Love, Death and the Devil (1934)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Love, death and the devil |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1934 |
| length | 104 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Heinz Hilpert , Reinhart Steinbicker |
| script |
Josef Pelz von Felinau , Liselotte Gravenstein , Kurt Heuser |
| production | Karl Ritter for the UFA |
| music | Theo Mackeben |
| camera | Fritz Arno Wagner |
| cut | Wolfgang Becker |
| occupation | |
| |
Love, Death and the Devil is a German feature film from 1934 with Käthe von Nagy and Albin Skoda in the leading roles. Directed by Heinz Hilpert and Reinhart Steinbicker .
action
In a harbor bazaar in the Pacific town of Kona, the young sailor Kiwe is offered a mysterious bottle that supposedly gives its owner power and wealth and is supposed to fulfill all of his wishes. However, the required consideration is high. From now on the soul of the new owner belongs to the devil. If the owner wants to resell the bottle, he has to charge less for it than he paid for himself beforehand. Long indulging in wealth in his dreams and thoughts, Kiwe lets himself into the trade without thinking about it for long.
And indeed, all of his dreams will soon come true. Kiwe dreams of money, a lot of money. And so he is soon a rich man. But one day the bottle becomes too scary for him and he sells it on. A little later he met the beautiful Kokua on a trip and fell in love with her. The two want to get married when Kiwe is attacked by an incurable, fatal disease. Now only the bottle could save him, but it cannot be found because it has found new owners over and over again.
One day, Kiwe will be very lucky. He manages to find the current owner and buys the bottle back: for only one cent! As a result, he became the last owner of the bottle, because this price can no longer be undercut. His fate seems sealed, because the last owner has irrevocably committed himself to the devil with skin and hair. But Kokua has a saving idea. Why not get rid of this gift from Satan to an already lost soul? The coup succeeds, and Kiwe and his Kokua lose their earthly prosperity, but now have a real chance to rebuild their earthly happiness on the true values that make a life worth living.
Production notes
The film was made after the presentation of "The Bottle Imp" ( The bottle imp ) by Robert Louis Stevenson . The film was shot in October 1934. The plans included The Unrelenting Luck, The Glass Curse and Two in Hawai as the working title.
Love, Death and the Devil premiered on December 21, 1934 and banned young people. For the first time after the Second World War, the film was shown on March 22, 1981 on Bayerischer Rundfunk television.
The film became famous above all through the melancholy, fatalistic Mackeben song "One way or another is life", which Brigitte Horney performed. Hans Fritz Beckmann wrote the text for it .
Main actor Albin Skoda, his colleague Paul Dahlke and screenwriter Kurt Heuser made their film debut here.
The buildings were designed by Otto Hunte and carried out by Willy Schiller . Herbert Ploberger was responsible for the costume designs.
Reviews
Oskar Kalbus “About the Becoming of German Film Art” raved: “An inspiring film, because it brings the dreams slumbering in everyone to reality, because it awakens the secret, beautiful longings that have been rescued from their youth - the dreams of the wonderful, of happiness Far away, the longing for great adventurous dangers and wild conquests - there - far above the sea ... "
In Heinrich Fraenkel 's' Immortal Film 'it says:' Stevenson's' Flaschenteufelchen ', the story of the magic bottle that fulfills every wish of the owners, but prescribes the last one to the devil, has been turned into an operetta film, the success of which was also that of Horney created chanson 'Either way is life'. "
The lexicon of international films judged the film: "Carefully designed, also musically atmospheric and well played."
See also
Web links
- Love, Death and the Devil in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Love, death and the devil at filmportal.de
- Love, death and the devil at murnau-stiftung.de