People and masks (1913)

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Movie
Original title People and masks
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1913
length approx. 100 (both parts) minutes
Rod
Director Harry Piel
script Harry Piel
production Jules Greenbaum
camera Alfons Hepke
occupation

People and Masks is a two-part, silent German sensational film from 1913 with Ludwig Trautmann as a detective on the trail of a gang of crooks. The genre-experienced Harry Piel directed .

action

As in most of Harry Piel's productions, the content clearly lags behind the action-packed and sensational action sequences. In both parts of this film, the smart detective Braun is at the center of the action. He is on the trail of a posh gang of savvy crooks called "The Black 13", headed by the elegant, blonde millionaire Ellen Sandow, who has given herself the code name "Red Jack" as the gang leader. Again and again Braun has to undergo a wide variety of masking in order to track down the goings-on of the criminals. Sometimes you see him as an old valet, then again as a rascal or a beggar.

Production notes

People and Masks was created in spring (part 1) and in August / September (part 2) 1913 in the Vitascope Atelier (studio recordings) in Berlin's Lindenstrasse 32–34 and around Berlin (exterior recordings). The first part consisted of two or three acts, depending on the source, and was 932 meters long. It was submitted to censorship on May 19, 1913 and premiered on June 6 of the same year. The three-act second part passed film censorship in September 1913 and opened in cinemas on October 10, 1913. A youth ban has been issued.

The film structures were designed by Hermann Warm . The contributors Hedda Vernon and Hubert Moest were married to each other at the time.

criticism

“ 'People and Masks' is an exquisitely made detective drama. The detective Braun ... plays the most diverse people in the most diverse masks but so brilliantly that one follows the sensations of this film with delight. "

- Cinematographic review of the first part

“… The plot is always exciting and interesting, even where it is at the limit of what is probable and humanly possible. Of course, there is no lack of daring jumps from vehicle to vehicle, over bridges and trains, climbing tours and windmill fires, in short the whole register of the most popular sensational picture tricks is in use. "

- Cinematographic review of the second part

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ filmportal.de calls him "Kelly Brown"
  2. ↑ Cinematographische Rundschau from June 1, 1913. P. 63
  3. ↑ Cinematographische Rundschau of September 28, 1913. p. 89

Web links