The Tsar's Courier (1936)

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Movie
Original title The tsar's courier
Country of production Germany / France
original language German
Publishing year 1936
length 86 minutes
Rod
Director Richard Eichberg
script Hans Kyser
production Joseph Ermolieff for Les Productions Joseph N. Ermolieff
and
Richard Eichberg-Film, Berlin
music Hans Sommer
camera Ewald Daub
A. O. Weitzenberg
cut Roger from Norman
occupation

as well as in small roles Max Rosenhauer , Walter von Allwörden , Jens von Hagen , Carl Alson , Carl Iban , Arthur Grosse , Isolde Laugs , Werner Pledath , Josef Reithofer , Else Reval , Wolfgang von Schwind

The Czar's Courier is a Franco-German adventure film directed in 1935 by Richard Eichberg with Adolf Wohlbrück in the title role. The material is based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne .

action

“Against the bright lights of the morning sky of the East Siberian steppe stands the silhouette of a rider, tall and terrifying. It is the scout of the insurgent Tatars who are marching against Irkutsk , the seat of the Russian government, to tear Siberia away from Russia. ”This is the starting point of the story.

Several thousand kilometers to the west, the young lieutenant Michael Strogoff is summoned to the Winter Palace and entrusted with a very important assignment. He is supposed to bring the tsarist deployment plans to the threatened Siberian city. It is clear to him that on this long, arduous and very dangerous courier journey he will be exposed to a host of dangers and that he must absolutely avoid falling into the hands of the enemy. As soon as he left Saint Petersburg , the first danger lurked in the person of Zangara, the lover of the former Russian Colonel Ogareff, the leader of the rebellious Tatars. Zangara inconspicuously follows Strogoff's heels, intending to get hold of the top secret plans.

On the train journey to the east, the tsar's courier met two amusing companions: the French reporter Alcide Jolivet, who works as a reporter for “Petit Parisien”, and his English colleague Harry Blount, who works for the London newspaper “Daily Telegraph” from the To report to theaters of war in the Far East. Both men get on well with each other, but they don’t give each other a treat when it comes to getting the best story for their paper. At a border post, Strogoff meets young Nadja, who intends to travel to her father , who lives in Irkutsk . Nadja is prevented from continuing her journey by the local governor, but Strogoff's courageous commitment to the young woman enables her to get ahead. From now on both are inseparable.

Strogoff's next travel companion is a Telega , a four-wheeled team. He rolls with him through the vastness of the Siberian steppe, not realizing that Ogareff is also on his way to Irkutsk to lead the Tatar forces to storm the city himself. Without knowing each other, the two opponents meet for the first time in a post office. Since both of them urgently need the fresh horses available there for the onward journey, Strogoff and Ogareff get into each other's hair for the first time. In order not to blow his camouflage, the tsar's courier even endures with plenty of equanimity that the crude Tatar leader beats him and whips him. Later on, Strogoff and Nadja are attacked by Tatar riders while crossing a river on a ferry. Only Michael Strogoff can escape the enemy attackers. Meanwhile, Ogareff proceeds with extreme brutality, his goal of taking Irkutsk.

The rough block treats everyone equally badly, even his girlfriend. When he saw Zangara for the first time after a long time, he only grumbled angrily: "Where are the deployment plans that you should take from the Tsar's courier?" This and other outbursts of anger by Ogareff gradually allow Zangara to realize that she has backed the wrong horse with this angry self. In response to their pleading accusations, “What is your goal? Burning villages, wailing people, devastation, murder! ”The hateful and vengeful despot, who has long since lost his interest in her, only reacts with disinterest. While Ogareff was planning to conquer all of Siberia, Strogoff and many other refugees fell into the hands of the Tatars. There he also meets his mother Marfa and Nadja. Zangara is the only one who could identify the tsar's courier, and she is now ready to help him. Ogareff knows that Marfa is Michael's mother and takes this on, in order to beat information out of her about the whereabouts of her son if necessary. Michael Strogoff intervenes, tears the knout out of his hand and hits Ogareff in the face with it.

For Ogareff, this outburst of anger is a triumph, as the tsar's courier unmasked himself. An absurd trial of Strogoff leads to the presiding emir brutally punishing him: Michael Strogoff is supposed to be blinded . Meanwhile, Ogareff rides the tsar's letter in the direction of Irkutsk, while his mother dies in Michael's arms due to the excitement. With Nadja's help, the now blind Michael Strogoff reaches Irkutsk, overcoming numerous other dangers and obstacles. The city is now completely surrounded by Tatar associations and is under constant fire. The huge defensive towers collapse with a crash, the defensive trenches filled with naphtha have caught fire that flared up against the city walls. Grand Duke Fedor, who administers the city on behalf of the tsar, believes that he has the tsar's courier in front of him in Ogareff. That is why he listens to his treacherous suggestions, which are supposed to save the city, but rather threaten to seal its fate. When Nadja recognizes Ogareff in the governor's palace, there is an unequal duel between the traitor and the blind courier. While Michael wins, the Tartars advance into the city center. The Grand Duke is informed of Ogareff's true identity, and under Michael Strogoff's leadership, the Russians are able to fight back the Tatar pack.

Production notes

The Czar's Courier was shot by director Eichberg at the same time as the French version by Michel Strogoff in the Jofa studios in Berlin-Johannisthal ; some recordings of the French version were also shot in the Tobis studios in Epinay near Paris. Jacques de Baroncelli served him as a French dialogue director . The outdoor shots were taken in Bulgaria and at the Johannisthaler airfield . Alexander Schmoll was the still photographer for this production . Shooting started in Bulgaria in mid-September 1935, the last (studio) recordings were made in mid-December of the same year. The German version was censored on February 6, 1936 and premiered in Stettin on February 7, 1936 . The Berlin premiere took place on February 17, 1936 in the Ufa-Palast am Zoo . In the coming months, the German version was also abroad: in Austria in March in Portugal in April, in Denmark in August and in Finland in September 1936. In Austria the film under the title was Michael Strogoff, the courier of the Czar sold .

Wohlbrück played Strogoff in both versions. Exactly one year later, in the fall of 1936, he traveled to Hollywood for a (less successful) US version, which was made under the title The Soldier and the Lady .

The French Pierre O'Connell was in charge of overall management, and the German Walter Guse was in charge of production. The film structures were designed by Willi A. Herrmann and Alfred Bütow , and the Russian exiled film architects Ivan Lochakoff and Vladimir Meingard , who worked in France, were appointed as advisors . Boris Bilinski , an exiled Russian who also worked in Paris, took on the costume advice . Eugen Hrich took care of the sound. For the writer Hans Kyser , the screenplay for Der Kurier des Zaren was his last contribution to the film. The still photos were taken by Alexander Schmoll .

Reviews

Vienna's Neue Freie Presse reported in the edition of March 11, 1936: "First and foremost, an Adolf Wohlbrück film. Under Richard Eichberg's bold and cleverly grouped director, it has never been seen as heroic and heroic and seldom as shocking as in the dazzling scene in the scene before her mother's deathbed. Ms. Lucie Höflich (...) gives it with bitter intimacy, Maria Andergast (Nadja) has a subtly deep feeling, Hilde Hildebrand has a fiery feeling. Kurt Vespermann and Theo Lingen bring humor in as French and English journalists the thunderstorm atmosphere. "

In the edition of March 13, 1936, on page 4 of the Österreichische Film-Zeitung, one can read: "Richard Eichberg has turned the material taken from Jules Verne's novel into a film of ever-increasing tension, its eventful events through a varied scenery The director had an actor available for this action-packed film in Adolf Wohlbrück, who played the role of the heroic courier (...) extremely impressively, from the splendor of St. Petersburg life to the battle scenes in front of the besieged Irkutsk (...). "

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ quoted from Illustrated Film-Kurier : Der Kurier des Zaren , No. 2427
  2. ↑ "The Tsar's Courier". In:  Neue Freie Presse , March 11, 1936, p. 10 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp
  3. ↑ "The Tsar's Courier". In:  Österreichische Film-Zeitung , March 13, 1936, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / fil

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