Ludwig the Second, King of Bavaria
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Ludwig the Second, King of Bavaria |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1930 |
| length | 143 (uncensored original version) 117 (shown version) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wilhelm Dieterle |
| script | Wilhelm Dieterle Charlotte Hagenbruch Lajos Biró |
| production |
Paul Kohner for Universal Studios , Berlin |
| music | Hansheinrich Dransmann |
| camera | Charles Stumar |
| occupation | |
and Eugen Burg , Hubert von Meyerinck , Hedwig Pauly-Winterstein , Ferdinand von Alten , Grete Maria Markstein , Johanna Klemperer , Friedrich Ettel , Franz Neuner , Georg D. Gürtler , Josef Reithofer , Michael von Newlinski , Harro Helwig , Arthur Duarte , Paul Günther , Max Schreck | |
Louis the Second, King of Bavaria is a 1929 by William Dieterle twisted, German history - silent film . Dieterle took on the title role himself .
action
The film traces the most important stages in the life of the Bavarian monarch, Ludwig II of Bavaria , but mainly focuses on the last years of his life.
After early political successes, his wastefulness is spreading. Ludwig has castles built that correspond to his ambitious visions of perfect harmony and noble art. As a result of these enormous expenditures, the state of Bavaria is getting more and more into catastrophic financial difficulties. Soon the people and the entire court turn against him, including his closest confidante, Empress Elisabeth , and her little sister, Princess Sophie , become more and more estranged from him.
Isolated and driven by the sensation of being misunderstood and of being surrounded only by enemies and small minds, Ludwig's behavior gradually takes on delusional traits. The king is then first isolated from the outside world and then placed under a curate. Finally he comes along with his personal physician Dr. Gudden , died under unexplained circumstances in Lake Starnberg .
Production notes
The outdoor recordings in Bavaria took place in October 1929 and the studio recordings in the Ufa studio in Neubabelsberg from mid-November 1929 to January 1930. On December 31, 1929, Ludwig the Second, King of Bavaria, passed his first film examination; numerous more were to follow. As a result of multiple cuts, the length of the film shrank from the original 3963 meters to 3106 meters. The film was finally premiered on March 10, 1930 in the Titania-Palast (Berlin), while in Bavaria after numerous state protests it was initially banned from showing.
Ludwig the Second, King of Bavaria was Dieterle's last silent film. Joe Pasternak was in charge of production. Ernst Stern and Erich Grave were responsible for the film construction, Grave also designed the costumes.
The then 18-year-old Trude von Molo made her film debut here with the Austrian Empress Elisabeth.
Reviews
In Bavaria in particular, the film was discussed as intensely as it was massively attacked. Above all, there were concerns about the fact that much space was given to the monarch's creeping madness in the historical drama. Obviously there were massive disputes between the nationwide film censorship in Berlin and the corresponding offices in Munich. The Bavarian state government is said to have repeatedly tried to influence the censorship notices made in Berlin. At times, the Munich Police Department even issued a performance ban for the Bavarian capital.
In the Münchner Neuesten Nachrichten , Erwein Freiherr von Aretin wrote a long assessment of the film after a press screening.
“I cannot say that I just entered the Gloria Palace with the will to unconditionally accept what was commanded. How reluctant one is to see people whose judgment is highly emotional act on the indifferent screen, we will talk about it later. It was all the more impressive to me that, on the whole, the film we got to see in no way offended the deep feelings of veneration I feel for its unfortunate hero. The actor Ludwig II, who is also listed as the director of the film, Wilhelm Dieterle, brings a lot with him for the figure of the king: a tall, proud figure, the noble shape of a broad-headed head, which only looks a bit embarrassing, mask-like in some lower views, a soft, romantic expression in the eyes. His playing has an elegant attitude and depth and increases in the course of the game [...] So it happens that the last acts of the royal drama can really be called effective and good in a good sense. In this version, one can rightly no longer speak of a brutal effect of the picture strip. Some parts of the text are out of tune. If the Empress Elisabeth's film puts into my mouth the words, which cannot be proven in their authenticity, that the King would still rule if he had spent his millions on works of war instead of works of peace, this has more effect after Berlin 1930 than after Possenhofen 1886 sounding word somewhat sobering in its robust tendency. [...] The film in the form presented (...) does not give us the right to take legal action. But there is a lot of explosive piling up around him, primarily due to the unbelievably clumsy first decision of the senior inspection office that whoever is responsible for order must see more than a series of flawless images. "
The representative of the Völkischer Beobachter, who was present at the same special performance on March 5, 1930 in the Berlin Gloria-Palast , poisoned in the following issue of the anti-Semitic house post of the NSDAP : "So: the curtain is falling apart and -" Carl Laemmle shows ": (of all things Carl Laemmle , the equally anti-German as well as Jewish film king from the USA) Ludwig II., King of Bavaria - and now all the unknown names appear, mostly of Jewish origin, who are usually involved in the creation of such a film. For the production management z. B. a Mr. Pasternak. King Ludwig II is portrayed well in mask and game by the well-known director of the film, Wilhelm Dieterle, all gestures and the tortured facial expression of the suffering king are embodied through 11 acts with acting skills, which, however, are embarrassing. "
After the war, CineGraph pointed out the difficult circumstances involved in making and showing the film:
“His two-hour film biography about LUDWIG II. (1930), which he put together with Reinhardt's set designer Ernst Stern, caused a racket. His static, rather decorative, but unvarnished picture chronicle brings him the reproach of "defiling the king's relatives and damaging the reputation of the German Empire abroad." The film is severely mutilated by the censors, and even banned in Bavaria. "
Web links
- Louis the Second, King of Bavaria in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Ludwig the Second, King of Bavaria at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm (William) Dieterle - actor, director . In: CineGraph - Lexikon zum Deutschsprachigen Film , Lg. 22, F 11
- ^ Völkischer Beobachter , Bayernausgabe, Munich No. 55, of March 7, 1930