The mistress and her servant
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The mistress and her servant |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1929 |
| length | approx. 104 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard Oswald |
| script |
Friedrich Raff based on the novel of the same name (1916) by Georg Engel |
| production |
Henny Porten Wilhelm von Kaufmann |
| camera | Friedl Behn-Grund |
| occupation | |
and the German shepherd "Greif" | |
The Mistress and Her Servant is a German silent film from 1929 by Richard Oswald with Henny Porten in the leading role.
action
August 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War . In the German-Russian border area of East Prussia , Johanna von Grothe, a middle-aged widow, resides on her estate with her younger sister Marianne. Johanna is ensnared by the nefarious and characterless Russian Rittmeister Sassin. Sassin's intrusiveness, however, is thwarted by his compatriot, the noble Colonel Prince Fergussow. When the war breaks out, Sassin loses any remaining composure and intends to raid the manor of the Germans, who have now become enemies, in order to take what he thinks is due to him. But again Prince Fergussow intervenes. Beside himself with anger, Sassin shoots at his compatriot and opponent, who collapses staggering. Chased by a Russian patrol, Sassin sees no other option but to kill himself.
Fergussow stays at the manor and is nursed back to health by Johanna, who chooses between patriotic duty and budding love for her protector, the Russian "enemy" for her heart. Yet it seems impossible to her to love an enemy officer unconditionally at this time of war. When Johanna misunderstood a situation and had to assume that Fergussow will now turn to Marianne after her reserved behavior, she is deeply disappointed. Deeply injured, Johanna is now ready to hand over Fergussow to her own soldiers at the next opportunity. Only at the last moment does she recognize her misjudgment and tries to persuade Fergussow to flee from the approaching Germans. But it is too late. When the soldiers appear, the prince can no longer escape over a wall, despite Johanna's help, and he dies from a German bullet.
Production notes
The mistress and her servant was created in November and December 1929 in the Efa studio, passed the film censorship on December 19 of the same year and was banned from youth. The premiere took place on December 28, 1929 in Berlin's Titania Palace . The length of the six-acter was 2630 meters.
Porten's husband Wilhelm von Kaufmann also took over production management, while Helmut Schreiber was the production manager . Franz Schroedter had the entire equipment under himself. The later singing star Maria Cebotari made his film debut in the extras .
Reviews
“The lovely Henny Porten is a capable, unobtrusive woman with a rabid desire to work - and so she prefers to play capable, earth-bound people. Here for a change, surrounded by chastity and sovereignty, a landowner from the Russian border who “pulled her indebted manor out of the mud in five years”. (...) Henny Porten tells in the program: of countless letters and telegrams from her admirers, which she reads every day with unspeakable joy, his favorite ones who praised their portrayal of lifelike quality. But that can only be determined with Kampers, who is gradually becoming a young Jannings. "
“The Porten is of course in the foreground of the whole thing, it attracts everyone's attention and masters even those scenes of the great passion with virtuosity, the dramaturgical basis of which is already balanced on the borderline of the hypersentimental. Around them: Fritz Kampers as a brutal Cossack riding master, Igo Sym - very sympathetic in his restraint - as a prince, Mary Kid - whose beautiful appearance and natural talent would deserve better roles - and the little Gstettenbaur, who deserves special praise. "
“The tendency: people are good when they are German officers and Russian princes, and the imperialist war is good when it is prepared with lard and sacharine in a cinematic manner. Henny Porten is lying sentimental, a branch in the tree of the German Courths-Mahler. "
“The play, an ingenious gazebo novel, is neatly presented, and the porten's original talent shines through everywhere through the Ciché figure of the heroine. She dominates the face and figure, makes the transition from expression to expression and can do more than many German and American stars. It's just a shame that she chooses outdated and out-of-date roles in which she has to use her facial originality to serve stupid sentimental purposes. "
“The mistress in this war film is ... the eternally young Henny Porten, who is a widowed landlady ... with the full splendor of her artistry. Except that this genuinely German woman would in reality never give her love to a Russian grand prince who ... seeks refuge in her property, on which he previously went out and in as lord, but at most her pity! The servants feel much more natural in their good patriotic instinct than they turn against the Russian oppressor in the face of the liberating Germans. "
Web links
- The mistress and her servant at filmportal.de
- The mistress and her servant in the Internet Movie Database (English)