Prince cuckoo
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Prince cuckoo |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1919 |
| length | approx. 99 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul Leni |
| script | Georg Kaiser |
| production | Hanns Lippmann for Gloria-Film GmbH, Berlin |
| music | Friedrich Hollaender |
| camera | Carl Hoffmann |
| occupation | |
and Fritz Junkermann , Toni Zimmerer , Max Ruhbeck , Günther Herrmann , Hanna Ralph , Marga Kierska , Blandine Ebinger , Agnes Wilke | |
Prinz Kuckuck is a German silent film from 1919 by Paul Leni with Conrad Veidt in the leading role.
action
The eccentric millionaire Jeremias Kraker once adopted the young Henry Felix. But this turns out to be rampant and wasteful in every respect. One day old Kraker is dead, leaving all his belongings to Henry. Cracker's nephew Carl and Kraker's niece Berta feel cheated of their inheritance and are not ready to simply accept Cracker's last will. Rather, they are demanding their share from "Prince Cuckoo", who in their eyes has spread to the cozy nest of the wealthy Krakers.
Carl in particular shows himself to be extremely persistent in asserting his claims against the cuckoo relative Henry. He feigns friendship and familiarity, becomes Henry's constant companion and wants to seduce him into sexual debauchery that should lead him straight into the social abyss. When all of his endeavors do not bring the desired result, Carl carries out an insidious assassination attempt on Henry. The assassination attempt was unsuccessful; rather, Carl himself was killed. Henry, on the other hand, is returning to his old habits and squandering his legacy to the full.
Production notes
The five-act film with a length of 2,713 meters was shot in June 1919 and passed censorship three months later. The premiere of the film took place on September 11th, 1919 in the Leipzig Royal Pavilion, on September 24th, 1919 the Berlin premiere was in the Marble House .
The playwright Georg Kaiser based his script on a novel by Otto Julius Bierbaum , the three-volume Prince Kuckuck , published between 1906 and 1908 . Life, deeds, opinions and descent into hell of a voluptuary .
The film structures come from Karl Machus and Otto Moldenhauer . They created a whole lagoon city in Babelsberg . For Moldenhauer and Margarete Schlegel , who plays a supporting role here, these were the first film commitments.
Reviews
The Lichtbild-Bühne judged: "It is probably not an exaggeration to address Paul Leni as the Reinhardt of the film in this work, but the film" Prinz Kuckuck "itself as the strongest thing that German film art has created so far. If anywhere, then The bridge was created here that will bring us back to international recognition on the world market. No matter how nationalistic or anti-German a heart abroad may be, should be able to close itself off to this work. (...) These crowd scenes perhaps show the strongest talent of the painter. Director Leni. Pictures such as the Parisian amusement parks, such as the Carnival in Venice, testify to an ingenious eye for the essentials of such effects. And no less Leni knows how to capture the subtleties of the most delicate images of nature, clouds and sea moods of rare charm for his purposes. High praise This is due to the photography of Karl Hoffmann. Mountain and lake images of unforgettable beauty and a through u nd shown through artistic capture of the film-plastic effect, so that the viewer finally sits in front of a vortex of ever new amazingly beautiful or characteristic images and only has the wish to see everything again immediately in order to be able to absorb it completely. And this wish, which absolutely fulfills everyone who sees the film, actually contains the entire criticism of this work and is more eloquent than any praise it could be. "
In Der Kinematograph it was read: “A work has been completed in silence that stands apart from what cinematography has created so far. Not just the German, but the cinematography. (...) The literary film, the longing of all those who see more than just entertainment in the art of cinematography, has not been fulfilled so far, it has remained with attempts that harmed literature and were of no use to film. And those who believed in the literary note in the film saw it as a company of more than dubious value and success to see Bierbaum very strongly associated with the film. But how very different is the fruit of the labor! New perspectives! Now we have it: the content-wise slavish rendering cannot conjure up the psychological subtleties of the literary work on the screen, the technical side, the purely pictorial is the main thing, and both enable the enjoyment of the psychological in the film. Nevertheless, the tension remains, yet the dramatic plot of unheard-of effect. (...) This man is Paul Leni, the painter-director. He forces all technical film possibilities under his spell, just as he forces the viewer to follow him enthusiastically. This is a new principle, grown out of the self-creative idea, not that constructed idea that always looks like the study, but that idea which, according to the poet, is inherent in the divine spark. (...) For German industry, this film is the golden leaf in the book of its history. "
Individual evidence
Web links
- Prince cuckoo in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Prince Cuckoo at filmportal.de