Undine (1916 film)

Last updated

Undine
Undine movie.png
Film poster
Directed by Henry Otto
Written by Walter Woods
Based on Undine
by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque
Produced byHenry Otto
Starring Ida Schnall
Douglas Gerrard
CinematographyFred Granville
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • February 7, 1916 (1916-02-07)
Running time
5 reels (approximately 65 minutes) [1]
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

Undine is a 1916 American silent fantasy drama film which featured the athletic actress Ida Schnall in a water-themed story based upon the fairy tale Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouque. [2] The film was directed by Henry Otto and produced and distributed by the Bluebird Photoplays division of Universal Film Manufacturing Company. [3] It is not known whether the film currently survives. [4]

Contents

Plot

As described in a film review, [5] a father reads the story of Undine to his girl from a book. Undine (Schnall) the first is the cleverest of the water nymphs under Queen Unda, mistress of the underseas. Undine is always the leader in all feats of daring and outdives and outswims all of her companions. The revels of the nymphs on land and shore are clearly shown. But Undine falls in love with Waldo (Nelson), a mortal, and leaves her companions to live in happiness at the edge of the sea. One day Waldo goes into the enchanted forest and slays a sacred deer, and in revenge Kuhleborn (Zerr), ruler of the forest, slays him. Undine the first dies of grief on the beach, and when she is found by her companions they discover that there has been born Undine the second. As punishment for the crime the mother has committed, Undine the second is destined to live among mortals until a pure love shall atone for the sin. The young child of simple fisherfolk is stolen by the nymphs and made to roam the enchanted forest, while Undine the second is left where the bereft mother will find her and rear her as her own. In later years Huldbrand (Gerrard), a suitor for the hand of the Lady Berthelda (Maison), who is actually the daughter of the fisherfolk and raised by the duke and duchess, ventures into the enchanted forest. He is seen by Kuhleborn drinking from a fountain, which designates him as the one that shall seek out Undine and marry her. An enchantment is placed on the knight, and he discovers her and marries her. On his taking her back to the castle, Kuhleborn again appears and, declaring Undine's mission among the mortals on earth has been served, sends her back to the sea by his enchantment.

Cast

Production

Location scenes of Undine were filmed at Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands of California. [6]

Reception

One critic suggested that a better title would have been Undressed due to Schnall's lack of clothing in the film. [7] [5] Another stated, "No one really cared much about the plot of Undine: It was enough that sylphlike Ida Schnall showed up from time to time in various stages of near nudity." [8]

Lobby cards

Related Research Articles

<i>Undine</i> (novella) 1811 novella by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué

Undine is a fairytale novella (Erzählung) by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué in which Undine, a water spirit, marries a knight named Huldebrand in order to gain a soul. Published in 1811, it is an early German romance, which has been translated into English and other languages.

Frank Borzage American film director and actor

Frank Borzage was an Academy Award-winning American film director and actor, known for directing 7th Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), Bad Girl (1931), A Farewell to Arms (1932), Man's Castle (1933), History Is Made at Night (1937), The Mortal Storm (1940) and Moonrise (1948).

Enchantress most commonly refers to:

Viola Dana American actress (1897–1987)

Viola Dana was an American film actress who was successful during the era of silent films. She appeared in over 100 films, but was unable to make the transition to sound films.

Undine Elemental beings associated with water

Undines are a category of elemental beings associated with water, stemming from the alchemical writings of Paracelsus. Later writers developed the undine into a water nymph in its own right, and it continues to live in modern literature and art through such adaptations as Danish Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" and the Undine of Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué.

Lee Garmes American cinematographer (1898–1978)

Lee Garmes, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer. During his career, he worked with directors Howard Hawks, Max Ophüls, Josef von Sternberg, Alfred Hitchcock, King Vidor, Nicholas Ray and Henry Hathaway, whom he had met as a young man when the two first came to Hollywood in the silent era. He also co-directed two films with legendary screenwriter Ben Hecht: Angels Over Broadway and Actor's and Sin.

James Cruze American actor and director (1884–1942)

James Cruze was a silent film actor and film director.

Marin Sais American actress

Marin Sais was an American actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. Sais' acting career spanned over four decades and she is possibly best recalled for appearing in Western themed films.

Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s.

Florence Vidor American actress

Florence Vidor was an American silent film actress.

David Powell (actor) Scottish actor

David Powell was a Scottish stage and later film actor of the silent era.

<i>The Golden Louis</i> 1909 American film

The Golden Louis is a 1909 American drama film written by Edward Acker, directed by D. W. Griffith, and produced by the Biograph Company in New York City. Originally, this short was distributed to theaters on a "split reel", accompanying another Griffith-directed film, the comedy The Politician's Love Story.

Frank Currier American actor

Frank Currier was an American film and stage actor and director of the silent era.

<i>The Pipes o Pan</i> 1914 film

The Pipes o' Pan is a 1914 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney and Pauline Bush. It is thought the screenplay was written by De Grasse's wife Ida May Park, but she was uncredited. The film is now considered to be lost.

<i>If My Country Should Call</i> 1916 film

If My Country Should Call is a 1916 silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and starring Lon Chaney, Jack Nelson and Dorothy Phillips. The film was written by Ida May Park, based on a story by Virginia Terhune Van de Water. The film's theme was very topical at the time, since many American men were then signing up to fight in World War I and Mexico.

<i>Susie Snowflake</i> 1916 film by James Kirkwood

Susie Snowflake is a lost American silent film released by Paramount Pictures on June 25, 1916. The picture was directed by James Kirkwood, Sr. and filmed by cinematographer Ned Van Buren. Susie Snowflake was written and adapted for the screen by Shannon Fife and introduced to American filmgoers, actress Ann Pennington.

Astrid Holm Danish actress

Astrid Holm was a Danish theater and film actress whose career began on the stage and in the early silent film era.

Bluebird Photoplays was an American film production company that filmed at Universal Pictures studios in California and New Jersey, and distributed its films via Universal Pictures during the silent film era. It had a $500,000 studio in New Jersey.

"It was a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and employed Universal stars and used Universal’s facilities but the pictures were marketed independently from Carl Laemmle’s umbrella company."—Anke Brouwers

<i>Lost in a Hotel</i> (1911 film) 1911 film

Lost in a Hotel is a 1911 American silent comedy film. It was released as the first half of a 1000-foot "split reel", with the latter half being the comedy-fantasy short An Old-Time Nightmare. Both films, currently presumed to be "lost", were produced by the Powers Moving Picture Company of New York. Neither the director nor the performers in this film are identified in 1911 reviews or in plot summaries and advertisements published in trade journals at the time.

John Goldsworthy British actor

John Goldsworthy (1884–1958) was a British-born stage and film actor. After emigrating to the United States he was active on Broadway appearing in a variety of plays, as well as several musicals. During the silent era he appeared in supporting roles in American films. Later in the 1940s he returned to the cinema, now playing mainly small, uncredited parts. His final film was MGM's The Prisoner of Zenda (1952).

References

  1. According to the film reference How Movies Work by Bruce F. Kawin (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987, p. 46), a standard 1000-foot theatrical reel of film in the silent era was projected at a speed of 16 frames per second, considerably slower than the 24 frames in the sound era. Silent reels therefore had an average running time of 15 minutes or slightly less.
  2. "LOC Newspapers". Corpus Christi Caller and Daily Herald. March 10, 1916. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  3. "Undine (1916)". TCM. 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  4. Progressive Silent Film List: Undine at silentera.com
  5. 1 2 "Film Reviews: Undine". Variety. Vol. 51, no. 10. New York: Variety, Inc. February 4, 1916. p.  25.
  6. "Water Nymphs and Undine". Film Players Herald and Movie Pictorial. Chicago: Photoplaywrights Association of America. 2 (6): 5. February 1916.
  7. Langman, Larry (1998). American Film Cycles: The Silent Era. Biographies and Indexes in the Performing Arts. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 213. ISBN   0-313-30657-5. ISSN   0742-6933.
  8. Thorn, John (2012). Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game. New York City: Simon and Schuster. pp. 348 (note 292). ISBN   978-0-7432-9404-1.