King of the Damned
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | King of the Damned |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1935 |
| length | 76, 81 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Walter Forde |
| script | Charles Bennett |
| production | Michael Balcon |
| music | Jack Beaver |
| camera | Bernard Knowles |
| cut | Cyrill Randell |
| occupation | |
| |
King of the Damned is a 1935 British drama directed by Walter Forde and starring Conrad Veidt . Hollywood veteran Noah Beery senior could be seen by his side .
action
Somewhere on a Spanish-speaking Caribbean island called Santa Maria, which is based on the real French prison island Devil's Island . Here, Commander Fernandez rules with a hard hand over the prisoners, who lead a meager existence characterized by hard work in the tropical heat. While the commander is seriously ill, his despotic deputy has taken the helm and harassed the nameless prisoners, some of whom are dying like flies, so that some of them band together and plan a rebellion. They are supposed to be led by the most intelligent and educated among them, who is only listed as "inmate no. 83". He is the "King of the Damned" and will soon live up to this reputation. Then Commander Fernandez dies and his deputy becomes a terrible autocrat.
The first attempt to end the despotism with a rebellion fails, but when one of the inmates is about to be executed, the prisoners make a second attempt, which this time is crowned with success. Inmate No. 83, with whom the daughter of the deceased commandant, Anna Fernandez, who is visiting Santa Maria, has fallen in love, refuses revenge on the perpetrators and instead wants to prove to the authorities from now on that a penal colony can also be established with humanity and decency can lead without breaking or even wanting to humiliate the inmates. But the state authorities have long since taken countermeasures and sent a cruiser to the remote prisoner island. As a result, there is fierce fighting before reason and humanism finally prevail and the leaders of the revolt are guaranteed a fair trial.
Production notes
King of the Damned was made shortly after Conrad Veidt had shot The Passing of the Third Floor Back and was first presented to the public on Christmas Eve 1935 as part of a screening for interested parties. The mass start was on March 30, 1936. The film was not shown in Germany.
OF Werndorff designed the film structures, Elsa Schiaparelli the costumes. Louis Levy was the musical director.
Reviews
In film Weekly was to read as follows: "The raw power of this drama the improvement is even more British production methods of the past year. The makers of the film set themselves the difficult task of depicting a convict colony surrounded by jungles and swamps somewhere in the Caribbean and they did it amazingly well. The scenery and the atmosphere are convincing. The dirty huts, the stone fortifications and the rampant vegetation actually suggest a real backdrop. (...) The climax of the film are the spectacular crowd scenes. Seldom has one seen more impressive and more exciting scenes of this kind in a British film. "
"[The film] exaggerates the gloom so much that it thwarts its goal."
Halliwell's Film Guide found the film to be "a downright peculiar project for a British film studio at the time, but technically very competent for those who like it."
Individual evidence
- ^ Film Weekly, January 4, 1936
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 561
Web links
- King of the Damned in the Internet Movie Database (English)