The slave queen
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The slave queen |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1924 |
| length | 103 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Kertesz |
| script | Ladislaus Vajda |
| production | Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky and Arnold Pressburger from Sascha-Film Wien, Stoll-Film London |
| music | Gerhard Gruber (in the new version) |
| camera | Gustav Ucicky , Max Nekut , Hans Theyer |
| occupation | |
| |
The Slave Queen (also The Moon of Israel ) is an Austro-British monumental film from 1924. Directed by Mihaly Kertész (later known as Michael Curtiz ). The screenplay was written by Ladislaus Vajda based on Henry Rider Haggard's novel The Moon of Israel , which in turn is based on the biblical story of the Exodus from Egypt .
Sascha-Film was shot in Vienna with around 5,000 extras in studios and outdoors on Laaer Berg . It was released in theaters on October 24, 1924. The restored and complete version of the long-lost film was shown for the first time on February 26, 2005 in Vienna's Metro Kino.
action
Around 1230 BC. Chr. Are the Israelites in Egyptian slavery . During this difficult time, the Jewish slave girl Merapi falls in love with Prince Seti, the son of Pharaoh Menapta. This improper love created numerous problems that can be resolved. In the end, Moses leads his people through the Red Sea and thus into freedom.
production
One of the most outstanding scenes is the division of the Red Sea by Moses ( Hans Marr ). Since the US counterpart " The Ten Commandments " was filmed at the same time , in which the Red Sea was also to be divided, a lot of effort was made in Vienna for fear of superior American trick technology. Thanks to the use of trick technology, the gigantic wooden construction, from which all the water was drained from both sides at once, is no longer recognizable. The total of 100 m³ poured into a closed, eight by eight meter large and one meter deep wooden basin on Laaer Berg in Vienna. The water walls on both sides of the path were modeled from plaster, which looked deceptively real in the black and white film. With a single shot, both the division and the reconnection of the sea could now be shown. For the former, the footage of the collapsing water masses was simply cut back into the film.
The actors were filmed in the dry and only afterwards flooded by the "sea" thanks to post-production using trick technology. When the competing film came to the cinemas a few weeks after the slave queen , it was surprising that the division of the sea in the Austrian production looked noticeably more realistic, as not only praised by Viennese critics. Even colleagues from Hollywood are said to have expressed their astonishment to the Austrian producers that Laaer Berg had trumped Hollywood in this regard.
The director of Sascha-Film, Arnold Pressburger , assisted the director Michael Kertész as artistic chief. Arthur Gottlein was the assistant director . The cinematographers Max Nekut , Gustav Ucicky and Hans Theyer were assigned Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky, the producer of the film, as technical chief.
The cost of the film should have been 1.5 billion crowns. The sum is put into perspective by the constant high inflation until the mid- 1920s , but it is still one of the highest amounts ever spent on an Austrian film. Sascha-Film only received credit from its house bank if Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky was personally liable. The reason for this was not only the high production costs but also the economically risky conditions - numerous Austrian film production companies had gone bankrupt after years of boom. With the strong competition from abroad, especially from the United States, the Austrian production companies were less and less able to compete. Inflation also fell, which made Austrian films more expensive abroad, after film exports had so far flourished due to the weak currency. In addition, the heyday of monumental films was gradually over - the sensational value of the crowd scenes and airy actresses was already declining.
Furnishing
The sets and buildings were made by Artur Berger and Emil Stepanek , who already had experience with monumental films. In Sodom and Gomorrah, for example, with its Tower of Babel, they were responsible for the largest film structure in Austrian film history . With Remigius Geyling, the costumes also came from an experienced and capable outfitter. The broad mass of actors was simply costumed, but the palace residents and the priesthood were given one of the most imaginative and interesting costumes of the silent film era based on original models.
background
Like other films at the time, The Slave Queen was inspired by the "Egyptomania" that has ruled the world since the first discovery of an unspoiled pharaoh's tomb, that of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun . This time, the main actress was not the director's wife, as was the case in most of Michael Kertész's previous films. Since Lucy Doraine was divorced from him in the meantime, María Corda , of all people , was awarded the lead role , the wife of his “competitor” Alexander Korda , who was also from Hungary and who was also directing monumental films in Vienna for the competing Vita-Film .
The film premiere took place on October 24, 1924 in the Eos cinema, in which Sascha-Film held shares. For the occasion, the cinema was presented in an ancient Egyptian style and decorated with images of gods and warrior statues.
Versions
The black and white silent film, shot in 35 mm format and 2300 meters long, was dubbed in 1932 by the Selenophon light and sound image company ; without subtitles , it was only 2074 meters long.
In 2005 the film was restored and copied by the Filmarchiv Austria on the basis of a nitro positive of the English version from the British Film Institute . The film is now available again in excellent quality with English subtitles , which also creates the basis for the reconstruction of the German version. The music was re-recorded by the Austrian silent film pianist Gerhard Gruber .
Reviews
“The focus is on the generous and thoroughly successful presentation of the picture, its impressive crowd scenes and the imposing buildings, which are shown to advantage by a photograph that is flawless in every respect. The subject is dramatically effective, with many beautiful moments, the direction of the pace does not weaken. "
Paimann's film lists indirectly provided another criticism in the September 11, 1925 issue when the American monumental film " The Ten Commandments " was reviewed :
"The technical execution is to be praised, especially in the colored scenes. We only saw the passage through the Red Sea better in a Viennese film."
“There is naturally much that is mindful of Cecil B. DeMille ’s film The Ten Commandments in The Moon Of Israel, but Mr. Curtiz fortunately has no modern story to tack on to his Egyptian passages. This is an excellent production. "
Miscellaneous
The leading Austrian silent film pianist Gerhard Gruber accompanied the slave queen at the piano on April 22nd, 2006 as part of the “Austria - Japan Silent Film Duo Project” with the Japanese Benshi Midori Sawato at the Setagaya Art Museum Tokyo . It was both Gruber's first appearance in Japan and the premiere of the restored version of the silent film in Japan.
Studio boss Jack L. Warner became aware of Mihaly Kertész through this film and brought him to Hollywood in 1926, where Kertész soon renamed himself Michael Curtiz and made a career at the Warner studios.
literature
- Henry Rider Haggard : Moon of Israel . 1st World Library - Literary Society, Fairfield 2006, ISBN 978-1-4218-2957-9 , ISBN 978-1-4218-3057-5 or ISBN 978-1-4218-3157-2
- Arthur Gottlein : The Austrian film - a picture book . Austrian Society for Film Studies, Communication u. Media research, Vienna 1976.
- Imagined antiquity - Austrian monumental silent films, history pictures and historical constructions in Sodom and Gomorrah, Samson and Delila, The Slave Queen and Salammbô . 480 p., Filmarchiv Austria publishing house , Vienna 2002