Dimitri Buchowetzki – 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.

Valencia

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

“Felipe, a sailor falls madly in love with Valencia, a Spanish dancing girl, who is sought after by Don Fernando, the governor. When Felipe deserts his ship, the Don throws him in prison, but Valencia obtains his release and shares his disgrace and exile.” Moving Picture World, 8 Jan 1927, p. 144.

The Swan

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

The Swan (1925) is a silent film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on Melville Baker’s 1923 Broadway play adaptation, The Swan, of Ferenc Molnar’s play A Hattyu Vigjatek Harom Felvonasbarn. This film was directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki, a recent Russian immigrant working for Famous Players-Lasky. Buchowetzki had directed pictures in Russia, Sweden, and Germany. The story of this film was remade in 1930 as One Romantic Night, an early talkie for Lillian Gish, and in Technicolor as a 1956 vehicle for Grace Kelly.

Men

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Cleo lives in Marseilles and works as a waitress in a waterfront dive. A stranger entices her into coming to Paris to take dancing lessons, but instead she is taken to a baron, who betrays her. In spite of this inauspicious start, Cleo becomes a successful and renowned actress, but her feelings about men have never recovered. She loathes them and uses them only for the money they offer her, which she then hands over to a penniless girl.

Lily of the Dust

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Lily, a poor and friendless orphan, is married to a sensual and elderly Colonel in the German army who divorces her when he finds her with a former officer sweetheart. Introduced by a girl friend to Bohemian society, Lily loses the love of the young officer and marries her former lover, a wealthy art connoisseur.

Graustark

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

An American falls for the princess of the Kingdom of Graustark, and decides to her marriage to a dastardly prince.