The Wandering Jew | |
---|---|
Directed by | Maurice Elvey |
Written by | H. Fowler Mear from the play by Temple Thurston [1] |
Produced by | Julius Hagen |
Starring | Conrad Veidt Marie Ney Anne Grey |
Cinematography | Sydney Blythe |
Edited by | Jack Harris |
Music by | Hugo Riesenfeld |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Gaumont British Distributors |
Release date |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Wandering Jew is a 1933 British fantasy drama film produced for the Gaumont-Twickenham Film Studios and directed by Maurice Elvey. It recounts the tale of a Jew (played by Conrad Veidt) who is forced to wander the Earth for centuries because he rebuffed Jesus while he was carrying his cross. The other cast members included Peggy Ashcroft, Francis L. Sullivan, and Felix Aylmer. This film is a remake of the 1923 silent film of the same name, based on a play of the same name by E. Temple Thurston.
The plot follows the eponymous character's epic journey. He is finally burnt at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition. As he burns, he is forgiven by God and finally allowed to die. The story is a retelling of the myth of the Wandering Jew, dating back to the 13th century. The story bears a resemblance to the legend of the Flying Dutchman.
Unlike the Nazis' 1940 antisemitic propaganda film, this film portrayed Jews as the victims of unjustified persecution throughout history, such as during the Spanish Inquisition. The version made under the Third Reich, by contrast, was intended to be virulently antisemitic. [2]
The Medieval Inquisition was a series of Inquisitions from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184–1230s) and later the Papal Inquisition (1230s). The Medieval Inquisition was established in response to movements considered apostate or heretical to Roman Catholicism, in particular Catharism and Waldensians in Southern France and Northern Italy. These were the first movements of many inquisitions that would follow.
The Wandering Jew is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion was then cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming. The exact nature of the wanderer's indiscretion varies in different versions of the tale, as do aspects of his character; sometimes he is said to be a shoemaker or other tradesman, while sometimes he is the doorman at the estate of Pontius Pilate.
Lion Feuchtwanger was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht.
Hans Walter Conrad Veidt was an actor. He attracted early attention for his roles in the films Different from the Others (1919), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Man Who Laughs (1928). After a successful career in German silent films, where he was one of the best-paid stars of UFA, Veidt and his new Jewish wife Ilona Prager left Germany in 1933 after the Nazis came to power. The couple settled in Britain, where he took citizenship in 1939. Veidt subsequently appeared in many British films, including The Thief of Bagdad (1940). After immigrating to the United States around 1941, he was cast as Major Strasser in Casablanca (1942), his last film role to be released during his lifetime.
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer was a German Jewish banker and court Jew for Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg, managing large enterprises. Throughout his career, Oppenheimer made scores of powerful enemies, some of whom conspired to bring about his arrest and execution after Karl Alexander's death.
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The Eternal Jew is a 1940 antisemitic Nazi propaganda film, presented as a documentary. The film's initial German title was Der ewige Jude, the German term for the character of the "Wandering Jew" in medieval folklore. The film was directed by Fritz Hippler at the insistence of Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.
Francis Loftus Sullivan was an English film and stage actor.
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Escape is a 1940 drama film about an American in pre-World War II Nazi Germany who discovers his mother is in a concentration camp and tries desperately to free her. It starred Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, Conrad Veidt and Nazimova. It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Grace Zaring Stone.
The Man Within is a 1947 British, Technicolor, adventure, crime, drama film, directed by Bernard Knowles and starring Ronald Shiner as Cockney Harry, Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, Joan Greenwood and Richard Attenborough. In the United States, it was released in a slightly shorter version, retitled The Smugglers. It was produced by Triton Films and Production Film Service. The film was also presented by J. Arthur Rank and the Rank Organisation. The film was adapted from the 1929 novel The Man Within by Graham Greene.
Jud Süß is a 1940 Nazi German historical drama/propaganda film produced by Terra Film at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. Considered one of the most antisemitic films of all time, the film was directed by Veit Harlan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger. It stars Ferdinand Marian and Kristina Söderbaum with Werner Krauss and Heinrich George in key supporting roles.
Jew Süss is a 1934 British historical romantic drama film based on Lion Feuchtwanger's 1925 novel Jud Süß, about Joseph Süß Oppenheimer. Directed by Lothar Mendes, the film stars German actor Conrad Veidt in the role of Oppenheimer. The screenplay was written by Dorothy Farnum and Arthur Rawlinson.
The Laughing Lady is a 1946 British Technicolor musical drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Anne Ziegler, Webster Booth and Francis L. Sullivan. Based on a play by Ingram D'Abbes, its plot follows a young aristocrat who makes a deal with Robespierre during the French Revolution.
Lothar Mendes was a German-born screenwriter and film director. His two best known films are Jew Süss (1934) and The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936), both productions for British studios.
Rasputin, Demon with Women is a 1932 German drama film directed by Adolf Trotz and starring Conrad Veidt, Paul Otto and Hermine Sterler. It was shot at the Halensee Studios and Terra Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Gustav A. Knauer and Walter Reimann. It portrays the influence wielded by Grigori Rasputin over the Russian Royal Family around the time of the First World War. It was released the same year as an American film about him Rasputin and the Empress. Felix Yusupov sued the filmmakers for his portrayal, but ultimately dropped his case. The film was banned in Germany in 1933 following the Nazi Party's rise to power.
The Eternal Jew was the title of an exhibition of antisemitism displayed at the Library of the German Museum in Munich from 8 November 1937 to 31 January 1938. The displays, with photographs and caricatures, focused on antisemitic canards falsely accusing Jews of negatively affecting Nazi Germany through Cultural Bolshevism, exemplified in the exhibition poster presenting a kaftan-wearing "eastern" Jew holding gold coins in one hand and a whip in the other. The exhibition attracted 412,300 visitors, over 5,000 per day.
William Tell is a 1934 German-Swiss historical drama film directed by Heinz Paul and starring Hans Marr, Conrad Veidt and Emmy Göring. It is based on the 1804 play William Tell by Friedrich Schiller about the Swiss folk hero William Tell. It was made in Germany by Terra Film, with a separate English-language version supervised by Manning Haynes also being released. It was shot at the Marienfelde Studios of Terra Film in Berlin with location shooting in Switzerland. While working on the film Veidt, who had recently given sympathetic performances of Jews in Jew Suss (1934) and The Wandering Jew, was detained by the authorities. It was only after pressure from the British Foreign Office that he was eventually released. It is also known by the alternative title The Legend of William Tell.
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