Tartüff / Tartuffe (1973 ZDF reconstruction by Gerd Luft and Jürgen Labenski, music arranged from the original Giuseppe Becce score)

F. W. Murnau: Tartüff / Tartuffe (DE 1925) with Lil Dagover (Elmire) and Emil Jannings (Tartuffe). Poster design: Theo Matejko.

013393 / G / DE / 1925 / Murnau, F. W. / / drama

Tartüff / Herr Tartüff / Tartuffe / Tartuffe – tekopyhä / Hycklaren. PC: Ufa. P: Erich Pommer. D: F. W. Murnau. SC: Carl Mayer – based on the play Le Tartuffe ou l’imposteur (1664) by Molière. DP: Karl Freund – silent – b&w. PD: Robert Herlth, Walter Röhrig. CAST: Emil Jannings (Tartuffe), Werner Krauss (Orgon), Lil Dagover (Elmire). Framing story: André Mattoni (The Grandson), Hermann Picha (The Grandfather), Rosa Valetti (The Housekeeper). Kinomusik composed by Giuseppe Becce. 1876 m /24 fps/ 68’. 

    Helsinki premiere: 16 Nov 1925 Civis – Ab Maxim Oy – 1598 m.

    TV-Erstsendung: 27 Feb 1973, ZDF.

    Yleisradio TV2 PAL telecast at midnight on 13 April 1998 of the ZDF reconstruction (1973) by Gerd Luft and Jürgen Labenski, with the score by Giuseppe Becce arranged by Rolf Unkel, with Finnish subtitles by Pirkko Vikkula. Caught on Easter Monday on VHS.

    The print was shown through a wrong gate, cutting people’s heads. The original music was somewhat lethargically interpreted.

”Vielfach ist die Zahl der Heuchler auf Erden! Vielfach die Maske, unter denen sie uns begegnen!” The Grandfather sees through the wily schemes of his housekeeper as his grandson projects for him a film of Tartuffe. Murnau’s meeting with Molière is like the elephant storming the porcelain shop. The first rate actors save what they can from pedestrian direction. Murnau as a storyteller is at his worst. The visual composition is immaculate. As a photo album Tartuffe would be marvellous. Using the freeze-frame on video one can cherish the best effects. – Having written this I notice the harsh judgement of Kracauer: Tartuffe is an example of ”all-pervading paralysis”, ”itself Tartuffish”.