The Ancient Law

Last updated

The Ancient Law
Das alte Gesetz (1923) poster.jpg
German Das alte Gesetz
Directed by E. A. Dupont
Written by Heinrich Laube
Paul Reno
Starring
Cinematography Theodor Sparkuhl
Production
company
Comedia-Film
Release date
  • 29 October 1923 (1923-10-29)
Running time
128 minutes
CountryGermany
Languages Silent
German intertitles

The Ancient Law (German : Das alte Gesetz) is a 1923 German silent drama film directed by E. A. Dupont and starring Henny Porten, Ruth Weyher and Hermann Vallentin. [1] The son of an Orthodox Rabbi faces hostility from his father when he decides to become an actor.

Contents

Plot

In the middle of the 19th century, Baruch, the son of a rabbi, decides to leave his Galician shtetl against his father's wishes to become an actor. He initially joins a travelling theatre, where the Austrian Archduchess Elisabeth Theresia takes a liking to him and uses her influence to get him an engagement at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Baruch manages to become a celebrated and successful star. His father, Rabbi Mayer, is appalled by this life and rejects his son. When he finally attends a performance of Don Carlos with his son, he is deeply impressed by his son's acting talent, recognises it as a grace from God and forgives him after a discussion. Baruch returns home, where his childhood sweetheart Esther has been waiting for him.

Cast

Production and release

The film sets were designed by Alfred Junge and realised by Curt Kahle. The costumes were designed by Ali Hubert.

The film premiered in Germany on 29 October 1923. It is seven acts long and was released for young people. It has been preserved in several copies, which differ from one another and in some cases do not correspond to the original. On the initiative of film scholar Cynthia Walk, the film was digitally restored by the Deutsche Kinemathek. Philippe Schoeller composed a new film score, which was recorded by the Jakobsplatz Orchestra in Munich. The restored version - with a longer running time of 135 minutes - premiered on 16 February 2018 at the Berlinale 2018 with a live performance of the film music in the Friedrichstadt-Palast. [2] The intertitles are a reconstruction based on the censorship cards. [3]

Reception

Extensive reviews appeared in the film magazines Film-Kurier and Lichtbild-Bühne in 1923.

"Dupont succeeds in making the atmosphere of the very different worlds of this film visible: the ghetto milieu, which is separated from the world outside by an almost insurmountable wall, and this world itself; which is made vivid here by the Vienna of the sixties, which is carried by the rhythms of the waltzes of Johann Strauss and for which the Burgtheater is the epitome of all art par excellence." [4]

"And now Dupont's direction: certainly, he made mistakes with lengths and widths. But how forgivable they are! Must one not involuntarily remain lovingly attached to the depiction of this milieu, which is necessary to awaken deeper understanding? These shortcomings can be eliminated with a few silhouettes. And how are they compensated for by enchanting directorial units, wonderfully seen images and a subtlety of line that may not always have been easy given the sacredness of the subject." [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernst Deutsch</span> Austrian actor

Ernst Deutsch, also known as Ernest Dorian, was a Jewish Austrian actor. In 1916, his performance as the protagonist in the world première of Walter Hasenclever's Expressionist play The Son in Dresden was praised. Deutsch also played the antihero Famulus in Paul Wegener's The Golem: How He Came into the World in 1920. He is known by English-speaking audiences for his role as Baron Kurtz in Carol Reed's 1949 film noir, The Third Man.

<i>Schatten – Eine nächtliche Halluzination</i> 1923 film by Arthur Robison

Schatten – Eine nächtliche Halluzination is a 1923 German silent film directed and co-written by Arthur Robison, and starring Fritz Kortner and Ruth Weyher. It is considered part of German Expressionism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werner Krauss</span> German actor (1884–1959)

Werner Johannes Krauss was a German stage and film actor. Krauss dominated the German stage of the early 20th century. However, his participation in the antisemitic propaganda film Jud Süß and his collaboration with the Nazis made him a controversial figure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Klein-Rogge</span> German actor

Friedrich Rudolf Klein, better known as Rudolf Klein-Rogge, was a German film actor, best known for playing sinister figures in films in the 1920s and 1930s as well as being a mainstay in director Fritz Lang's Weimar-era films. He is probably best known in popular culture, particularly to English-speaking audiences, for playing the archetypal mad scientist role of C. A. Rotwang in Lang's Metropolis and as the criminal genius Doctor Mabuse. Klein-Rogge also appeared in several important French films in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Lotte H. Eisner was a German-French writer, film critic, archivist and curator. Eisner worked initially as a film critic in Berlin, then in Paris where in 1936 she met Henri Langlois with whom she founded the Cinémathèque Française.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Froelich</span> German film director

Carl August Hugo Froelich was a German film pioneer and film director. He was born and died in Berlin.

<i>The Dybbuk</i> (film) 1937 Yiddish-language Polish fantasy drama directed by Michał Waszyński

The Dybbuk is a 1937 Yiddish-language Polish fantasy drama directed by Michał Waszyński and choreographed by Judith Berg. It is based on the play The Dybbuk by S. Ansky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henny Porten</span> German actress and film producer

Frieda Ulricke "Henny" Porten was a German actress and film producer of the silent era, and Germany's first major film star. She appeared in more than 170 films between 1906 and 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Thimig</span> Austrian actor

Hermann Thimig was an Austrian stage and film actor. He appeared in 102 films between 1916 and 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elsa Wagner</span> German actress

Elsa Wagner was a German actress who appeared in numerous theatrical productions and feature films during the 20th century, including 1920's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

<i>Hintertreppe</i> 1921 film

Hintertreppe is a 1921 silent film. This was the first movie by German director Leopold Jessner, in cooperation with Paul Leni. Carl Mayer specifically wrote this for Leopold Jessner, who would go on to direct Erdgeist (1923). Hintertreppe was a precursor of the 1920s German kammerspielfilm style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Meinert</span> Austrian filmmaker

Rudolf Meinert was an Austrian screenwriter, film producer and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Vallentin</span> German actor

Hermann Vallentin was a German actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Biebrach</span> German actor and director

Rudolf Biebrach was a German actor and film director. He directed over 70 films between 1909 and 1930; and he appeared as an actor in nearly 110 films between 1909 and 1938. In his youth, Biebrach had worked for some years as an engraver. He got his first engagement as an actor in Gießen during 1890/1891. After a long career as a stage actor, Biebrach managed to become a successful director and character actor in the German film during the 1910s. He directed many films with Henny Porten and Lotte Neumann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fritz Delius (actor)</span> German actor

Fritz Delius was a German film actor and theater artist. He played leading parts opposite Henny Porten and Fern Andra in several silent films. After the advent of talkies he shifted his focus to theater. When Adolf Hitler came to power and several restrictions began to be imposed on Jews, Delius emigrated to Switzerland where he continued his theater and film career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Neppach</span> Austrian art director and film producer

Robert Neppach was an Austrian architect, film producer and art director. Neppach worked from 1919 in the German film industry. He oversaw the art direction of over 80 films during his career, including F.W. Murnau's Desire (1921) and Richard Oswald's Lucrezia Borgia (1922). Neppach was comparatively unusual among set designers during the era in having university training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosa Porten</span> German screenwriter

Rosa Porten was a prolific German screenwriter, actress, and director during the silent film era.

<i>The Woman Everyone Loves Is You</i> 1929 film

The Woman Everyone Loves Is You is a 1929 German silent film directed by Carl Froelich and starring Henny Porten, Fritz Kampers and Paul Hörbiger. The film's sets were designed by Gustav A. Knauer and Willy Schiller.

<i>She and the Three</i> (1922 film) 1922 film

She and the Three is a 1922 German silent comedy film directed by E. A. Dupont and starring Henny Porten, Hermann Thimig, and Robert Scholz.

Decla-Film was a German film production and distribution company of the silent era, founded by Erich Pommer and Fritz Holz in February 1915.

References

  1. Eisner, Lotte H. (2008) [1952]. The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of Max Reinhardt . Translated by Greaves, Roger. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 275. ISBN   978-0520257900.
  2. "Berlinale-/DVD-Tipp: »Das alte Gesetz« | epd Film". www.epd-film.de (in German). Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  3. "Das alte Gesetz | ARTE". 20 February 2018. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  4. "APPENDIX", Recollecting Lotte Eisner, University of California Press, pp. 163–166, 8 November 2022, doi:10.2307/j.ctv2zfjd81.10, ISBN   978-0-520-38814-7 , retrieved 30 June 2024
  5. "Lichtbild". Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens Online. doi:10.1163/9789004337862_lgbo_com_120715 . Retrieved 30 June 2024.