The Soldier and the Lady

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Movie
Original title The Soldier and the Lady
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1937
length 85 minutes
Rod
Director George Nicholls Junior
script Mortimer Offner
Anthony Veiller
Anne Morrison Chapin
production Pandro S. Berman and Joseph N. Ermolieff for RKO , Los Angeles
music Nathaniel Shilkret
camera Joseph H. August
cut Frederic Knudtson
occupation

The Soldier and the Lady is an American adventure film shot in 1936 with Adolf Wohlbrück in the lead role. The material is based on the novel The Czar's Courier by Jules Verne .

action

This inexpensive production, a Hollywood remake of Richard Eichberg's Der Kurier des Zaren with the same leading actor, is based heavily on the Franco-German film that was shot twelve months earlier.

It tells the story of Lieutenant Michael Strogoff, who, on behalf of the Russian Tsar , is supposed to bring a secret deployment plan to the Siberian city of Irkutsk , which is besieged by the Tatars . Numerous dangers lurk on the arduous path there. His opponent is the brutal and dumb Colonel Ogareff, supported by his lover Zangarra. On the way to Irkutsk, Strogoff gets to know the pretty, young Nadia, who is to accompany him to the enclosed city from now on.

On the journey there, Strogoff was able to escape the Tatars many times, but eventually fell into the hands of his worst adversary. Ogareff blinds the courier and, with the secret plan in his pocket, sneaks the trust of the tsarist representative in Irkutsk in Strogoff's name. At the last moment, the blind Strogoff, who has meanwhile also arrived in Irkutsk, with Nadja's help can overcome the villainous Ogareff and save the city from the invaders.

Production notes

The Soldier and the Lady was written in Hollywood in the last three months of 1936 . The exterior shots of Eichberg's film were inserted into the film. Immediately after the filming of Port Arthur was completed, the lead actor Wohlbrück entered the USA on September 30, 1936, thereby fulfilling a film contract with the RKO for this remake. The first performance of The Soldier and the Lady took place on April 9, 1937.

Joseph N. Ermolieff , who had already produced the Czar 's Courier in 1935 , also made this remake. Van Nest Polglase designed the film structures , assisted by Perry Ferguson and Darrell Silvera . The costumes come from Walter Plunkett .

Since Wohlbrück's German “ Kurier ” had recently started with great success, this US version was never shown in Germany. In Great Britain the film ran under the title Michael Strogoff and The Adventures of Michael Strogoff respectively . In fact, this remake was not a great success with the public and ended Wohlbrück's Hollywood career early. Instead, the Austrian traveled from America to England at the end of January 1937, where he was to become a veritable film star in a short time under the signature of Anton Walbrook .

Reviews

Frank S. Nugent wrote in the New York Times on April 10, 1937 : “Fortunately it is not a film which requires subtlety of its players. Its accent is on scene rather than performance, and George Nicholls Jr., its director, has been too preoccupied with his cavalry charges, his battles, his skirmishes on land and river to fret unduly over his cast. (...) Akim Tamiroff, as the ogre Ogareff, is such a villainous villain that the audience — shame on it! —Was sophisticated enough to applaud him. Anton Walbrook, who used to be the Viennese Adolf Wohlbrueck, is a rigidly virtuous Strogoff who heroically resists Margot Grahame's blandishments and refuses to recognize his own mother when the Czar's duty calls. Mr. Walbrook's first Hollywood venture is rather inconclusive, in fact, for the picture asks little more than a mood of sustained nobility and the favor, in an inexplicably prolonged fadeout, of a close-up of him with a far-away look. "

The Movie & Video Guide wrote: "Visually impressive, with sweeping battle scenes, though most exteriors were lifted from previous European version, which also starred Walbrook".

Halliwell's Film Guide characterized the film as follows: “Mildly ambitious swashbuckler from a story much remade in Europe; the elements jelled quite well in the Hollywood fashion ".

The journal Variety gave a short and concise verdict in 1937: “A film spectacle that lacks strength and name. Will get into trouble. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Kay Wenigers 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. p. 662
  2. ^ The Soldier and the Lady in New York Times
  3. ^ Translation: "Fortunately, it is not a film that demands subtlety on the part of its actors. The emphasis is on storyline design rather than acting, and George Nicholls Jr., the director, has been too preoccupied with cavalry affairs, fighting and skirmishes in the countryside and rivers to worry about his cast . (...) Akim Tamiroff as the Ogareff monster is such a villainous villain that the audience - shame on it! - was smart enough to applaud him. Anton Walbrook, the former Viennese Adolf Wohlbrueck, is a Strogoff of unyielding virtue who heroically resists Margot Grahame's flattery and refuses to recognize his own mother when duty calls for the tsar. Mr. Walbrook's first Hollywood venture remains rather ambiguous, especially since the film demands little more than to show generosity throughout and to be granted the privilege of gazing into the distance in fades that are constantly used for inexplicable reasons. "
  4. ↑ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1210. Translation: "Visually impressive, with rousing fight scenes, although a large part of the exterior shots were taken from the previous European version, in which Walbrook also played the leading role."
  5. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 936. Translation: “Tolerably ambitious coat-and-sword film based on a story that was often filmed in Europe. The components develop quite well in Hollywood style. "
  6. ↑ Original: “Spectacle film lacking strength and names. Will have its troubles. "

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