The garden of Allah

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Movie
German title The garden of Allah
Original title The Garden of Allah
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1936
length 79 minutes
Rod
Director Richard Boleslawski
script WP Lipscomb
Lynn Riggs
production David O. Selznick for Selznick International Pictures
music Max Steiner
camera W. Howard Greene
Harold Rosson
cut Hal C. Kern
occupation

The Garden of Allah (original title: The Garden of Allah ) is an American film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Robert Smythe Hichens from 1936 with Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer and directed by Richard Boleslawski . The film was one of the first productions in the then newly developed so-called 3-color Technicolor that was shot outside the studio.

action

After the death of her extremely wealthy father, the young Domini Enfilden has a deep life crisis. On the advice of a befriended Mother Superior who had once brought her up, Domini visits the Sahara , also known as the Garden of Allah, in search of the meaning of life . In the solitude of the sandy desert, Domini spends long hours walking and riding. One day she meets Boris Androvsky, a runaway Trappist monk who doubts his vocation and is attracted to worldly things. Boris hides his past from Domini and they both fall in love. There is a wedding taking place. Finally Boris reveals himself as a monk. After much torment of conscience, both lovers renounce a connection. Boris goes back to the monastery and Domini promises to always love him and be faithful.

background

The production of The Garden of Allah was the third film adaptation of the 1905 novel by Robert Smythe Hichens . The 1927 version with Alice Terry , directed by her husband Rex Ingram, was particularly remembered by many critics when David O. Selznick's version was released.

At the beginning of 1935, when Selznick was still working as a producer at MGM , he planned a new version of the material. First he wanted to cast the role of Domini Enfilden with Greta Garbo . The plan failed, it was not until early 1936, after founding his own production company, Selznick International Pictures, that the plans became more concrete. From the beginning it was planned to shoot the film in the then newly developed 3-color Technicolor. Selznick was very impressed by the possibilities of color film as a dramaturgical means of expression. Merle Oberon was intended for the female lead , but after a few test recordings, Selznick came to the conclusion that Oberon did not have the necessary star qualities to bring such an expensive production to success. Oberon was paid out and Selznick replaced her in April 1936 with Marlene Dietrich , who demanded and received a fee of $ 200,000 even though her last films had flopped at the box office. With Charles Boyer committed Selznick after intensive search, he at, among others, Robert Taylor and George Brent was testing for the role, an actor who had become very popular in recent months. Contrary to the hopes of the producer, the two stars did not get along. Marlene Dietrich despised Boyer and was particularly bothered by his endless complaints and complaints about the difficult filming.

The production was plagued by problems from the start. At the beginning of the shooting there was no finished script, the director Richard Boleslawski fell seriously ill and the outdoor shot in the desert near Yuma turned into a debacle. The team was plagued by numerous technical difficulties and severe sandstorms destroyed the expensive sets several times. At the same time, Selznick had countless disputes with the censorship authority, which was bothered by the subject and strictly rejected any form of physical contact between a monk and a young woman. The final version nevertheless led to sharp protests by the Catholic Church and a performance ban in Italy.

The film was brought to national distribution by United Artists in October 1936 , but failed to gross the high production cost of $ 1,447,760. It premiered on November 19, 1936 at Radio City Music Hall , New York. In Germany, the film was shown for the first time on February 19, 1953 in the UFA-Palast Stuttgart.

Cyndi Lauper watches the film at the beginning of her music video for Time After Time .

synchronization

In the German dubbed version from 1950, Gisela Breiderhoff speaks the role of Domini (Marlene Dietrich), while Peter Pasetti can be heard as Boris (Charles Boyer).

Awards

The Garden of Allah was nominated in the following categories at the 1937 Academy Awards:

In addition, the cameramen of the film W. Howard Green and Harold Rosson were each awarded an honorary Oscar for their innovative camera work on a color film.

criticism

The critics praised the innovative use of color and the opulent images, but complained about the outdated material and the implausible plot.

The Time Magazine wrote about:

"Sad, calm and kind of silly, The Garden of Allah is one of the kind of dignified films in which the critics usually praise the music and the camera work."

Decades later, the lexicon of international film was of a similar opinion:

“The completely unbelievable story only serves as a pretext for a unreal cinematic romance. The only thing that is remarkable is the cast and the excellent color photos for the time. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marlene Dietrich - actress . In: CineGraph - Lexicon for German-Language Film , Lg. 21, F 5
  2. ↑ The Garden of Allah at the German synchronous index
  3. ↑ Sad, serene and somewhat silly, The Garden of Allah belongs to that dignified class of pictures which reviewers customarily praise for the music and photography.
  4. ↑ The Garden of Allah. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 23, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used