The Gambler (1938)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The player |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1938 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gerhard Lamprecht |
| script |
Peter Hagen , Alois Johannes Lippl |
| production | Franz Vogel |
| music | Giuseppe Becce |
| camera | Otto Baecker |
| cut | Fritz C. Mauch |
| occupation | |
| |
The Gambler , also known as the Novel of a Gambler , is a German film adaptation based on the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky , which premiered in Germany on September 1, 1938. Lída Baarová and Albrecht Schoenhals play the leading roles in this drama.
action
The young Russian Nina is staying with her father, the retired General Kirileff, in the German spa town of Hohenburg. Her father gambled away his fortune at the roulette table and is now borrowing further money from the supposed Baron Vincent at usurious interest . He wants to get Kirileff to agree to marry Nina, who will be entitled to a high inheritance when her grandmother dies. Nina can't stand Baron Vincent, she has seen through his machinations. In tow of Vincent is Blanche du Placet, supposedly a countess . Her intentions are similar to those of the baron: she ensnares Kirileff, who has already proposed to her. Blanche believes he is a large landowner in Russia. Alexej, a former student and now Kirileff's secretary , and the German doctor Dr. Tronka on. Alexej is in love with Nina, but she uses his feelings depending on her mood. Dr. Tronka, who is also not indifferent to the young woman, is treated by her with barely noticeable condescension.
When Vincent urges the bill to be honored, Kirileff claims in his distress that he knows for sure that Nina's grandmother is dying. Nina is upset about the father's behavior and wants to save the family honor. She sells her jewelry and tries to win the missing money at the gaming table. In the end, she gambled everything away and her father's ruin seemed sealed. A telegram from home seems to be the solution to all problems, as Kirileff believes that Nina's grandmother has died. This, however, appears a short time later in Hohenburg and discovers the game of roulette for itself. She loses a large amount of money gambling but knows when to stop and soon travels back to Russia . Nina decides not to go with her and stays with her father. The young woman also declines other offers of help, so she does not want Dr. Tronka pays her father's debts. She fears that it will sell herself to him. Alexei, on the other hand, can no longer help her because he has become a player himself. With all the excitement, Nina falls ill and trusts Dr. Tronka on. Shortly afterwards he challenges Vincent to a duel and the wrong baron flees. He gives Kirileff's bills to Blanche, who starts a relationship with Alexej and sells the bills to him. Dr. Tronka takes care of Nina. Alexej suddenly appears and assures the young woman that he has always loved her and that he cannot live without her. He wants to return to Russia with Nina and tells her that he has already destroyed her father's bills of exchange. However, these were only recently introduced by Dr. Tronka bought up. When Alexej finds out about this, he realizes that Blanche must have stolen the bills of exchange and sold them again. His token of love to Nina, to save her father by buying the bill, is therefore void. This realization makes Alexei so angry that he wants to do something to Blanche. Nina asks Dr. Tronka to stop Alexej and the doctor can actually prevent worse. He makes Alexei promise not to play any more and gives him travel money to return to Russia. While Dr. Tronka visits Nina and explains to her that she is relieved of any obligation to Alexej and should now let her feelings decide about her future, Alexej cannot resist his addiction: In the casino he puts all the travel money that he received from Dr. Tronka is at risk at the roulette table.
Production notes and background
Shooting began in mid-February 1938. The film premiered on September 1, 1938 in Stuttgart . The player was first performed in Berlin on October 27, 1938. The 1950 re-release title was a swindler's novel .
It is a Euphono-Kreutzberg film by Tobis Filmkunst . The buildings came from Robert Herlth and Heinrich Weidemann , the sound from Erich Lange, the costumes designed by Arno Richter , executed by Willi Ernst . The manufacturing cost was about 995,000 RM.
At the same time as this film, Lamprecht also shot a French-language version entitled Le joueur , which opened in France on September 7, 1938 . Louis Daquin was put at his side as a dialogue director. The main roles were Pierre Blanchar , Viviane Romance and Roger Karl .
Lída Baarová was expelled from Germany in autumn 1938 at Hitler's instigation. This was preceded by an affair between Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and the Czech actress. At this point, Goebbels was considering divorce his wife. Magda Goebbels , previously a mother of four, who in turn allegedly had an affair herself - of all things, with Goebbels' intimate state secretary Karl Hanke from the Propaganda Ministry - now became active and turned to her greatest admirer, Adolf Hitler, to ask him bitterly about her unfaithful husband to complain. Goebbels, on the other hand, asked Hitler for permission to divorce his wife. Hitler then summoned his most loyal paladin to his place on Obersalzberg and angrily rejected his request. Goebbels then gave in, dropped his lover, and Lida Baarová became a persona non grata almost overnight . While reconciliation photos of the Goebbels family were published in the newspapers on October 24, 1938, on Hitler's instructions, the 'Führer' ordered the Czech artist to be expelled from Germany, who then returned to her old home. For Goebbels, Baarová was “a perfectly beautiful woman”.
The high-boiling the fall of 1938 Baarová-Goebbels affair meant that the player was taken just three days after the Berlin premiere on the orders "from above" back from the cinema. The last Baarová film in the Reich, Prussian Love Story , was submitted to the censors in December 1938 and was no longer allowed to be shown. At this point Lida Baarová was already out of the country.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) processed in his novel The Gambler , which he wrote in just 26 days and which appeared in 1866, the experience of his own gambling addiction. The novel is about the general's stepdaughter, who is called Polina there. The arrogant Frenchman is Polina's cavalier and is called de Grieux. Aleksey Ivanovich is the general's head of house, madly in love with Polina and initially punished with contempt by her. Polina takes refuge in a Mr. Astley, a cool, reserved Englishman. The novel also ends with Aleksej completely addicted to gambling.
There are various film versions of this material, see The Player - Film Adaptations .
criticism
“The tragedy of a general family from Tsarist Russia who is ruined by the game of roulette. Despite closely following Dostoyevsky's narrative and the artistic diligence of the director, it is an all too staid drama without atmosphere and without psychological depth. First performed in 1938 under the title The Player , the film was banned after a few weeks. "
See also
- List of German feature films premiered in the German Reich during the Nazi era
- List of films forbidden under National Socialism
Web links
- The player in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The player at filmportal.de
- The Player Alluring Canvas No. 102
Individual evidence
- ↑ The player. Schweizer Film = Film Suisse: official organ of Switzerland, accessed on June 10, 2020 .
- ↑ Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 623.
- ^ Friedemann Beyer: THE UFA STARS IN THE THIRD REICH Women for Germany , Heyne Film and TV Library No. 32/131, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Munich, 1991, p. 15
- ↑ The player. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .