A moth flew to the light
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | A moth flew to the light |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1915 |
| length | approx. 88 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Fern Andra |
| script | Fern Andra |
| production | Fern Andra |
| camera | Anton Mülleneisen |
| occupation | |
| |
A moth flew to the light is a German silent film by and with Fern Andra .
action
Fern, the circus child, wanders through the country with her poor parents, who appear as circus jugglers. One day she met the Crown Prince during a performance at a princely court, who offered her the opportunity to make her dream of becoming a circus dancer come true. En passant she becomes the mistress of the heir to the throne, who, however, when he ascends the same after the father's death, gets rid of her as not befitting. Nevertheless, he does not dismiss Fern penniless, but gives her a large amount of money to continue her life. But the dancer means much more to His Highness, she cannot forget her love and so she wastes all the money to numb the pain of separation.
Fern decreases socially from level to level until one day, starving and freezing, she arrives at a circus begging for admission. The director was once employed by her father and had devoured the little girl. The ringmaster has Fern trained as a tightrope walker, and so well equipped, she soon becomes the attraction of the small circus. One day the former prince and current ruler appears for a performance and takes a seat in the court box. The sight of her former lover confuses the tightrope walker, balancing high under the big top, so that she is unable to concentrate for a moment and falls into the depths in front of the eyes of his high-born.
Production notes
A Moth Flew To The Light was probably filmed in the late spring of 1915 and released in theaters in September of that year. The four-stroke was 1,606 meters long.
The film was the first to be set in the circus people's environment, which was preferred for Andras later work.
Reviews
“An extraordinarily effective act taken from the life of an artist appears to be brilliantly carried out by the masterful act of the charming leading actress Fern Andra. (...) What is particularly noteworthy about this film is the excellently performed circus scenes, with Fern Andra also showing herself to be an excellent wire rope artist. The wire rope production in the big top, where no tricks are used, are worth seeing on their own and significantly increase interest in the very excellent picture. "
Kay Less writes about the thematic environment in Fern Andra's work, for which a moth flew to the light can be considered archetypal: “Andra's cinematic touching pieces, which were preferably set in the world of the nobility or in the circus milieu, found something grateful during the First World War Audience and carried such poignant titles as " Life is serious ", " A hoarfrost fell on the spring night " and " The strings of the soul do not vibrate ". "
The Lichtbild-Bühne said about the finale typical of Andra productions :
"... and so the piece ends as a deeply moving tragedy."
Web links
- A moth flew to light in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A moth flew to the light at The German Early Cinema Database
- A moth flew to the light at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kurt Matull was named as an artistic, literary and technical advisor
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 1: A - C. Erik Aaes - Jack Carson. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 106.