Circus Wolfson's last gala performance

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Movie
German title Circus Wolfson's last gala performance
Original title Ultima rappresentazione di gala del circo Wolfson
Country of production Italy
original language Italian
Publishing year 1916
length 67 to 73 minutes
Rod
Director Alfred Lind
script Alfred Lind
camera Alfred Lind
occupation

Circus Wolfson's last gala performance is an Italian silent film in the form of a “sensational artist drama ” from 1916 by Alfred Lind .

action

The daughter of the circus director Wolfson, a young artist - in the first Austrian version called Evelyn, in the later, German version Kaja - one day gets to know and love a handsome aristocrat (called Hereditary Count Heinrich in the Austrian version). One day the circus has to move on, and the high-class man pretends to be ill so as not to have to part with the beloved artist. Only when he learns of his father's death and is supposed to inherit the count does he decide against the artist and leave the disappointed girl.

The artist hopes for his return for a while, but then decides to move on with her father's circus. But she is already pregnant by her lover. The angry father then wants to cast off his daughter, who he believes has brought disgrace to the traveling people. The artist tries to take her own life by jumping into the water, but is seen by traveling jugglers, rescued and taken in their midst. Evelyn / Kaja gives birth to their baby, but after two years the child dies. The young woman can no longer stand the jugglers and flees from there.

Arrived in front of the summer residence of the Count's seducer, she wants to make one more attempt to see her old love again. Until then, she was secretly followed by a monkey, with which the artist had made friends with the traveling jugglers. The monkey sees the count's child and his current wife and steals it from the castle in order to present Evelyn / Kaja with a replacement for his own lost baby. The nimble climber reaches the second floor via the castle's lightning rod, steals the count's baby and piles up. The servants and castle guards hurry after the monkey who is holding the toddler in his arms until they all land on a factory site. Driven into a corner by the pack, the monkey climbs up a factory chimney, where the ladders of the called fire brigade no longer reach either.

The artist, who had to watch it all, decides to climb up herself to snatch the crying child from the monkey and bring it safely back to earth. She takes it and ropes it down to the helpers. Then she lets herself fall into the jumping mat. Evelyn / Kaja refuses any reward and returns to the paternal circus, which thanks to her heroic deed has achieved new fame and success. Wolfson Circus gives a splendid gala performance with all the trimmings. The count's seducer is also present. Director Wolfson spots him and pulls out the revolver to hold him accountable for the “dishonor” of his daughter. But the shot does not hit the Count, but Wolfson's daughter. She falls down from the dome and dies in the arms of her only great love. Finally, a short circuit occurs in the circus, whereupon the entire system burns down. Director Wolfson is killed.

Production notes

The film is known by several German titles. Also called The final gala performance and the final gala of the circus Wolfson (or Wolfensohn ). However, as can be read from time to time, it is not a German production.

The circumstances surrounding the making of this film - a huge public success in its day - are largely in the dark. At the beginning of the 20th century, Alfred Lind was a European traveler for film. In March 1914 he arrived in Italy to make films there, initially in Milan . Before he left for Switzerland at the beginning of 1917 , Lind made several popular sensational films, including Jockey della morte . With Circus Wolfson's last gala performance , he concluded his Italian creative period at the height of the First World War . The main actors came from Italy's war allies England and France.

The length of the film is given differently, sometimes with about 1850 (on five acts), sometimes with about 2000 meters (on six acts).

Circus Wolfson's last gala performance started in Italy as well as in Denmark in 1916, while the war opponent Austria-Hungary premiered the sensational and circus drama on January 18, 1918, i.e. during the war. A youth ban was issued. In Germany, the strip, which was banned from youth on July 2, 1920, could be seen since the same month.

In 1928 Domenico Gambino made a remake in Germany under the title The last gala performance of the Wolfson circus . Shortly before, in the autumn of 1927, Lind had returned to the circus world and staged the drama Trödie im Zirkus Royal in Berlin . It should be Lind's last German movie.

Reviews

Kurt Tucholsky dedicated himself to this film on the Weltbühne under the pseudonym Peter Panter : “I have an old, deeply rooted love for kitsch. It was gorgeous. From the program it emerged that this film also has a content - I didn't pay any attention to it. Sometimes the screen floated in sentimentality - circus girls had children, buried them and wept after noble princely sons - quand même! What does drama mean here! The monkey, the lovely monkey! He played quietly and routinely, like an old movie actor - only much better and not as pretentious. The big scene had its qualities: the monkey took the child, a real, screaming bundle (which made itself felt here and there), and climbed up an enormous chimney with it. (...) Up there, on the edge of the chimney, it was lively - the child wriggled and screamed, the depth was, as it should be for a decent depth, dizzying below them, Kaja climbed, came, saw and wrestled with it Monkeys - and the great leap of death finally showed what the cinema in the world is actually for. Let me tell you that the whole old circus magic of dust, horse stink, kitsch and colorful stuff came to life, that the child played well - what can this brat say when it has grown up and sees this film? (...) Why don't we see this every day? Isn't that much, much nicer than those who called out to sin and women who lost their wreaths and different from the rest ? It's much nicer. "

In Paimann's film lists it says: “The subject is extremely dramatic and exciting. Photos and game great, equipment great. In short, the best film in the genre. A hit non plus ultra. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The actress was in the German announcements as Rudenik Trude out
  2. ↑ cf. Paimann's film lists
  3. ^ Lind in Det Danske Film Institute
  4. ↑ Peter Panter in Die Weltbühne , No. 31, from July 29, 1920, p. 149
  5. ↑ Circus Wolfson's last gala performance in Paimann's film lists