Ferdinand von Alten – MRQE

Othello

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Even without the benefit of sound, the 1922 German adaptation of Othello seems more operatic than Shakespearean. This may be due to the casting of Emil Jannings, to whom restraint and subtlety were strangers. Werner Krauss, of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari fame, is on hand as the duplicitous Iago. Appearing as the unfortunate Desdemona is Lea Von Lenkeffy, better known as Lya de Putti. Produced on an elaborate scale, Othello may not be true to the letter of Shakespeare, but is undeniably a smorgasbord of visual delights.

Champagne

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Betty, the rebellious daughter of a millionaire, decides to marry the penniless Jeanagainst her father’s willand runs away to France and lives a life of luxury on the profits from her father’s business. Pretending his business is crashing, her father finally puts a stop to her behavior, which forces Betty to support herself by getting a job in a night club.

Die – oder keine

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The title of this heavily plotted German melodrama translates as “This One or None”. Gitta Alpar stars as Eve, whose emotions are torn between two European princes, lifelong rivals who happen to be brothers. Eve prefers the nicer of the two princes, but this doesn’t stop the other from aggressively stepping up his courtship. When the less agreeable of the two monarches takes control of the throne, he orders Eve to make an immediate choice between himself and his brother. Though old-fashioned in concept and execution, “Die – oder keine” benefitted from the charming presence of Gitta Alper.

Der Student von Prag

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

For Balduin, going out to beer parties with his fellow students and fighting out disputes at the tip of the sword have lost their charms. He wants to find love; but how would he, a penniless student, ever dare looking up to any woman worth of loving? Absorbed in his dreary thoughts and indifferent to the advances of Lyduschka, Balduin is unexpectedly offered a fortune by the mysterious money-lender Scapinelli – but on a strange condition…