Willy Rath

Willy Rath (born September 21, 1872 in Wiesbaden , German Reich ; † January 16, 1940 in Berlin ) was a German journalist , writer , cabaret artist , screenwriter , silent film director and theater director.

Live and act

Education and early artistic activities

Rath had attended high schools in his hometown of Wiesbaden and in Montabaur and then studied law in Munich, Rome and Lausanne as well as German in Berlin (1893-1897). Rath began working as a freelance writer when he was still a student and wrote several articles for magazines and daily newspapers. In addition, he headed the Walhalla Theater in his native Wiesbaden for two years and worked as an editor and drama critic in Frankfurt am Main and Munich ( Münchner Aktuell Nachrichten , 1900 to 1902). For a short time, Willy Rath was also deputy director of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus .

In his versatility, the Munich resident also found the time to co-found the literary cabaret Die Elf Scharfrichter , where he performed under the name "Willibaldus Rost", but was replaced a little later by Frank Wedekind . Also in Munich in 1908, Rath founded the “Word and Tone Association for popular matinees” and headed this association until 1910. In Berlin, from 1915 to 1918, Willy Rath was the publishing director and head of department in the "German creditor protection association for hostile foreign countries" and also journalist in the Reich Chancellery and the Foreign Office.

As a writer and screenwriter

Rath had been interested in cinematography, which had not yet been developed , even before the First World War and had published books ( stage and film ) on this subject from 1913 . With works such as Schwesterseele (a popular monograph), The blonde Sphinx (a collection of novels) and Countess Wilewsky (a novel), he also remained connected to other topics. The stage works performed by Rath were called Haus Distelfink (a Rhenish comedy), Princess Sida , Serenissimus and Roman der Adventurer .

At the end of the World War Rath also came directly to film and in the following decade and a half wrote an abundance of scripts for largely artistically unambitious entertainment productions. These included literary adaptations as well as romanticizing heroic epics from the past war and homeland film stories such as his only three sound film manuscripts from 1934. In 1924 he also took part in directing a two-part series about the film detective Harry Hill .

Filmography

As a screenwriter unless otherwise stated

• 1919: Mountain Sins
• 1919: The avenger
• 1919: The seventh great power
• 1919: Ubo Thomsen's return home
• 1920: The love corridor
• 1920: The black rose from Cruska
• 1920: Countess Walewska
• 1920: shadow of an hour
• 1921: Flotsam of passion
• 1921: Under the spell of a claw
• 1922: Don Juan
• 1922: wilderness
• 1922: Hanneles Ascension
• 1923: Wilhelm Tell
• 1924: The radio marriage
• 1924: Harry Hill's Hunt for Death, two parts (also co-director)
• 1924: The butterfly battle
• 1925: The little one from America
• 1925: People's favorites
• 1925: The city of millions
• 1926: love and natural history
• 1926: The sunken fleet
• 1927: The Lorelei
• 1927: Richthofen, the red knight of the air
• 1927: U 9 ​​Weddigen
• 1928: The Hannerl from the rainbow
• 1928: Om mani padme hub (documentary, co-director and editor)
• 1934: Hubertus Castle
• 1934: virgin against monk
• 1934: The mill in the Black Forest

literature

• Kurt Mühsam / Egon Jacobsohn: Lexicon of the film . Lichtbildbühne publishing house, Berlin 1926. p. 147.

Web links

• Willy Rath in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Willy Rath at filmportal.de
• Gustav Berthold Volz (ed.): The works of Frederick the Great. In German translation. Ten volumes . Translator: Friedrich von Oppeln-Bronikowski , Willy Rath, Carl Werner von Jordans , Illustrator: Adolph von Menzel . Berlin 1913/1914