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”.

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, poster by Theo Matejko. Please click to enlarge.

011308 / 16 / DE / 1920 / Wiene, Robert / / horror
Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, Das / Tohtori Caligarin kabinetti. PC: Decla-Film. EX: Erich Pommer. D: Robert Wiene. SC: Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz. DP: Willy Hameister. AD: Walter Röhrig, Walter Reimann, Hermann Warm. CAST: Werner Krauss (Dr. Caligari), Conrad Veidt (Cesare), Lil Dagover (Jane), Friedrich Fehér (Francis), Hans-Heinz von Twardowski (Alan). Silent b&w toned. Originally 1703 m /18 fps/ 82’. ZDF 1983 reconstruction with music, not toned by Gerd Luft and Jürgen Labenski based on the 1923 re-release with material from the Munich and SDK Archives, ca 74’. Finnish subtitles by Riitta Piironen. Silent frame uglily cropped to Academy. With the edges cut off, the beautiful title cards turn illegible and the composition of the image is thrown off balance. Yleisradio TV2 transmission viewed in Helsinki, Sunday 18 January 1998. **** The film is one of a kind, still magnetic. One has to adjust to the twisted style to find the strange fascination and the black humour of the film. It is the first great zombie story of the cinema. This Luft / Labenski reconstruction was the best available 15 years ago, although the music and sound effects are best turned off at once. Today one should screen the 1995 Lumière Project restoration.

Der weisse Teufel / The White Devil

Alexandre Volkoff: Der weisse Teufel (1930). Ivan Mosjoukine as Hadzhi Murat.

Alexandre Volkoff: Der weisse Teufel (1930). Hadzhi Murat (Ivan Mosjoukine) and his son (Kenneth Rive). Quelle: Murnau-Stiftung, DIF, © Horst von Harbou - Deutsche Kinemathek.

Alexandre Volkoff: Der weisse Teufel (1930). Hadzhi Murat (Ivan Mosjoukine). Quelle: Murnau-Stiftung, DIF, © Horst von Harbou - Deutsche Kinemathek

016331 / G / DE / 1929 / Volkoff, Alexandre / drama

Weisse Teufel, Der / The White Devil / Valkoinen paholainen.
    PC: Ufa. P: Noé Bloch, Gregor Rabinovich.
    D: Alexandre Volkoff. Based on the story Hadzhi Murat by Leo Tolstoy. DP: Curt Courant, Nikolai Toporkoff. M performed by Ufaton-Orchester.
    C: Ivan Mozzhuhin (Hadzhi Murat), Betty Amann (Saira), Lil Dagover (Nelidova). B&w silent with music track. Sonorized SDK print 96’.
    In the presence of Kenneth Rive, who plays Hadzhi Murat’s son.
    Pordenone, Cinema Verdi, Friday 17 October 1997.

**** Another forgotten masterpiece from the last years of the silent era. Marvellous production has great dramatic force and an excellent performance by the great Mozzhuhin… in his best role? I have seen some 10-15 of his films, from his early Russian farces to Casanova, from Father Sergius to Michael Strogoff, and this beats them all. This is also one of the best Tolstoy film adaptations.