The Prodigal (1917)

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Movie
Original title The spendthrift
Country of production Austria-Hungary
original language German
Publishing year 1917
length between 151 and 165 (depending on the version) minutes
Rod
Director Jakob Fleck
Luise Fleck
script after Ferdinand Raimund
production Jakob Fleck and Luise Fleck
music Konrad Kreutzer (original music)
Oskar Visag (compilation)
Gyula Geiger (compilation)
occupation

The spendthrift is a two-part, Austrian silent film from 1917 by the directors Jakob Fleck and Luise Fleck . The story is based on the play of the same name by Ferdinand Raimund .

action

First part

The fairy Cheristane has been commissioned by the fairy queen to descend to earth and do good to humanity there. On her head she wears a crown studded with pearls, each of which has a special magic power. Those who receive this benefit will henceforth experience nothing but happiness and sunshine for their entire life. Julius von Flottwell, whom the fairy met as a child and has loved since then, is particularly blessed by Cheristane. Once she had already made Julius' father a very rich man through her generous distribution of her favors. When Cheristane has to return home to the fairy kingdom, she shows herself to young Flottwell for the first time in her true form and asks him to give her a year of his life as a parting gift.

Flottwell soon proves to be quite unworthy of Cheristane's generosity. He lives in frenzy and has become a spendthrift. He fights every day, constantly gives lavish parties for numerous guests and organizes extensive hunts. He secretly runs away on such occasions to enjoy a shepherd's hour with a simple peasant girl. He does not know that Cheristane appears to him in this form. The fairy godmother quickly realizes that it cannot go on with her great love Flottwell. His friends and servants take him out as they can, and Flottwell soon faces financial ruin. In order to save her loved one, Cheristane is ready to sacrifice her last wish pearl on the crown. She instructs the good spirit Azure to assume the form of a beggar, to stand in the way of the rich sinner and from then on to regularly ask for alms. With that, Cheristane's earthly mission is over, and she reveals herself to Flottwell. He is stunned that Cheristane wants to leave him now, doesn't know how to go on without her and plans to end his life because of it.

Cheristane reminds him that he has given her a year of his earthly life and then returns to the fairy kingdom. Time heals all wounds in Flottwell's life too, and he soon got to know the pretty young Amalie, the daughter of the President of Klugheim. They love each other and want to get married, but their father is strictly against it because he knows and condemns Flottwell's lavish lifestyle. Flottwell didn't change his lifestyle; he even throws the expensive bridal jewelry for Amalie out of the window because he doesn't like it. The spirit Azure in the form of the beggar who appears again and again takes this to itself. Flottwell immediately instructs his valet Wolf to chase after the jewelry and the beggar, but both have disappeared. Wolf, who adores the chambermaid Rosl but is not heard by her, accuses her of taking the jewelry and stealing it. She and her lover, the servant Valentin, are then fired by Flottwell.

Flottwell gives Amalie a lavish party and wants to present her with a precious vase at the party. But again her father interferes and brusquely rejects this exaggeratedly valuable gift. Deeply hit, Flottwell then gives the vase to his valet Wolf. At the festival there is then a duel with Baron Flitterstein, whom President von Klugheim had planned for his daughter as a future husband, and he is injured. Flottwell runs away in a panic and goes into exile in England. Amalie is ready to accompany her lover, but not valet Wolf, who senses the great opportunity to soon be able to take over the entire property of Flottwell, should his master be out of reach. Instead of him, Flottwell has the mysterious beggar at his heels again, who doesn't stop asking for alms. When Flottwell and Amalie leave, the beggar can ask the fleeing man again for a considerable sum, then follows the couple into exile.

Second part

Twenty years have passed and Flottwell returns to his old homeland a poor, broken man who has lost his wife and child. He sees how his former property, the beautiful castle, fell into the hands of the deceitful and deceitful valet Wolf, who had cheated Flottwell out of large sums all his tenure. Having grown old and decrepit, the former servant drags himself over his property and yet has the nerve and hardness to show his former superior the door when he tries to enter. The servant Valentin was completely different. Flottwell is happy to greet him and shows that he has lost none of his good character from yore. He offers accommodation to those who have returned home in his modest house, where he now works as a master carpenter. Valentin married the chambermaid Rosl, who bore him five children.

In front of Valentin and the children, Flottwell sadly tells how he had lost everything abroad, including Amalie, who had given him a daughter. When the child fell into the water while playing, it drowned and Amalie, who immediately jumped after, did not survive the rescue operation. Desperate for this loss, Flottwell became addicted to gambling and eventually lost all of his remaining money. Valentin invites Flottwell to move into his roof, which Rosl, who has just returned, is not at all comfortable with. She hasn't forgotten that it was Flottwell who once chased her from the palace and yard. She tells him of the house, and Flottwell now seems to be losing his last hope. When he, who no longer sees any meaning in his life, wants to commit suicide, the good spirit Azure appears again, again in the disguise of the omnipresent beggar. On behalf of Cheristani, Azur reimburses all the benevolent gifts he has received from Flottwell over the past years, and also gives him back the year of life given to Cheristane so that he, Flottwell, can start a new life. Wealth and happiness come back to life. As a final act of gratitude, he invites Valentin and his wife and their five children to live with him in his new palace.

Production notes

The spendthrift was written in Vienna in the spring of 1917 as a two-part series with a total of seven acts (part 1: four acts, part 2: three acts). The first performance took place on July 21, 1917 in the Flottenvereins cinema in Vienna. The mass start for the first part was November 2nd, 1917, and for the second part it was November 6th of the same year. The film length of the first part was, depending on the censorship version, 1519, 1587 and 1800 meters, the second about 1600 meters. A youth ban was issued.

criticism

This section consists only of a cunning collection of quotes from movie reviews. Instead, a summary of the reception of the film should be provided as continuous text, which can also include striking quotations, see also the explanations in the film format .

“Louise Kolm and J. Fleck… have undertaken the difficult but also grateful task of adapting Ferdinand Raimund's immortal play“ The Spoilers ”for the film, but they also see their efforts crowned by brilliant successes. (...) The fairy-tale, poetic quality that clings to the works of the great poet is as if made for film, which has the most effective means ... at its disposal. (...) Nature shots of very rare beauty, luxuriously furnished interiors, as well as mass scenes with a tremendous impact fill us with admiration. In the same way ... is also the presentation, which is carried out brilliantly by well-known Viennese artists. "

- New Kino-Rundschau from July 28, 1917. p. 9

References