Dr. Mabuse, the gambler (1921/22):
(German title: "Dr. Mabuse, der
Spieler")
This
Fritz Lang film shows the damion ingenious superhuman. Dr. Mabuse who first
acts as a cheating gambler who is hypnotizing his fellow gambler at illegal
gambling dents to afterwords rip them off. If it has been at the beginning
the desire to cheat gambling, Dr. Mabuse increased later into a criminal
intoxication and finally became repeated murder. Public prosecutor Wenk,
the only one who could extract himself from Dr. Mabuses hypnotic possibilitys,
startet hunting Dr. Mabuse and a long rush begins. Again and again Dr.
Mabuse escaped from Wenk due to skillful change of identity and scrupless
brutality until both did met in berlin. The social stimulating climate
of the post-war period is reflected with this Mabuse figure. The scrupless
criminal profits from uncertainity and chaos. A part of the effect of the
film was based on the skillful processing of lookup-exciting criminal cases.
This almost 4 hour silent movie was shown during 2 evenings under the episode
titles:"The big gambler-a picture of time" and "Inferno-a game of humans
of our time". The manufacturing of the film amounted to 15 million mark,
also during time of inflation a tremindous ammount. The
press acused Fritz Lang to glorify force and crime. Therefore the movie
had to be cut ( out of the street battle 29 meters, appx.
1 minute) and then was relised to the minimum age of 18 years. |
Nosferatu - a symphony of horror
(1922):
(German title: "Nosferatu - eine
Synphony des Grauens")
"You´d
like to see a symphony of horror? You may expect more. Be carefeul. Nosferatu
is no joke, to make stupid remarks about. Again be careful!" This was 1922
the wording of the cinema advertisement of the first movie about the Dracula
Story by director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Historie concerns of count
Orlock, the undead (Nosferatu), who exhaust humans blood an who brings
plague. Finaly after a sin-pure women sacrifices itself, wherby the vamipr
forgets the first cock cry and dissolves in the air of the morning-grey,
mankind is saved. The movie impresses beside Max Schreck´s grey-
exciting mask as Nosferatu by the skillful use of expressionistic means
such as inserted negative accommodations, parallel action strands, time
lapse, frog perspective, shadow play and contact to the public by view
into the lens. |
Metropolis (1927):
The movie shows the city of future
called Motropolis which exists in 2 levels: the upper world where man`s
people are surrounded by luxury live and the dark underworld where humans
are held as working slaves under dreary life terms.But then the ruler's
son Freder falls in love with Maria (played by Brigitte Helm 17-year-old
at that time), the prophet of the work force which fights for the reconciliation
of both worlds. Freders father reaches a craft which should separate
both for good. He lets kidnap Maria and asks the inventor Rotwang
to exchange her with an robot.
This robot then should stir
up the workers to be able to suppress them better after a failed revolution.
But Freder realizes the game and he can, at the last minute together with
Maria which he could release, prevent a disaster by a reconciliation
of both worlds.
The movie "Metropolis" founded
the Scienc-Fiction-Moviegenre in Germany. The film of director Fritz
Lang did cost 5,3 millions RM instead of 1,7 millions and almost bankroped
Ufa. In spite of the high expenses this movie had no success at the beginning
and disappeared quickly from the program. Critics criticized the
story as too trivially. So T.Th. Heine wrote in journal "simple"
in 1927: " Take ten metric tons of shudder, then poure one tenth
of sentimentality to it, boils it with social sensations and spices it
with mysticism according to demand; mix the whole with the currency mark
(seven millions) and you receive a super movie ". Only the impressive sort
of the stage settings was honored: extremely increased buildings (50 cm
on 50 m), by mirror system combined pictures (for example.: missing hall
is cofilmed by reflection), enormous masses stage settings... Today this
film belongs to the big mute film classical authors. |
The last will of Dr. Mabuse
(1932):
(German title: "Das Testament des
Dr. Mabuse")
Berlin is struck by a run of
crimes. Author is Dr. Mabuse,a physical and mental wreck, who pulls his
fatal threads out of a cell of the nerve mental hospital from Dr. Baum,
with the single aim to frighten the souls of the people in their deepest
deep and to raise chaos to the highest law. Mabuse with his hypnotic abilities
forces Dr. Baum to forfill his plans by a gang of criminals. The
police and commissioner Lohmann are desperate first. Just as the first
traces point to Mabuse, the criminal dies, but the crimes do not stop .
Meanwhile, Dr. Baum feels himself as the reincarnation of the dead person
and for the executor of his will. But, finally, the police gets onto him,
she finds him in Mabuses cell - insanely.
About his second Mabuse-Movie
(the first movie " Dr. Mabuse the gambler ", see at the top) director
Fritz Lang meant later: " This movie should show Hitler's terrorism
methods in a similar matter. The slogans and articles of faith of the Third
empire are put here to the criminals mouth. He tried to snatch the mask
about this teaching. This intention the National Socialist realized at
that time and therefore the first performance 1933 was canceled and the
mocie was forbidden shortly after. |
Viktor and Viktoria (1933):
To
not lose his commitment in a suburb theater Victor Hempel pleases the penniless
singer Susanne ( Renate Müller ) to replace him in his drag show "Monsieu
Viktoria". With this debut Susanne was discovered as "Victor" and they
both did go on tour abroad with big success. During a scene in London,
the most famous connoisseur of woman "Robert" ( Adolf Wohlbrück )
falls in love with Susanne but is disappointed at the end of the show when
Susanne shows up as a dressed up man. But Robert does not believe that
his instinct has been wrong and he tries to put Susanne on a test. Susanne
who has also fallen in love with Robert as well doesn`t keep up long
with this mistake game especially as the feminine gender takes care of
the smart youth.
This music-comedy with songs
like " come along with me to madrid - during a day at spring - wan`t you
come and play with me " became an effective great success. The first performance
already tooked place under the Nazi Regime and did go through astonishingly
smooth. The critic only little deleted about the bizarr business and the
grotesque situations ( susanne in man`s wardrobe, on hairdressers- and
barchairs, rises of women...) . In the 80s an American remake was produced
under the title Victor/Victoria with Julie Andrews. |
Listen to Renate Müller:
An einem Tag im Frühling
|
Listen to:
Komm doch ein bisschen
mit nach Madrid
|
The man, who has been Sherlock
Holmes (1937):
(German title: "Der Man, der Sherlock
Holmes war")
Two
unseccessful private detectives, Morris ( Hans Albers ) and Mackie ( Heinz
Rühmann ) decide to improve their contracting situation by customizing
as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Indeed they are held actually for this
famous criminalist pair and they solve the cases applied to them very effective.
After finally their swindle is discovered they both know how to turn everything
to the good in front of the court. The movie supposed to show strong man`s
friendship which enables them, as far as they stick together, to defeat
the whole world. Among other things, the big success of this movie was
granted by the successful cast of the leading actors with Albers as the
winning type and Rühmann as the nervous and awkward admirer. Hit of
this movie was the bath tubs duet " Jawoll, meine Herr`n". |
Listen to Rühmann and
Albers:
Jawoll, meine Herr'n !
|
Hello Janine (1939):
In this movie musical called
"Hello Janine" the small dancer Janine (Marika Rökk) not only manages
her dream career to become prima ballerina ( after solving different problems)
but also to find her Big love. As she wants to tell off the former,
unfaithful beau of her girlfriend, the count René (Johannes Heesters),
she falls in love with him without realizing it, because the count has
exchanged the roles with the unknown composer Pierre Tarin (Rudi Godden).
Now the count exerts himself
behind her back for the fact that Janine replaces the arrogant and only
little talented leading actress of the new revue Yvette what
becomes a big success for Janine. The film contained all ingredients of
a zippy movie musical: a rather thin, but usual story around intrigues
behind the background, success dreams and the inevitable mistakes and dear
turmoil. Additional humour inserted the young musician who had constantly
annoyance with his girlfriend. The song " I needs no millions " (music,
music, music) became the hit. |
Listen to Rudi Godden:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7, wo ist
meine Frau geblieben?
|
Listen to Marika Rökk:
Musik, Musik, Musik
|
Request programm (1940):
(German title: "Wunschkonzert")
The via radio in front and home
transferred request program became during the war an important integration
means for the "people's community". Under the severe surveillance of the
propaganda chief's Goebbels famous artists of the empire appeared to deflect
the population of the war everyday life and to allow to take again new
courage. " For the ' Request program of the same named '-Film the business
was fixed till the details. One manufactured the love story between the
air force officer (Carl Raddatz) and the girl Inge (Ilse Werner) to a frame
in which pictures of political events are hung: the Olympics, The legion
Condor in the Spanish war, the attack on Poland(Poles), the France campaign:
director Eduard of Borsody brought forward a people geeintes in every way
who is ready in soldierly and civilian discharge of duties to all victims.
" Climaxes in the film were his songs, such as " This can not shake a sailor
", the actor Brausewetter, Rühmann and Sieber, all this
should provide optimism and confidence in the victory of the German armed
forces. The film was the most second-successful NS-film with over 23 million
spectators. |
Listen to Brausewetter, Rühmann
und Sieber:
Das kann doch einen Seemann nicht erschüttern
|
Stukas (1941):
For
the attack about the Soviet Union June 1941 the movie by Karl Ritters,
specialized on overwhelming pictures of offensive war events, showed up
just right.
The main event of this movie
is the showing of combat pilots who permanently steer their engines with
demoralizing noice on everything what moves. Between destroying and bombing
scenes are shown about the air base where men full of seeds wait impatiently
for the next applications. If an airplane brakes, rescue in strange ways
always shows up. First lieutenant Wildes (Hannes Stelzer), wounded and
therefor emontinally ill, recovers in Bayreuth with Wagners sounds again
to full strenght. The mystic exorcism of military victories and the invincibility
German Heroismus let`s the war appear as a sport and the Nazis regime as
a dynamic, gigantic power. The music culminating in the dive bomber-song
wants to achieve a sort of intoxication of collective agreement and transforms
english tanks into toys.
|
Listen to a part of the "Stuka-Song":
Wir sind die schwarzen Husaren der Luft
|
The big love (1942):
(German title: "Die große
Liebe")
When airman's-first lieutenant
Paul Wendlandt (Victor Staals) sees the singer Hanna Holberg (Zarah Leander)
during a scene in the Berlin scale in the front vacation, he immediately
falls in love with her. They both get to know themselves and also Hanna,
finally, answers his feelings. But they can not have their love, because
he is called again to the front and she travels for the troop care straight
through Europe. For each other they only find time, after he was shot and
she takes care of him, the hurt, in the military hospital. The war itself
is the real subject of this film; he determines the expiration, conflicts
and dialogues. The message of this movie is: everybody must see that individual
luck has to be set back behind the wars obligation.
Courage makers for a better
future is the parole " With this the world wan`t destroy " and " I know,
once it will happen a miracle ". It is the only time that in a movie of
the Nazi aera the reality of the home front is described so directly, even
if strongly beautied. With the bombalarm the tenants not have fear, but
they spend their time amusing in the air raid shelter.
Also the otherwise carried away
artist's figures appear popular in this film (theme: in the war all are
the same), Zarah Leander wears everydays cloth , lives in a normal Berlin
rent house and goes to work by subway . This, with the award " national
political, artistically and popular valuably " provided movie became
a sensational success. Certainly, after the war the performance of the
film was forbidden in Germany, but in the European foreign countries it
was still shown (shortened around the bunker scene and the scene before
armed forces soldier).
|
Listen to Zarah Leander:
Ich weiß, es wird einmal
ein Wunder geschehen
|
Listen to Zarah Leander:
Davon geht die Welt nicht unter
|
|