A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

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Movie
German title A midsummer night's dream
Original title A Midsummer Night's Dream
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1935
length 132 minutes
Rod
Director Max Reinhardt
William Dieterle
script Charles Kenyon
Mary C. McCall Jr.
production Henry Blanke
music Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Leo F. Forbstein (Musical Director)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Adaptation)
camera Hal Mohr
cut Ralph Dawson
occupation

Court of Athens

Acting troupe

The elfs

A Midsummer Night's Dream is the title of a US comedy film by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle , directed in 1935. The script is based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare . It was Max Reinhardt's only directorial work in Hollywood.

action

At the ancient court of Athens : The glorious ruler Theseus prepares to marry the Queen of the Amazons , Hippolyta . During these preparations, the king discovers that there are many intrigues and love affairs at his court. The young courtiers Lysander and Hermia are lovers, but Hermia's father Egeus is dissatisfied with this connection. Instead, he urges Theseus to marry off his daughter to the desired husband Demetrius, who in turn displeases Hermia. Theseus decrees that Hermia has to submit to her father's wishes, otherwise she will remain unmarried until her death. Hermia flees to a nearby forest to meet Lysander. Both want to flee and then get married. The disappointed bridegroom Demetrius pursues Hermia, but is in turn pursued by the amorous Helena , whom he has rejected.

In addition to the four young lovers, other people are also present in the forest: The elven people who want to be present at the royal wedding. The elf king Oberon is jealous because his wife Titania is taking care of a kidnapped human child - an Indian prince - whom Oberon would like to sit by his side. Oberon instructs his tricky assistant Puck to lure the Indian prince away from Titania. So that Titania does not notice this, she should be given a love potion. Puck not only gives the potion to Queen Titania, but also to the lovers Lysander and Hermia, who are present in the forest, who both fall in love with Helena, who has just arrived, who in turn refuses both. This can be found in the forest, a dilettante troupe consisting of some craftsmen under the direction of the carpenter Squenz who want to rehearse there alone. They want to show their version of Pyramus and Thisbe at the marriage of King Theseus and Queen Hippolyta. During the rehearsal, Puck transforms the leading actor Zettel into a donkey.

The love potion that Titania received says that when she wakes up, she falls in love with the first man she sees. After waking up, the first thing she meets is the donkey-turned note and falls in love with it. In the meantime, Puck is able to carry the Indian prince away from Oberon unnoticed. Puck feels sorry for Titania and removes the spell. Titania accepts that Oberon will take the Indian prince with him and the two make up. In addition, Oberon and Puck also cancel the effect of the potion on Lysander and Hermia, who are now reunited. Oberon also uses his potion to ensure that Demetrius falls in love with Helena. The two real lovers - Hermia and Lysander, Demetrius and Helena - are now united. The actor Zettel also becomes a person again at the end of Elfennacht.

The two lovers return to Athens to celebrate the wedding of King Theseus. At the celebration, Theseus, who is in love with happiness, lifts his spell on Hermia. She can now marry Lysander, although her father Egeus still protests in vain. With the unconscious help of Puck, Sequence and his troop get the chance, despite their simple origins, to perform a rather headstrong version of Pyramus and Thisbe before the king , in which the somewhat retarded dullness plays the girl Thisbe and Zettel plays her lover Pyramus. The performance of the craftsmen is ridiculous and overshadowed by mishaps, but precisely because of this it entertains the laughing audience. When the royal court goes to bed at midnight, King Oberon and Queen Titania appear and consecrate the court with good wishes.

background

  • The film was shot from November 1934 to March 5, 1935 at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank. The buildings were designed by Anton Grot , the costumes by Max Rée and Milo Anderson . Was first performed A Midsummer Night's Dream on October 9, 1935 at the same time in the Adelphi Theater in London and in Hollywood Theater in New York City . In Germany, the film was shown for the first time on October 1, 1962 as a television premiere on ARD .
  • For Max Reinhardt it was the first and only film he made in Hollywood. It was also his last directorial work. Since Reinhardt spoke only very limited English, his directing partner William Dieterle acted primarily as an interpreter. During the first week of filming, Dieterle was the sole director of the film, as there had been a dispute over Reinhardt between the production company Warner Bros. and a French co-producer.
  • The dance scenes were choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska and Nini Theilade .
  • With his work on Midsummer Night's Dream, Korngold set new standards in the still young history of film music: he enlarged the orchestra from dance band strength to symphony orchestra strength. He partly intervened in the direction to adapt the language of the actors to the rhythm of the music. Sometimes he wrote dialogues himself.
  • Nathan Levinson , who won an Oscar in 1943, was hired as a sound engineer . Byron Haskin and Hans F. Koenekamp, who later became famous as a director, provided the special effects . The later three-time Oscar winner Robert Surtees worked as a camera assistant .
  • For Olivia de Havilland, the film marked the feature film debut after she had played the role of Hermia on an open-air theater in Saratoga. Max Reinhardt, who directed it there, discovered it and cast De Havilland to replace the sick Gloria Stuart .
  • At the time of National Socialism, the film was banned in Germany, as director Max Reinhardt (born in Austria) and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (see chapter Soundtrack) were of Jewish descent.
  • Underground director and scandalous writer Kenneth Anger claims to have played the Indian prince in this film. This is now considered refuted, the child actor Sheila Brown is said to have embodied the role in his only film appearance.

synchronization

The German dubbing was made in 1971 on behalf of ARD .

role actor Dubbing voice
Theseus , King of Athens Ian Hunter Thomas Reiner
Lysander, in love with Hermia Dick Powell Christian Brückner
Demetrius, in love with Hermia Ross Alexander Jürgen Clausen
Hermia, in love with Lysander Olivia de Havilland Heidi Treutler
Helena, in love with Demetrius Jean Muir Kathrin Ackermann
Egeus, Hermia's father Grant Mitchell Walter Reichelt
Sequence (Quince), the carpenter Frank McHugh Benno Hoffmann
Note (Nick Bottom), the weaver James Cagney Thomas Piper
Flaut (Flute), the bellows builder Joe E. Brown Mogens von Gadow
Schnauz (Snout), the tinker Hugh Herbert Gerd Duwner
Schlucker (Starveling), the tailor Otis Harlan Bruno Walter Pantel
Oberon , king of the elves Victor Jory Günter Sauer
Titania , queen of the elves Anita Louise ; Caroll Ellis (vocal part) Viktoria Brams

Film music

The musical director Leo F. Forbstein put together the following pieces by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy for the film, all of which were adapted and conducted by Erich Wolfgang Korngold :

  • Spring song from Twelve Chants op.8
  • Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream op.21
  • Symphony No. 3 in A minor (also known as the Scottish Symphony ) - sung by Olivia de Havilland, Dick Powell, Ross Alexander, Jean Muir, James Cagney and Joe E. Brown
  • Children's Pieces No. 1: Allegro non troppo - sung by James Cagney
  • Spinner song in C major from Songs without Words op.67 No. 4
  • Lullaby from Songs without Words, Op. 19, No. 6 - sung by Anita Louise and James Cagney
  • Symphony No. 4 in A major, op.90 (known as the Italian Symphony )
  • Lullaby from Songs without Words Op. 67, No. 6
  • Philomel - sung by Anita Louise
  • Scherzo in E minor
  • Hand in hand with Fairy Grace - sung by Anita Louise
  • Over mountains and valleys, through bushes and bushes - sung by Nina Theilade

The singing voice of Anita Louise was from Carol Ellis .

Reviews

"Closely based on the stage play, brilliantly furnished, imaginatively embellished with cinematic trick magic and well played."

"Theater guru Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle transformed William Shakespeare's amorous classic into an exuberant Hollywood fantasy."

“The question of whether a Shakespeare play can be successfully produced through the elaborate making of the film can be answered through this commendable effort. The famous story A Midsummer Night's Dream , half of which takes place in the illusionistic world of elves and fairies, is technically successful. The fantasy, the ballet of the entourage of Oberon and Titania and the characters in the eerie scenes are convincing and enticingly fantastic. The film is filled with wonderful scenes, beautifully filmed and charmingly presented. All Shakespeare fans will be delighted with the soothing sound of the Mendelssohn melodies. The actresses are generally better than the men, also because they have better assignments. Dick Powell is a bad cast: he never seems able to capture the spirit of the play or the role. Mickey Rooney as Puck tries so hard to be cute that he becomes almost annoying. There are some grandiose representations, especially Victor Jory convincing as Oberon. His clear, distinct voice shows what careful recitation and good interpretation can bring. Olivia de Havilland plays fine, as does Jean Muir, Veree Teasdale and Anita Louise, as Titania with a modern look, but her lines are mostly blurred. "

Awards

Academy Awards 1936

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wilhelm (William) Dieterle - actor, director . In: CineGraph - Lexikon zum Deutschsprachigen Film , Lg. 22, F 20
  2. A Midsummer Night's Dream at Turner Classic Movies (English)
  3. Thomas Bräutigam : Stars and their German voices. Lexicon of voice actors . Schüren, Marburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-89472-627-0 , CD-ROM
  4. A Midsummer Night's Dream. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  5. cinema
  6. Variety Staff: A Midsummer Night's Dream. In: variety.com. Variety , January 1, 1935, accessed April 18, 2018 .