Der Kaiser von Kalifornien

Last updated
The Kaiser of California
Der Kaiser von Kalifornien.jpg
Directed by Luis Trenker
Screenplay byLuis Trenker
StarringLuis Trenker
Distributed by Tobis Film
Release date
  • 1936 (1936)
CountryGermany
LanguageGerman

Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (English: The Emperor of California), is a 1936 film that was the first Western film made in Nazi Germany. Some exterior scenes were shot on location in the United States at Sedona, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, and Death Valley in California.

Contents

Plot

The film follows the life story of Johann Augustus Sutter, the owner of Sutter's Mill, famous as the birthplace of the great California Gold Rush of 1849. However much of the story re-writes the actual history of Sutter. [1] While the basic story of Sutter's life is retained, the producers inserted some notable changes reflecting the political environment of the film's creation: though Sutter was a Swiss-German, the film emphasizes his German ethnicity, and though he changed his name to John when he came to the United States, throughout the film he retains the name Johann.

The film juxtaposes the "easy" money of gold-digging with the wealth and values created by hard work, as the gold rush eventually destroys Sutter's fortunes while promoting social disintegration and the loss of solidarity and companionship.

In the final scene the aged and impoverished Sutter is shown in Washington, D.C., where he has a vision of America's future industrial might, seeing a land full of skyscrapers and factories.

Unlike most American Westerns of the 1930s, The Emperor of California offers a sympathetic portrait of the Native Americans, whom Sutter respectfully befriends. In this it follows the Karl May tradition of German Western stories, which often featured noble Native Americans and German immigrants turned pioneers and gunmen.[ citation needed ]

Cast

Production

The film was loosely based on the 1925 book L'Or by Blaise Cendrars. [2] The screenplay was written and directed by the Tyrolean Luis Trenker, who also starred as Johann Sutter. Trenker had previously directed Der verlorene Sohn (The Prodigal Son, 1934), the story of an Alpine immigrant in New York City, which is the only other film produced in Nazi Germany with scenes photographed on location in the United States.

Awards and honors

The film won the 1936 Mussolini Cup for best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival. [3] It was screened as part of the "Venice Days" series at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in September 2011.

Hitler attended the film's German premiere. [2] When the film was released in the United States, The New York Times gave it a positive review on May 8, 1937. However it never reached any commercial success. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luis Trenker</span> South Tyrolean film producer, writer, actor (1892–1990)

Luis Trenker was a South Tyrolean film producer, director, writer, actor, architect, alpinist, and bobsledder.

Giuseppe Becce was an Italian-born film score composer who enriched the German cinema.

<i>The Great King</i> 1942 film

The Great King is a 1942 German drama film directed by Veit Harlan and starring Otto Gebühr. It depicts the life of Frederick the Great, who ruled Prussia from 1740 to 1786. It received the rare "Film of the Nation" distinction. It was part of a popular cycle of "Prussian films".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Venice International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 4th annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 10 and 31 August 1936. This year saw an international jury nominated for the first time.

Women Are Better Diplomats is a 1941 German musical comedy film from the Nazi era. Directed by Georg Jacoby and starring Marika Rökk, Willy Fritsch and Aribert Wäscher. It was based on a novel by Hans Flemming. The film was the first German feature film to be made in colour, and was one of the most expensive films produced during the Third Reich. The film met with a positive public response and was among the most popular German films of the early war years.

<i>The Stars Shine</i> 1938 film

The Stars Shine is a 1938 German musical revue directed by Hans H. Zerlett and written by Zerlett and Hans Hannes.

<i>Sutters Gold</i> 1936 film by James Cruze

Sutter's Gold is a 1936 American Western film. It is a fictionalized version of the aftermath of the discovery of gold on Sutter's property, spurring the California Gold Rush of 1849. Edward Arnold plays John Sutter. The supporting cast includes Lee Tracy, Binnie Barnes, Katherine Alexander, Montagu Love, and Harry Carey as Kit Carson. The film was directed by James Cruze.

Viktoria von Ballasko was an Austrian actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ufa-Palast am Zoo</span> Former cinema in Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany

The Ufa-Palast am Zoo, located near Berlin Zoological Garden in the New West area of Charlottenburg, was a major Berlin cinema owned by Universum Film AG, or Ufa. Opened in 1919 and enlarged in 1925, it was the largest cinema in Germany until 1929 and was one of the main locations of film premières in the country. The building was destroyed in November 1943 during the Bombing of Berlin in World War II and replaced in 1957 by the Zoo Palast.

<i>Robert and Bertram</i> (1939 film) 1939 film

Robert and Bertram is a 1939 German musical comedy film directed by Hans H. Zerlett and starring Rudi Godden, Kurt Seifert, and Carla Rust. It premiered in Hamburg on 7 July 1939. It was based on the 1856 play Robert and Bertram by Gustav Räder about two wandering vagrants which had been adapted into several film versions including a Polish film of the same title the previous year. It was set in 1839.

<i>The Rebel</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

The Rebel is a 1932 German historical drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt, Edwin H. Knopf, and Luis Trenker and starring Trenker, Luise Ullrich, and Victor Varconi. The film's art direction was by Fritz Maurischat. It was made by the German subsidiary of Universal Pictures, with location shooting in Austria and St. Moritz, and Zuoz, Switzerland. Interior scenes were filmed at the Tempelhof Studios. A separate English language version, The Rebel, was released the following year. The film is part of the mountain film genre.

<i>Truxa</i> 1937 film

Truxa is a 1937 German drama film directed by Hans H. Zerlett and starring La Jana, Hannes Stelzer, and Ernst Fritz Fürbringer. It is a Circus film, based on a novel by Heinrich Seiler. The film was released in the United States and was one of the most successful German films show in America that year.

<i>The Prodigal Son</i> (1934 film) 1934 German film

The Prodigal Son is a 1934 German drama film directed by Luis Trenker and starring Trenker, Maria Andergast and Bertl Schultes. A South Tyrolean immigrates to New York City, but ultimately finding the U.S. is not for him, returns to his home village.

Hilde Sessak was a German actress who appeared in more than ninety film and television series during her career. She appeared in a number of films during the Nazi era including Quax the Crash Pilot (1941).

<i>Back Then</i> (film) 1943 film

Back Then is a 1943 German drama film directed by Rolf Hansen and starring Zarah Leander, Hans Stüwe, and Rossano Brazzi. The film's sets were designed by Walter Haag. It was made at the Babelsberg Studio, by Universum Film AG, Germany's largest film company. It was Leander's final film of the Nazi era, as she returned to Sweden shortly afterwards. This was a blow for the German film industry, as she was the most popular and highest-paid star. Leander's next film was not for another seven years, when she made a comeback in Gabriela (1950).

<i>Sensation in Savoy</i> 1950 film

Sensation in Savoy is a 1950 West German comedy crime film directed by Eduard von Borsody and starring Sybille Schmitz, Paul Klinger, and Karl Schönböck.

<i>The Enchanted Day</i> 1944 film

The Enchanted Day is a 1944 German romantic drama film directed by Peter Pewas and starring Winnie Markus, Hans Stüwe and Ernst Waldow.

<i>Love Letters from Engadin</i> 1938 film

Love Letters from Engadin or Love Letters from the Engadine is a 1938 German romantic comedy film directed by Luis Trenker and Werner Klingler and starring Trenker, Carla Rust and Erika von Thellmann. It contains elements of the mountain film genre for which Trenker was best known. It is set in London and in the Engadin valley in the Swiss Alps, where much of the location shooting took place. Interiors were shot at the Sievering and Schönbrunn Studios in Vienna, which had recently been annexed by Germany. The film's sets were designed by the art director Fritz Maurischat. It was distributed by Terra Film.

Melanie Horeschowsky (1901–1983) was an Austrian stage, film and television actress.

<i>The Fire Devil</i> 1940 German film

The Fire Devil is a 1940 German historical adventure film directed by and starring Luis Trenker. It also featured Judith Holzmeister, Bertl Schultes and Hilde von Stolz. The title is sometimes translated as The Arsonist.

References

  1. ↑ Hales, Barbara; Petrescu, Mihaela; Weinstein, Valerie (2016). Continuity and Crisis in German Cinema, 1928-1936. Boydell & Brewer. p. 104. ISBN   978-1-57113-935-1.
  2. 1 2 3 Reimer, Robert Charles (2002). Cultural History Through a National Socialist Lens: Essays on the Cinema of the Third Reich. Camden House. pp. 44–48. ISBN   978-1-57113-134-8.
  3. ↑ Kapczynski, Jennifer M.; Richardson, Michael David (2012). A New History of German Cinema. Boydell & Brewer. p. 272. ISBN   978-1-57113-595-7.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.