nature, which comes out so wonderfully in fairy tale and fantasy films, he owes nothing here. A titan forged in bondage: initially in the convict's iron, later in the convention. "
The Film-Kurier says: "Based on the motifs of Balzac's novels, Paul Wegener has written a" fantastic film from the world of criminals ", the story of two galley convicts who escape from their floating prison and resume their previous criminal life as soon as they are free It must be said that in the whole type of narrative and the characters chosen in it, something is reminiscent of Balzac's narrative: poor noble beautiful girls, wills, the poor student in Paris, the opera, the police prefect, the duel in the woods, the boarding house table and a continuous epic, almost comfortable and contemplative way of narrating give this film its own note. If you make concessions to the essence of the film, more towards the epic side, and let it be a filmed novel, then this film fulfills all demands. (... ) The shots of the galley convicts are of rare force and beauty. Rochus Gliese's direction gave beautiful pictures and maintained a uniform St. il. (...) Paul Wegener played the main role. Already outwardly created for this role like no other, one figure was brutal and criminal, the type of an old convict who, despite all ruthlessness, has a soft heart for his comrade in misery. Paul Wegener's cinematic art consists of big, strong gestures and a face that he knows how to give the most varied of expressions. The other galley convict played Ernst Deutsch, experienced and suitable for the role, Lyda Salmonova with delicate movements and a wonderful décolleté gave a Balzac female figure. "
Individual evidence
- ^ Photo stage . No. 42, dated October 18, 1919.
- ^ Film courier . No. 116, dated October 19, 1919.