The golden mask (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The golden mask |
| Country of production | German Empire |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1939 |
| length | 76 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hans H. Zerlett |
| script | Hans H. Zerlett |
| production | Helmut Schreiber |
| music | Leo Leux |
| camera | Friedl Behn-Grund |
| cut | Ella Ensink |
| occupation | |
| |
The Golden Mask is a German film drama from the artistic milieu of 1939. Under the direction of Hans H. Zerlett play Albert Matterstock and Hilde Weissner the leading roles.
action
The young Alexander is considered a gifted painter, but since he got too much money, he has given up all artistic demands on himself and has become completely a courtesy artist who paints what is asked of him. This is particularly evident in the portraits of society women who visit him because he really makes every woman look beautiful in his works. His friends Paul Popp and Sepp Kramer, both also active as painters, grant him his success, but at the same time are disappointed that he has obviously given up any artistic ambition. In any case, both colleagues say in unison that his earlier works would have shown what Alexander is capable of.
One day Alexander has an encounter that will mess up his entire life. In a department store he meets a beautiful stranger, with whom he immediately falls in love. She does not reveal your name and disappears again immediately. A few days later he meets this woman again at a carnival ball. This time she wears a gold mask that covers a large part of her face. This time Alexander at least calls the stranger her first name: Maria. She also falls in love with him. Maria is a married woman, but that doesn't prevent her from becoming his lover the next day. It burns inside him to paint Maria: she appears naked, only with the golden mask in front of her face. Both happiness are short-lived: one day Maria, who has lived in the tropics for a long time, has a fit of weakness. A doctor called in declares that she has a malaria attack. She needs a lot of rest and should never return to the tropics for safety reasons.
Soon afterwards, Alexander met an old friend again whom he had not seen for years. It's Robert Berteen, and he of all people is Maria's husband, as he discovers during a visit to Berteen's house. The artist pretends not to know Maria. On a return visit to Alexander's studio, Robert sees his wife painted naked on the canvas, but does not recognize her thanks to the golden mask in front of her face. After a long time, Maria and Alexander talk to each other. She informs her lover that she will return to the tropics with her husband. By a stupid coincidence Robert learns from Alexander's ex-lover Nora that the painted stranger is called Maria. Robert is sure that it could only be his wife. Robert goes to the painter and wants to confront him with his knowledge. At the last moment he was able to hide Maria, who was visiting, in a back room. Maria steps forward and a scuffle ensues in which Robert kills Alexander. In a panic, he flees outside and has a fatal accident in his car. After Alexander has recovered, he can finally plan a future together with Maria.
Production notes
Filming of The Golden Mask began on May 31, 1939 and was completed around four weeks later. The film was shot in the Tobis studios in Berlin-Johannisthal . The film premiered on September 15, 1939 in Berlin's Gloria Palast . The film cost only 588,000 Reichsmarks.
For producer / production manager Helmut Schreiber , this production was the last personal involvement in the direct production of a film. He then switched to film company administration. Erich Zander and Karl Machus designed the film structures. Maria Pommer was responsible for the costumes, Hans Rütten for the sound.
Reviews
Boguslaw Drewniak thought, “The best thing about him [the film] was the play of the actors: the sentimental Hilde Weißner, the loving Albert Matterstock as the painter Alexander, the couple Fita Benkhoff and Rudi Godden, the blasé Karl Schönböck and Fritz Kampers in the also very well played role of the brutal professor. ".
“Mendacious marriage drama with criminal entanglements against the background of the exuberant carnival bustle; also failed stylistically. "
Individual evidence
- ^ Ulrich J. Klaus: Deutsche Tonfilme, 10th year 1939. P. 74 (035.39), Berlin 1999
- ^ Boguslaw Drewniak: The German Film 1938-1945 . A complete overview. Düsseldorf 1987, p. 221
- ↑ The Golden Mask in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on March 24, 2020
Web links
- The golden mask in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The golden mask at filmportal.de