Storm over Asia (1938)

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Movie
German title Storm over Asia
Original title Tempête sur l'Asie
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1938
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Richard Oswald
script Richard Oswald
Arnold Lippschitz
T. H. Robert
Dialogues by Jacques Natanson
production Richard Oswald for Rio-Film, Paris
music Ralph Erwin
camera Ted Pahle
cut Max Brenner
Claude Ibéria
occupation

Storm over Asia is a French adventure film from 1938. Directed by Richard Oswald , Conrad Veidt stars .

action

The adventurer Erich Keith has fantastic plans. He wants to set out on a large expedition to East Asia and land there on a large scale. He promises to have large oil deposits on site that he intends to exploit. Around 200 soldiers of fortune march with him, who are also expecting great wealth. Keith's closest confidante are his pretty, young friend Suzanne and the mad doctor Dr. Leclerc.

In Mongolia arrived, the hard Keith soon proves to be veritable despot. He treats the natives like slaves and enslaved and humiliated them in such a way that they revolt under the leadership of Prince Ling, whom Keith had also insulted. When an epidemic breaks out, there is a solid revolt, during which Keith is killed. Suzanne and the doctor, who has been in love with her for a long time, decide to continue the colonization of this barren area with more humane means.

Production notes

In October 1937, director Oswald and his crew traveled to Bulgaria to produce the exterior shots for the film. The film premiered on April 21, 1938 in Paris . While Sturm über Asia in Austria (under the title Adventure in the Far East ) started in 1948, the film was first shown in Germany on October 27, 1950, but went largely unnoticed there.

Storm over Asia is the only sound film collaboration between Conrad Veidt and his great sponsor Richard Oswald. In 1937, the year of filming, it was the twentieth anniversary of their continuous cooperation (in the 1910s and 1920s). Although both emigrated to Hollywood a little later, there was no longer any collaboration.

Several emigrants were involved in this strip produced by Oswald's Rio film. As his production manager Oswald took Fritz Brunn , the cutter Max Brenner also had Oswald's horror story shortly before Hitler came to power in Germany Uncanny Stories cut. Oswald wrote the book with Arnold Lippschitz , who also fled Hitler's Germany ; the music came from another refugee, Ralph Erwin . The cameraman Ted Pahle ( Bel Ami ), who last worked in Vienna , photographed the event. Oswald's 18-year-old son Gerd served his father as assistant director. The actor Sessue Hayakawa , who last shot with Arnold Fanck, was hired from Japan . The Japanese Michiko Tanaka (role of Princess Shô) is the future wife of Viktor de Kowas .

Erich von Stroheim was originally intended for the main role of Keith .

Reviews

In Variety it says: “A moderately good adventure drama, Tempête sur l'Asie is set for success in this country because of Conrad Veidt. It's almost a one man film and Veidt makes all there is to be is made out of a story that sometimes is fantastic enough to seem ludicrous ... "

The Lexicon of International Films writes: "The badly written story is staged carelessly and, despite the good cast, is anything but well played."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Philippe Agostini served Pahle as a simple cameraman
  2. ↑ Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 381.
  3. ^ Variety, Paris edition, May 23, 1938
  4. ↑ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Lexikon des Internationale Films, Volume 7, P. 3645. Reinbek near Hamburg 1987

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