My Leopold (1913)

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Movie
Original title My Leopold
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1913
length approx. 98 minutes
Rod
Director Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers
script Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers based
on the Berliner Volksstück (1873) by Adolph L'Arronge
production German Gaumont Society (Targa Film), Berlin
camera Hermann Schadock
occupation

Mein Leopold is a German silent film folk play from 1913 by Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers .

action

The master shoemaker Gottlieb Weigelt has come a long way. He has his own large shop and has employed a foreman and twelve journeymen. His everything is his son Leopold, a good-for-nothing who tries more badly than right as a court trainee, but above all shines through his absence and laziness. But he is very big in spending his father's money. His financial situation becomes so precarious when he meets a dancer who turns out to be a very expensive pleasure. Soon Leopold found himself obliged to forge his father's signature in order to trigger the change of his moneylender. Old Weigelt does not realize how deeply his beloved son is slipping into a dangerous situation. He even wrote an angry letter to a judge because, in Weigelt's eyes, he did not want to see the true worth of Leopold. Weigelt's foreman, Starke, tries just as unsuccessfully to open the old man's eyes as does Klara Weigelt, who always received less attention and love from her father than Leopold. She joins the efforts of the strong she loves. Weigelt furiously throws Starke out of his business and breaks away from Klara.

Leopold Weigelt's extravaganzas soon drained all of his father's fortune. Finally, the father's company also goes under the hammer. There is hardly anything left to get from the old man when Leopold leaves. For the first time, the father, who has now lost everything, sees the son's behavior as a real blow. He has to rearrange his life and starts all over again: as a little cobbler in a foreign company. The unscrupulous son has also reached the bottom; in Hamburg he joins a tramp and goes on a tour with him. He and his friend, however, luckily find a job in a machine factory. Now a change is taking place in Leopold's nature: he is diligent and reliable, works hard and one day even manages to become a partner in the company. Over the years, Weigelt and his daughter, who has since married Starke, have reconciled. Leopold, who knows nothing of his father's decline due to his long absence, has recently tried in vain to find out his whereabouts. With father Weigelt and daughter Klara, Leopold is also considered missing. Only her husband, Starke, finds out about Leopold's whereabouts and can arrange a reconciliation between father and son.

Production notes

My Leopold was shot in the Bolten-Baeckers-Filmstudio in Berlin-Steglitz , passed the censorship on December 5th, 1913 and was shown publicly for the first time at the end of the month on the Vienna film market. The German premiere probably took place on January 17, 1914 in the Berlin Admiralstheater. With five acts and 1,793 meters in length, the film was unusually long for its time. Due to the production company Deutsche Gaumont-Gesellschaft, the film is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a French production.

My Leopold would prove to be extremely popular film material over the decades. After this first filming, other versions followed in 1919, 1924, 1931 and 1955. In 1987 a version was made for GDR television. All silent film versions were made by Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers.

The Austrian actress Lotte Erol, who allegedly made her film debut here, was the stepmother of Lien Deyers . The cast of Felix Basch, which can sometimes be read, cannot be confirmed.

criticism

“Not only was there a resourceful and purposeful director at work, who captured everything in the film that was dear to the audience on stage, but artists who are fully aware of their task were also used throughout. In the last act, the shoemaker Weigel has a simple, touching humanity, the Mehlmeyer a character full of drolleries, the Emma a lovable councilor's daughter and the strong one the same weather-beaten old fellow as his archetype on the stage. In general, the film is the faithful, well-done photograph of an old good friend, because it lives in our memory. The film "Mein Leopold" will go the same way as the stage play. "

- Cinematographic review of December 28, 1913. p. 110

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