The Rothschilds (1934)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Rothschilds |
| Original title | The House of Rothschilds |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1934 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Alfred L. Worker Sidney Lanfield |
| script | Nunnally Johnson |
| production | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| music | Alfred Newman |
| camera | J. Peverell Marley |
| cut |
Barbara McLean Allen McNeil |
| occupation | |
| |
The Rothschilds is a US American film biography from 1934. The screenplay is based on the play Rothschild by George Hembert Westley (pseudonym).
action
The Jewish population in 18th century Germany suffers from the anti-Jewish orders of the authorities. For example, Jews are not allowed to work in agriculture or learn to trade. They may also z. B. in Frankfurt / Main do not leave the Judengasse after sunset.
Mayer Rothschild is a money changer. The tax collector demands 20,000 guilders from him. This tax charge is higher than that of the wealthiest merchant in town. With the help of his son Nathan , the collector can be bribed with 5,000 guilders. However, when Mayer received the news that a money courier, which was supposed to bring him 10,000 guilders, had been attacked and robbed by tax collectors who were laying away, he collapsed. On his deathbed, he urged his five sons to set up a banking system to better protect the funds circulating between countries.
32 years later, the French Emperor Napoleon has Europe firmly under control. Nathan is in London and, as envoy for the Dukes of Wellington, agrees to a petition that allows him and his brothers to set up banks in Europe to fund the resistance against Napoleon. Nathan is said to be active in England, his brother Salomon Rothschild in Vienna, Kalman Rothschild in Naples and Jakob Rothschild in Paris. When Napoleon is defeated, the petitioner, Captain Fitzroy, and Nathan's daughter Julie want to marry. Nathan gives his blessing in the hope that the world would change. Wellington gives Nathan secret information about the financial distress of defeated France. Nathan knows that if the Rothschilds lend the money to France, they will become the greatest financial power in Europe. But an allied body chaired by the anti-Semite Count Ledrantz gives a rival bank the permission to give the loan. It is planned that the French population should finance the loan through loans.
Angry Nathan instructs Julie to leave Fitzroy and go to Frankfurt. He buys up previous government bonds and threatens to sell them to the public well below face value. Ledrantz lets anti-Semitic groups roam all of Prussia. Nathan visits Frankfurt and tells Fitzroy to leave his daughter alone. But Julie sneaks out of the house and meets him secretly. Despite her love, she does not want to marry him without her father's consent.
Ledrantz learns that Nathan is in Frankfurt. He orders that Nathan should be arrested if he tries to leave town. However, when Napoleon flees from his place of exile, the island of Elba, and his supporters gather around him, Ledrantz has to visit Nathan and get him not to give Napoleon a loan. Nathan stipulates that Jews should have the same rights as all other citizens. Ledrantz has to accept. Nathan meets Fitzroy, who is on his way to Wellington. He promises him that he can marry his daughter if he survives the looming war.
On March 22, 1815, Napoleon entered Paris. The French king has fled, all of Europe is mobilizing. After Napoleon won a number of victories, stock market trading in London panicked in June. Should the stock exchange close, the English economy would collapse. To prevent this danger, Nathan draws the people with money on his side, who are convinced of Wellington's defeat and thus spread the rumors that disrupt the economy. When Wellington defeated Napoleon in the Battle of Waterloo , the war was over.
Julie and Fitzroy are back together some time later. Nathan is made a baron by the English king. The King wants to thank him for his generosity and courage, which brought England victory and peace.
Reviews
The Variety described the film as good in all areas of acting, directing and scripting. The sensitive issue of anti-Semitism is treated with tact and restraint.
The New York Times' Mordaunt Hall found the film told its story quickly and smoothly. The dialogues are clever and often witty, the actors and directors are excellent.
Awards
In 1935 the film was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category.
background
The film premiered on March 14, 1934 in New York.
According to an article in The New York Times , Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the play in 1931 on the advice of George Arliss, who was under contract at the time. However, the studio had no plans to make the film yet. When Arliss moved to 20th Century Pictures , he convinced producer Zanuck to buy Warner's rights. According to the 20th Century Fox Produced Scripts Collection at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, Arliss himself wrote 14 pages using an earlier script by Maude T. Howell and Sam Mintz to develop the character of Nathan's father Mayer.
Sidney Lanfield represented Alfred L. Werker as a director when he fell seriously ill for some time. The equipment came from Richard Day .
The German production of the same name, Die Rothschilds from 1940 by Erich Waschneck with Carl Kuhlmann as Nathan Rothschild is considered a National Socialist propaganda film .
Web links
- The Rothschilds in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0922816/bio
- ↑ The House of Rothschild. In: Variety . 1934, accessed June 7, 2019 .
- ↑ Critique of the New York Times (Eng.)
- ^ A b The House of Rothschild (1934) - Notes. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved June 7, 2019 .