Der Blaue Engel

[The title appears on screen as: Der blaue Engel. But Der Blaue Engel is the name of the bar.] Sininen Enkeli / Blå Ängeln. DE 1930. PC: Ufa. P: Erich Pommer. D: Josef von Sternberg. SC: Robert Liebmann, Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmoller – based on the novel Professor Unrat (1905) by Heinrich Mann. DP: Günther Rittau, Hans Schneeberger. AD: Otto Hunte, Emil Hasler. ED: Sam Winston. M: Friedrich Hollaender. CAST: Emil Jannings (Immanuel Rath), Marlene Dietrich (Lola Fröhlich), Kurt Gerron (Kiepert), Rosa Valetti (his wife Guste), Hans Albers (Mazeppa), Eduard von Winterstein (headmaster), Reinhold Bernt (clown), Rolf Müller (Angst), Gerhard Bienert (policeman), Ilse Fürstenberg (Rath's maid). 106 min. A Transit Film / FWMS print with e-subtitles by AA operated by Lena Talvio. Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 24 Sep 2009. - The print has an obviously digi-mastered look. Probably there are no brilliant prints of this film. Paramount burned the negative in ca 1960. The English-language version looks better visually, but is otherwise inferior. - Sternberg's masterpiece revisited (the first 30 minutes). This is my favourite Sternberg film, an ideal combination of style and substance, Marlene Dietrich's ironic, motherly, earthy charm always fascinating. - The most profound film based on the clown themes that were among the obsessions of the cinema in the 1910s and in the 1920s.

Cento anni fà 3 – Pronti per il lungometraggio

A Hundred Years Ago 3 – Coming Attraction: Feature Length
Presenta Mariann Lewinsky. Grand Piano: Antonio Coppola. Viewed at Bologna, Cinema Lumière 1, 29 June 2009.

- The first French feature film according to Henri Bousquet: L'Assommoir, 40 min. A complete print that has recently surfaced in Belgium was screened.

Roman d’une bottine et d’un escarpin. FR 1909. D: Georges Monca. CAST: Georges Tréville, Suzanne Demay; PC: Pathé. 35mm. 170 m. English intertitles. B&w. From: BFINA. - The meeting of the shoes tells the love story. Partially a good definition of light.
Les deux devoirs / Berufspflicht. FR 1909. D: Louis Feuillade. PC: Gaumont. 35mm. 172 m. B&w. Deutsche Zwischentitel. From: AFF/CNC. - The calling of the doctor. The demonstration. Partially a good definition of light. 10 min.
Roman d’une écuyère / Der abgewiesene Verehrer. FR 1909. D: Camille de Morlhon. PC: Pathé. 35mm. 240 m. Tinted. From: NFM. - Deutsche Zwischentitel. The circus world: the husband is a clown, the wife is an acrobatic rider. Of course there is the triangle drama, the clown falls from the trapeze, falls into the gutter, takes care of the child, but the wife begs to return. 13 min.
Une corderie / Seilerei. FR 1909. PC: Pathé. 35mm. 82 m. B&w. No intertitles. From: BFINA. - Fascinating non-fiction of the many phases of producing rope. 5 min. *
L’Assommoir. FR 1909. D: Albert Capellani. Based on the novel by Emile Zola (1877); SC: Albert Capellani, Michel Carré; CAST: Eugène Nau (Gervaise), Catherine Fontenay (Virginie), Alexandre Arquillière (Coupeau), Jacques Grétillaat (Lantier); PC: S.C.A.G.L. – Pathé. 35mm. 740 m. B&w. From: Archives Gaumont-Pathé. - A fascinating discovery. Interesting visual space, full of life, lively tableaux. - The women's fight in the laundry. The wedding in 1872 (Gervaise, Coupeau). - Excellent cinematography. - The jealous Virginie sets the trap for Coupeau at the scaffold of the building site. - During his long invalid period Coupeau becomes an alcoholist. - A fine dinner banquet scene. - Virginie revenges by fuelling Coupeau's alcohol addiction. - Coupeau loses the wager on strong drink at the tavern. The fight over the woman. - Coupeau is hospitalized, and is forbidden to drink strong alcohol. Virginie's last revenge leads to an extended danse macabre. - This episodic film, based on tableaux, follows reportedly the popular theatre adaption of the grim novel. 40 min. *