Tannenberg (1932)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Tannenberg |
| Country of production | Germany , Switzerland |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1932 |
| length | 105 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Heinz Paul |
| script | Heinz Paul Paul Oskar Höcker Georg von Viebahn |
| production | Lazar Wechsler for Praesens-Film Berlin-Zurich |
| music | Ernst Erich Buder |
| camera |
Georg Bruckbauer Viktor Gluck |
| occupation | |
| |
Tannenberg is a Swiss-German feature film by Heinz Paul from 1932 with Hans Stüwe in the lead role.
action
The film begins shortly after the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 on the Eastern Front. The Russian surprise attack on the north-easternmost part of the country hit the German defenders hard. The overwhelming power of the tsarist army pushed the German soldiers back and made it necessary to evacuate the inhabitants of eastern East Prussia into the interior of the province. Rittmeister von Arndt leads a German battery against the Russians; by chance he and his men get lost on their own property when they retreat. Arndt's wife does not want to comply with the order to join the refugees' trek to the west. Grete von Arndt wants to hold out because, like the wife of the landlord Puchheiten, she firmly believes in relief from the German troops and in repulsing the enemy. However, Arndt cannot withstand the advancing Russians, and so his country seat is soon taken by the enemy. As the military situation worsened, the OHL in Berlin decided to replace the previous Commander in Chief of the 8th Army, Count Waldersee, and to reactivate General Paul von Hindenburg, who was already retired. This reorganized the army from the ground up and had all the scattered German soldiers picked up at the Masurian lakes.
The young hussar Franke was overrun by the Russian military machine and is hiding on the occupied Arndt estate. With the help of Fritz, the ten-year-old son of Mrs. Puchheiten, he wants to try to get through to the German lines. This attempt to break out succeeds, and Franke brings his people important news, namely that the Russian Lieutenant General Mingin has set up his headquarters on the Arndtschen estate. Soon after, the decisive battle near Tannenberg breaks out. While the Russian advance can be stopped, von Arndt receives the order to bombard his own estate. Since his wife Grete had decided to stay, as is well known, von Arndt would probably have to accept the death of his own family. Fritz Puchheiten offers to secretly return to the desperate landlord to warn Arndt's family of the threatening shelling. Fierce fighting ensues in which von Arndt falls, but his family remains alive. The outcome of the Battle of Tannenberg corresponds to this small victory of the German troops: a great victory for the German army.
Production notes
Tannenberg was built on June 17, 1932 and was completed the following month. The outdoor shots were taken in East Prussia on the Masurian Lakes. The film consisted of 12 acts and was initially 2,891 meters long. By shortening the objectionable scenes (see below), the film finally had a length of just under 2,762 meters and was released by the censorship on August 29, 1932 for young people. The premiere took place on August 31, 1932 in Vienna. Then the film was shown in the provinces in order to be able to assess the audience reactions there. The subject was sensitive insofar as Paul von Hindenburg, who had advanced to become the “hero of Tannenberg”, held the office of Reich President at that time . In Berlin, Tannenberg was finally performed for the first time on September 27, 1932 in the Primus Palast and the Titania Palast .
Harry Dettmann acted as production manager, Heinz Ritter took care of the still photos. The film construction came from Robert A. Dietrich , Adolf Jansen provided the sound. The professional officer Georg von Viebahn, who had also been involved in the script, served as military advisor.
Censorship problems
Because the “Held von Tannenberg”, Paul von Hindenburg, was already head of state at the time of shooting, the film was presented to him before it was released. Hindenburg disagreed with some of the scenes affecting him, so that the film testing agency, in hasty obedience, banned all scenes in which Hindenburg appeared.
Historical background
The Battle of Tannenberg took place from August 26th to 30th, 1914 in southern East Prussia . 153,000 German soldiers faced 191,000 Russian opponents. The 8th Army, led by Hindenburg and his chief of staff and chief strategist Ludendorff, triumphed over the Russian first Nyemen Army under General Rennenkampff and the second Narew Army under General Samsonow . The tsarist troops had since been so weakened that they were unable to make any decisive advance against German territory during the entire World War.
Reviews
“Heinz Paul, otherwise a specialist and veteran in war films as he demonstrated with 'Douaumont', has made a poor film with 'Tannenberg': a cinematic reconstruction of a school reading book, reportage-like, didactic. In front of the grandiose backdrop, where is the captivating, dramatic and, above all, the moving cinematic element? The battle of Tanneberg was actually won by the heroic marches of the troops, as shown by the graphic maps of Major Georg von Viebahn in the film. The film images don't show it. Instead, they show an unimportant novelistic game plot with Hans Stüwe as the Uhlan riding master and landowner ... "
Paimann's film lists summed up: “Without tendency, without hurray patriotism, a factual representation of fighting, showing more strategic operations than battle details. Some strong scenes in addition to excessively stretched passages, explanatory graphics. Mood-saturated illustration music ..., impeccable photography ... As a reportage film above average. "
Individual evidence
- ^ Ulrich J. Klaus: German sound films. 3rd year 1932. Berlin 1990. p. 226
- ↑ Tannenberg in Paimann's film lists ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Tannenberg in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Tannenberg at filmportal.de