King Menelaus in the cinema
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | King Menelaus in the cinema |
| Country of production | Austria-Hungary |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1913 |
| length | about 16 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hans Otto |
| script | Hans Otto |
| production |
Siegmund Philipp Arnold Pressburger |
| music | Robert proud |
| camera | Ludwig Schaschek |
| occupation | |
| |
König Menelaus im Kino is a short, Austro-Hungarian silent film flick from 1913.
action
The Offenbach 'sche Spartan King Menelaus has awoken from millennial sleep and been lured along with the royal Großaugur Kalchas of a resourceful theatrical agent to Vienna in the Adriatic exhibition to visit the Marine cinema. There the monarch turns to the people and gives a speech to the people in the auditorium. The crowd of guests listens to his words. Menelaus makes a dancer in the audience and is in love with shock. In front of her husband present, he kidnaps the surprised beauty and soon has the angry husband on his heels. There is a funny and turbulent chase, which is broadcast on the cinema screen in the hall. In the end, it all turns out to be just a high-spirited joke that a small group of actors working for the film put on for everyone's amusement.
Production notes
King Menelaus in the cinema was seen as an attempt to reconcile cinematography, which was still scholarly at the time, with prestigious theatrical art, by interweaving both art forms and thus uniting them with one another. The first performance of the approximately 300-meter-short one-act play took place on July 26, 1913 in the marine cinema of the Adria exhibition.
The operetta composer Robert Stolz also provided a couplet for this film fun with “Because everything goes according to the meter”. The "Menelaus" script is considered to be the oldest film manuscript in Austria that is still in existence today.
Reviews
“The novelty is that you let one part play on the stage and the other part on the screen, which, when properly mixed, has an infallible effect. (...) The director was the chansonnier Hans Otto, who is known from “Hell”, excellently. (…) As a theater agent Rosensaft, Friedrich Becker was irresistible. (...) Kapellmeister Stolz had contributed genuinely Viennese music. "
“The attempt to bring theater and cinema into harmony within the framework of a swaying… has probably succeeded. (...) Robert Stolz wrote amiable music for the funny plot, which, like the presentation, met with lively applause from the audience. A coupletter “Because everything goes by meters” was particularly successful. Messrs Nekut (Menelaus) and Bartl (Kalchas), as well as the chic dancer Finy Bonnot, made a name for themselves. "
"The adventures of the merry Spartan king ... were laughed at by the numerous, distinguished audience."
“The attempt… to reconcile theater and cinema in the context of a funny swing, as the premiere has shown, was a complete success. (...) Messrs. Nekut, Bartl, Hanus, Winterberg and Miss Bonnot made a great contribution to the presentation. Special praise is due to the excellent director Mr. Otto. The audience gave plenty of applause. "
“In this film fluctuation, a new kind of possible application of the film emerges, which should certainly interest the large audience. The practical value of this film fluctuation for the industry is probably to contribute to the popularity of the cinematograph and to attract the audience to a large exhibition for the cinema. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Otto Löwenstein on filmarchiv.at ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
literature
- Walter Fritz: "King Menelaus in the cinema" or the aberrations of the cinema in Austria (1896–1929); in: Filmkunst Jg. 44 (1992), H. 133, 41-48: 6 notes, 12 lit. ISSN 0015-1599
Web links
- King Menelaus in the cinema in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- King Menelaus in the cinema at filmportal.de