An American Tragedy (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | An American tragedy |
| Original title | An American Tragedy |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Josef von Sternberg |
| script |
Samuel Hoffenstein Josef von Sternberg (anonymous) |
| production | Josef von Sternberg for Paramount Pictures |
| music |
John Leipold Ralph Rainger |
| camera | Lee Garmes |
| occupation | |
| |
An American Tragedy is an American drama from 1931 directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Phillips Holmes and Sylvia Sidney . The film is based on the novel of the same name (1925) by Theodore Dreiser .
action
Clyde Griffiths, who works as a bellhop in a hotel and is not morally stable, regularly complains about his fate. He thinks he deserves better than jumping for rich guests when asked for. Clyde travels from job to job and one day ends up as a simple worker in the small town of Lycurgus in the clothing factory of industrialist Samuel Griffiths, a paternal uncle. There he managed a modest rise to foreman in a department of this company. Contrary to an internal instruction, which says that private contacts beyond a certain level within the individual departments are not desired, Clive secretly gets into an affair with another Griffiths worker, Roberta Alden. Soon the simple girl will become pregnant by him ...
One day Clyde meets the millionaire heiress Sondra Finchley, who comes from a good and above all wealthy family. They both enjoy each other and are soon planning their wedding. The marriage to Sondra promises Clyde the long-awaited social advancement. But there is also Roberta, who is now expecting a child from him and steadfastly refuses the abortion he has asked for . Clyde does not want to miss the chance to marry into a higher social class and then plans to murder the pregnant woman. Before he can start the bloody act, there is a tragic boat accident in which Roberta is killed when Clyde does not help her. When incriminating documents are found on him that make a preparation for the murder appear evident, Clyde soon comes under urgent suspicion of having carried out his plan and disguised as an "accident". It comes to trial. During the trial, his criminal intentions weigh so heavily on him that these circumstantial evidence suffices to have Clyde convicted of murder.
Production notes
An American tragedy was filmed at Lake Arrowhead (exterior shots) and Paramount Studios (interior shots) in Hollywood in the spring of 1931. The film premiered on August 5, 1931 in New York. The mass start was August 22 of the same year. Whether the film was shown in German cinemas before 1945 cannot be said with certainty at the moment. The German television premiere took place on January 10, 1970 on ARD .
Hans Dreier created the film structures, Travis Banton the costumes. Paul Ivano served as Lee Garmes' simple cameraman, chief cameraman .
Twenty years later, in 1951, a remake came to the cinemas with A Place in the Sun.
Controversies about the film
The reviews were very mixed. Sergej Eisenstein , who was in the USA at the time, was originally supposed to film the material. However, his draft manuscript clearly showed elements that were too socially critical, if not communist, so that the production company refrained from its obligation as a director. Instead, Sternberg was brought on board, and he, by his own admission, “left out all sociological elements. In my opinion, they had nothing to do with the dramatic accident that had occupied Dreiser. ”In the opinion of the finished film, he saw it very differently and sued the production company Paramount, because their film had completely falsified his novel. The court rejected his objection. Eisenstein's reaction to the Sternberg work: "The film is so bad that I couldn't watch it until the end."
Given this multi-level controversy, the commercial success of the Dreiser film was also mixed. While An American Tragedy failed in American cinemas, the film enjoyed some success in European cinemas.
Reviews
Just as the controversies in the run-up to and after filming suggested, so did the reviews: from very benevolent, as in the New York Times and the Daily News, to very close to the verge. Here are a few examples:
"The whole thing winds down like an ordinary film with an unfortunate ending ... As von Sternberg thought it appropriate to show the film, its celluloid structure is a slow, sedate and not always interesting drama."
“In fact, Sternberg has delivered a solid drama of private conflicts that focuses the storyline of the novel on the crucial scenes and then plays them out broadly and effectively. In addition to the dialogue, there were numerous subtitles that proclaimed, in the manner of a silent film, for example: "Back to everyday life, after two magical days!"
In the Lexicon of International Films it says: “A young office worker hopes that marrying a rich girl will lead him to higher ranks; the young worker who is expecting a child from him stands in his way. Drama based on Theodore Dreiser, which works out the milieu and characters intensively. "
“Straightforward retelling of Dreiser's story… Sidney is well cast but the film is cold and doesn't pull you along. Certainly not as blooming as the remake A PLACE IN THE SUN. "
"Outdated but thoroughly pleasing adaptation of a heavyweight novel, more compelling than the 1951 remake Ein Platz in der Sonne ."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reclams Filmführer, p. 200
- ↑ An American Tragedy. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 24, 2018 .
Web links
- An American Tragedy at the Internet Movie Database (English)