Under the spell of the past
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Under the spell of the past |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1915 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Harry Piel |
| script | Harry Piel |
| production | Max Maschke |
| camera | Gotthardt Wolf |
| occupation | |
| |
In the spell of the past is a German crime silent film drama from 1915 by Harry Piel with Fritz Kortner in the lead role.
action
The dancer Lolo, the star of a great variety show, is the wife of its director, who, however, treats her very carelessly and only regards her as a perfect source of income. With so little attention, she soon finds a comforter who also becomes her lover. When her husband sees the two kissing, he takes out the riding whip and brutally intervenes. Now Lolo has finally had enough of her loveless and irascible husband, leaves the establishment at night and in fog and settles in another city under a new name. Here she wants to start again as a singer. The morning after her departure, her husband is found dead, and of course the escaped woman is immediately suspected. The circus clown, not the brightest in his head, testifies that the couple had a heated argument recently and that he thinks Lolo is the murderer.
This knows nothing of all of this and has just found a commitment. She now appears wearing a mask, but here too she cannot find peace, as a penetrating, stubborn admirer, like an artist, is constantly chasing her. Since she regularly rejects him, he wants to take revenge on Lolo. It fits him well that he finds out by chance that his beloved is identical to the alleged murderer. He reports her, and the police are waiting to arrest Lolo as soon as she appears. At the last moment she manages to escape and the artist returns to her hometown at the side of a new lover, a count. That count has in the meantime made inquiries to prove the innocence of his loved ones. He struck gold: a short farewell letter from the circus director was found on the circus clown, in which he announced his suicide.
Production notes
Under the spell of the past , the censorship test passed in July 1915 and was probably premiered in the same month. The strip had four acts over a length of 1,120 meters. It was one of Fritz Kortner's first appearances in a film.
reception
“The plot is masterfully executed in the film image. A series of equally beautiful and gripping scenes will turn this film into one of the most popular variety dramas of the next season. "