The prostitution

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Movie
Original title The prostitution
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1919
length 126 (part 1), 98 (part 2) minutes
Rod
Director Richard Oswald
script Robert Liebmann
Richard Oswald
production Richard Oswald
camera Karl friend
occupation

and Eduard von Winterstein , Emil Lind , Werner Krauss , Paul Morgan , Ernst Gronau , Wilhelm Diegelmann , Grete Freund

Prostitution is a two-part German silent film from 1919 by Richard Oswald with Conrad Veidt , Reinhold Schünzel and Anita Berber in the leading roles.

action

In this film, typical of the period of upheaval in 1918/19, the fates of several young girls are portrayed in the first part in episodic form. Their social decline leads to prostitution, their life ends in the brothel or in the gutter. In the framework at the beginning and at the end of the film, a fictional world court judges prostitution as an institution that leads to the moral decline of young girls, but also, as in the second part, to the decline of social values ​​and bourgeois morals.

Part one: the yellow house

The world judgment condemning prostitution is in session. On the basis of the case of Agent Klaßen's daughters, the aim is to find out why both girls could succumb to prostitution. This class is a work-shy drinker who, out of pure self-interest, drives his Lola and Hedwig into the arms of well-paying men. The somewhat easygoing Lola quickly begins a relationship with the pimp Karl Döring, who has an easy time with the girl, who is as amorous as she is simple-minded. It quickly becomes a “challenge cup”, falls into the hands of a fraudster and finally becomes the “star” in Madame Riedel's establishment. Her life ends as a street whore - on the line, Lola ultimately becomes the victim of a "lust killer".

Hedwig, on the other hand, resists the temptations of the Den of Sin, but is still passed on to Madame Riedel by her useless father. Her happiness and her salvation approaches in the form of a decent man: his name is Alfred Werner and in the end he marries Hedwig. The moral of the story is that there is a possibility of a way out of prostitution. Another storyline revolves around the homeowner Hiller looking for his child. He too wants to free his daughter from the clutches of commercial love and finds Vera, his only child, under dramatic circumstances in Madame Riedel's brothel, the yellow house.

Second part: those who sell

The second part is not about physical prostitution, rather it denounces prostitution and corruption of spirit and character. A story is told that is based on the real "case of copper". A pair of fraudsters from “better circles”, Ms. Bürger and her managing director, Mr. Sasse, found a small stock company. Ms. Bürger leads a double life. Outwardly, she pretends to be a loving mother, but in fact she is a con man, because she claims to own a silver mine in Argentina, the shares of which she sells to gullible investors in Germany with horrific profits. The press organs, which often turn out to be for sale, are in the process of writing the dubious company seriously.

Only when the young, sincere editor Hofer, who devotes himself to justice, refuses to play the game of corruption, the couple's deception is exposed and the speculative bubble bursts. When Sasse was arrested, he put the investigating public prosecutor Hartwig under pressure in order to be released again: Sasse had once exposed Hartwig's son while cheating and had him confirm his cheating in writing. And so the fraudster Sasse is released again. Although journalist Hofer is engaged to Frau Bürgers' daughter, he shows himself to be incorruptible and publishes the whole case. The villains are exposed, their hoax collapses. While Sasse is poisoned, the old citizen can move abroad. However, Hofer's sincerity has its price: his fiancée leaves him.

Production notes and censorship issues

Filming began a few weeks after the end of the First World War during the period when there was no film censorship . With his four-part play Let there be light! and this two-parter, Oswald acquired the reputation of having founded its own film genre, the educational and moral film .

The first part of the film was premiered with the subtitle "The Yellow House" on May 1, 1919 in the Berlin Marble House , the second part with the subtitle "They Are Selling" on August 30, 1919. Both parts had a total length of around 5000 meters, which corresponds to a playing time of a good four hours.

Scientific advice was provided by Magnus Hirschfeld .

After censorship was reintroduced, the film was banned. In the reasoning for the decision regarding the second part, the Berlin Film Inspectorate said on August 7, 1920: “The portrayal of the inner depravity of people, which is treated in this film in a very detailed and sometimes morally offensive manner, is suitable, not only to give the impression to individual people, but also to a large part of the population, that it is a matter of everyday occurrences (...) The main title "Prostitution" is also suitable for demoralizing (...) The title therefore does not pursue any other Purpose of attracting the audience and making them believe that the film is showing erotic images. "

In 1921 prostitution was banned under the original title, but allowed under the title "The Yellow House" - under a youth ban. In April 1922 the Stuttgart Regional Court banned prostitution . At the end of 1922 the Reichsgericht in Leipzig rejected the appeal and ordered the destruction of the film. The film has not been found since then.

Reviews

When it was first shown in 1919, the film review mainly focused on the content-related freedom of theme design, which was possible thanks to the short-lived freedom from censorship immediately after the First World War.

In Der Kinematograph it was stated: “Richard Oswald showed a small number of friends his new film, which Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld's tendency work 'Die Prostitution'. When reading the advertisement, one can have different opinions as to whether one should prepare such topics for the screen today, immediately after the censorship has been eased. It is to be feared that the cinema enemies will point out such “offensive” titles in their campaign against freedom from censorship. If one has watched the film, then such concerns will have to be silenced, since this is not a wild sensational racket, but a serious work of importance in the enlightenment battle against barracked and wild prostitution. (...) As with most of the Oswald films, what is most captivating here is the performance of the actors. Anita Berber, the main representative of the prostitutes, draws a wonderfully true-to-life type. One is amazed how the dance artist turns into a film diva with grace and skill. If one remembers her uncomfortable 'Dreimäderl-Haus' performance, one has to say with satisfaction that she has made excellent advances in dramatic acting. Your opponent is Gussy Holl. For the first time in front of the crankcase. Surprisingly good. Of an image effectiveness that is rarely found in German flicker. With her too, one wonders how the slippery diva turned into a sedate, serious actress. (...) The gentlemen have equally good actors: Conrad Veidt as always, impeccable in mask and facial expression. "

The Berliner Tageblatt wrote: “The cinema now also has more freedom of movement, it can dare to tackle sensitive subjects more than before. It just depends a lot on the delicate work done. 'Die Prostitution' is the name of the latest cultural film by Richard Oswald and Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld walking in the marble house. The film brings characters taken from life onto the screen, which perfectly illustrate the career, happiness and the end of a lost person, without exuberance and without the use of too bright colors. The plot avoids any sentimentality as well as the instructive tone that some of the other films adopt, and that is precisely why it is more haunting than this one. Reinhold Schünzel as a pimp and Fritz Beckmann as a matchmaker father deliver great pieces. Anita Berber and Gussy Holl play the two main female characters in the film and do their job with tact and taste. Ferdinand Bonn, Veidt and Klein-Rohden show themselves to be skilful film actors. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Censorship decision of August 7, 1920 on filmportal.de
  2. ↑ Jürgen Kasten, “Dramatic Instincts and the Spectacle of Enlightenment,” Jürgen Kasten and Armin Loacker, Ed, Richard Oswald: Cinema between spectacle, enlightenment and entertainment (Vienna: Filmarchiv Austria, 2005), pp. 125–126
  3. ↑ Der Kinematograph, No. 633, February 19, 1919
  4. ↑ Berliner Tageblatt, No. 199 of May 4, 1919