Married to war
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Married to war |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1914 |
| length | approx. 41 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers |
| production | Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers |
| occupation | |
| |
Kriegsgetraut is a propagandistic, German war silent film from 1914 by Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers .
action
first act
The action takes place at the beginning of the First World War . Shortly before the outbreak of hostilities, Kommerzienrat Hartwig and his wife urge their son to marry the charming Belgian Jeanette, the daughter of Hartwig's business friend, the wholesale merchant Vranken. But Fritz is very indifferent to this father's wish and tries to avoid the Vrankens' visit to Berlin as much as possible. When he came home from his lawyer's office one day, Fritz couldn't help but pay his respects to Jeanette and his parents in the park. There, too, Fritz remained more than cautious, if not to say cool, whereupon he soon had a serious discussion with his father. Now Fritz comes out with the language and explains to his father that he has been the father of a son named Wilhelm for three years. Fritz tells how the summer flirtation with Liesa, the child's mother, grew into a deep love. It was only for social reasons that neither of them had married yet. The father is furious and gives Fritz the choice: "Either your parents or your lover!"
Second act
Liesa is a good-natured, dear creature. She inherited her talent for art from her father, a painter with a tendency to gamble. Now she is sitting in her little room and painting lampshades in order to earn some extra money. Three-year-old Wilhelm, the fruit of love from her relationship with Fritz, plays at her feet. As a proud, patriotic father, he will one day bring the toddler a black, white and red flag, and everyone agrees: the boy will one day make a good soldier! You sit comfortably in the warm August sun in the park, when it sounds: "The emperor had to draw the sword to preserve the German honor!" Fritz is happy about the mobilization, the reservist can't wait to put on the field-gray coat and fight the enemy. Liesa is worried on the one hand, but is also happy that he can serve the emperor and fatherland. To say goodbye, Fritz goes back to his parents' house. Servant Johann opens the door for him and says excitedly that he is pleased to be able to serve with him in the same regiment. Fritz announces that he wants to finally marry Liesa beforehand, but even now his father is unwilling to give him his blessing, despite his wife's pleading. It is married in field gray, and servant Johann, who gives the best man, is already dressed in his uniform. Under a pretext, Fritz's mother leaves the house and goes to Liesa to watch her, her son and the grandchild. Meanwhile, the old Commerce Council rummages through memories. He attaches the Iron Cross to his chest, which he acquired in the war of 1870/71, overcomes his pride and goes the same way that his wife had recently taken. A heartfelt reconciliation ensues, then Fritz and Johann move in.
Production notes
Married to war is a typical example of a cinematic snap shot as an immediate reaction to the outbreak of the First World War . The two-act film produced in the BB-Film-Atelier in Berlin-Steglitz passed the film censorship in September 1914 and was probably premiered that same month.
Contemporary history
In 1935, from a National Socialist point of view, Oskar Kalbus tried to classify this film genre under the heading “Feldgrauer Filmkitsch”, which saw a real boom in the German Reich in 1914 and 1915 in particular. He writes:
“A certain trunk of experienced film manufacturers could not be frightened, however. First of all, they let their manifold relationships play out in order to be exempted from military service, because they felt called to offer the German people sensational hits "panem et circensis" in their quieter homeland, bearing in mind an ancient Roman experience : Relaxation and distraction, encouragement and encouragement. The cinema should now offer all of this. It was hoped that the general joy in the victories of our army would give rise to the desire for communication, for distracting experiences and, above all, for people to be gathered together in the “little man's theater”. In addition to the current film recordings from the theaters of war, the field-gray film kitsch - or the so-called "patriotic" film of 1914/15. "