The sunken fleet
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The sunken fleet |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1926 |
| length | 97 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Manfred Noa , Graham Hewett |
| script |
Maria Margarethe Langen , Willi Rath |
| production | Lothar Stark for Lothar Stark-Film |
| music | Felix Bartsch |
| camera |
Otto Kanturek , Bruno Timm |
| occupation | |
| |
The Sunken Fleet is a German feature film from 1926 and is set in the Imperial Navy during the First World War . The movie directed by Manfred Noa and his assistant, the former Royal Navy - Officer Graham Hewett, resulting film is based on the 1926 published eponymous novel of the former German naval officer Helmut Lorenz. The highlight of the film is the Battle of the Skagerrak on May 31 / May 1. June 1916.
Apparently two different versions were shot with German and English subtitles, in which some roles were cast by different actors. The German version of the film is considered lost ; a surviving English-language version was performed under the title When Fleet Meets Fleet: A Romance of the Great Battle of Jutland in Berlin in August 2014 . Other performance titles were A Batalha da Jutlandia ( Brazil ), Højsøsflaadens Helete ( Denmark ), La grande parade de la flotte ( France ) and Wrath of the Seas ( USA ). The world premiere took place on December 10, 1926 in Berlin.
action
It is unclear to what extent the German and English versions differ from each other. The content of the English version was roughly reproduced by the well-known critic Mordaunt Hall in the New York Times in August 1929 on the occasion of the screening in the cinema "The little Cameo".
The commander of a German warship is married to an Englishwoman. Before the outbreak of war in 1914, he rivaled his English friend because of their artillery skills. The wife of the German commandant feels neglected by her husband's professional commitment. A serious conflict ensues between the German commandant and one of his officers who has fallen in love with the commandant's wife. When they want to duel, war breaks out and the ships run out. The team's love affairs are also discussed. When the crew members are wounded in the Battle of the Skagerrak, they are then treated in a hospital.
the novel
Kiel Week 1914. The Royal Navy visits the German naval port. Commander Norton is a “ friend of the Germans” (p. 9) and friends with Lieutenant Captain von Barnow, who serves on the ship of the line SM Grand Duke . He is married to Erika Elsberg, daughter of the Remscheid manufacturer Wilhelm Elsberg. Norton feels sympathy for Erika.
The war breaks out, the German ships move to Wilhelmshaven . Von Barnow becomes the commandant of the battle cruiser Prince Leopold , whom he also leads in the Battle of the Skagerrak. His opponent is Norton, now in command of the British battle cruiser Queen Victoria . Norton is wounded in the battle and goes overboard, but is rescued by German sailors. He is looked after in a hospital in Bremen , where he meets Erika, who works as a nurse there and takes care of him. He is still in love with her, but she rejects him. Apparently her husband died in battle.
In a subplot, Lieutenant Fritz Kämpf, formerly on board the Grand Duke , takes over a submarine and fights in the Flemish submarine . His submarine UD 84 is badly damaged in an attack, so that he has to call at a Spanish port. Since Spain is neutral, the submarine and its crew are interned .
When the situation on the western front became threatening in autumn 1918, the German fleet command wanted to rush to the aid of the army. The sailors of the battleships revolt against this. There is mutiny and revolution . The Grand Duke is extradited to Great Britain; Once there, their commander, Baron von Raveneck , shoots himself . Now Fritz Kämpf's submarine is to be delivered to France in Spain. The crew “kidnaps” the boat from the Spanish internment and sinks it in front of the Spanish port itself. The crew members are rescued by the Spanish Navy. Kämpf's behavior serves as a model for the self- sinking of the German fleet in Scapa Flow . In Remscheid there is a civil war in which former crew members of the Grand Duke , now on different sides, fight against each other; either as communists or in a volunteer corps .
Norton returns to Kiel as a member of a ceasefire commission and contacts Erika. However, she cannot get over the death of her husband and believes that a future together is impossible. They part in friendship ( “friends in past and friends forever!” ).
Production notes
Hall's review shows that scenes are mounted in the film in which “hordes” of crew members go down with the sinking hulls of their ships. Apparently this is the documentary recording of the sinking SMS Szent István from June 1918, which has been quoted again and again up to the present day . As far as is known, there are no film recordings of the Skagerrak battle itself.
criticism
"The scenes in the gun control positions are realistic and very well carried into effect. The whole film gives a very fair and unbiased impression of a great naval action. "
Web links
- The sunken fleet in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Film data at filmportal.de
- Photo of the film crew, below from right Hans Albers and Heinrich George, at ask.helmut.com
