If current plans work out as we hope, this current show will be our last at the present
location. There will, however, be no closing down of the society; a new westing place has
been found, and we merely await confirmation that we can begin operations there on June 22nd.
We, as a society, have led a somewhat nomadic existence ever since we began operations some
three years ago. Once, approximately perhaps, we held our sessions at a psychiatric
institution! Now we hope that our final Shangri-La has been reached - a centrally located,
air-conditioned screening room, with its own projection equipment and a seating capacity
larger (and more comfortable) than our present one. Under such conditions, we hope to expand
the social side of our group a little and get to know each other better. Too, we look forward
to bringing back those "good old days" when small groups of us would retire to a suitably
hospitable hostelry after the show for a little food and a lot of talk. We'll let you know
how our plans have progressed at the coming meeting.
Pleasenote that we have, after all, reverted to a 7.30 starting time for the Summer. This is
for the benefit of those members who live out of town and have to catch late trains, and
because our new quarters will not present us with the problem of light streaming through a
window. For our final show at 23rd St., we will of course fashion some sort of curtain, as
we did last time.
The length of our last show ran a litter over schedule; not only had we under-estimated
running times a trifle, but we hadn't anticipated the added riches of an extra short, and
the interesting talks by Bob Youngson and Charlie Turner. None of our members complained
about the length of the show, and many in fact thought it one of our best presentations to
date. Nevertheless, we'd like to go on record as saying that we aim at a well-balanced
show running no more than 3 hours, and in future we'll try to stick to this.
As a footnote to our screening of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", we have to record sadly
that the famous Cathedral set is now in the process of being torn down by Universal. Alas,
its parting performance was not one of dignity - it appeared as the entrance to a night-club
in the soon-to-be-released "So This is Paris". Symptomatic of the times perhaps, and very
depressing.
Sad news too, is or the passing of two of the more honored names in German cinema history.
One trade paper gave them a line apiece; the others, not a word. Joe May, director of "Homecoming"
(shown by this society last year) died at 74. And here in New York, one of
the writers of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" - Hans Janowitz - died last week, aged 61.
- - - - - - - - - -
COMING PRESENTATIONS:
We open our Summer series in our new quarters by presenting three of the screen's glamor
legends on one bill - DIETRICH, GARBO and LAMAAR! Dietrich is seen in a condensed (45 min)
version of "MANON LESCAUT" with Lya de Putti, directed by Arthur Robison with sets by Paul
Leni. The Garbo entry is another good condensation - a 45 min. version or Pabst's "JOYLESS
STREET" in absolutely first-class condition. Lamaar's contribution is "EXTASE" - as far as
we know a complete print, and since it is a French print we are looking forward to it
ourselves with the greatest of anticipation! Here's a rare opportunity to see three early
films that helped to establish the reputations of these three charmers.
Following this, we revive one of our earlier successes - Victor Seastrom's "THE SCARLET
LETTER", starring LILLIAN GISH, LARS HANSON, HENRY B. WALTHALL and Earl Dane. Most
of our current members had not yet joined us when we screened this great film; and of
the others, all will surely agree that it's well worth a second viewing. Two fine old
Sennett one-reel comedies will be shown in support.
COMMITTEE OF THE FILM SOCIETY: Charles Turner (Chairman); Herman G. Weinberg; Richard
Kraft; Warren Rothenberger; Robert G. Yourgson; Dorothy Lovell (Secretary); William K.
Everson (Program Notes & Enquiries).
- - - - - - - - - -
A PROGRAM OF FRENCH AND GERMAN CLASSICS
We are happy to be able to present four unique and very rare films of a quarter of a century
ago. To our knowledge, these films just don't exist in this country on either 35mm or 16mm
(or at least, prints, if they exist, are not available) and thus it is a rare thing indeed
to come across these European 9.5mm prints. All four films are, of course,
condensed - but not hacked. In each case, the editing has been so meticulously done that a
perfectly coherent plot-line is retained. One is seeing an intelligently shortened version of
the original, not a mere parade of extracts and highlights. The prints are in flawless
condition, and really a joy to behold. Our grateful thanks to Capt. George Mitchell, owner
of the films, who has gone to a great deal of trouble and personal inconvenience to travel
up from Maryland for the sole purpose of running these films for us.
The combined running time of the four films is a little over three hours. However, running
a 9.5mm machine is a tricky operation, and requires more frequent changing of reels than
does 16mm., so we must expect a slightly longer session than that. Because of this, we must
start on time, and members who arrive late will be missing something really special.
- - - - - - - - - -
DER HEILIGE BERG - THE SACRED MOUNTAIN UFA, 1927
Produced and directed by Arnold Fanck. Photographed by Sepp Allgeier.
The Cast: Diotima (Leni Riefenstahl); Robert Horn (Luis Trenker); Frants Vigo (Ernst Petersen)
Arnold Fanck, until 1927 strictly a documentary film-maker, essayed his first dramatic story
with "The Sacred Mountain". Dr. Siegfried Kracauer, writing in "From Caligari to Hitler", has
a fine time discovering in the film political symbolism which may or may not be present.
(Kracauer's writings are fascinating but somewhat suspect, since films which do not fit in
with his particular theories are studiously ignored!) He writes, in part "..... although
the heroism was too eccentric to serve as a pattern for the people in the valleys, it was
rooted in a mentality kindred to the Nazi spirit. Immaturity and mountain enthusiasm were
one ..... the idolatry of glaciers and rocks was symptomatic of an antirationalism on which
the Nazis could capitalize".
Probably "The Sacred Mountain" isn't an important enough picture for us to ponder whether
Kracauer's thoughts mean anything or not - but it is a fascinating film, an incredibly
beautiful one visually, and a film very typical of the rather naive German mountain film
with its exhilaration and love of the open air. Since this is quite certainly an established
characteristic of the German peoples, the film has some value as a self-commentary on a
national mood.
The best things in “The Sacred Mountain" are the thrilling stunt ascents, an interesting
fantasy sequence of a crumbling temple of ice, and the breathtaking photography of Sepp
Algeier [sic]. What more does one need of a mountain film? Allgeier was later Riefenstahl's
chief cameraman on the Nazi propaganda film, "Triumph of the Will", which repeated the
swirling clouds and studied low-angle close-ups stressed in "The Sacred Mountain". Later
Allgeier did the wonderful "The Doomed Batallion'', and collaborated with Hans Schneeberger
on "The White Hell of Pitz Palu", shown by this society last year. His fine Germanic
mountain photography also graced "The Great Barrier", a British film of the mid-thirties
shot largely in Canada, and dealing with the building of the CPR. Under the new title of
"Hell's
Gateway", that film is now in reissue through an independent - Allgeier's photography
and other fine features make this excellent but little-known film well worth a visit.
Leni Riefenstahl was of course, a very close friend (to be discreet about it!) of Hitler, who
considered her the ideal example of 100% Aryan womanhood, and commissioned her to make "The Triumph of the Will" - almost certainly the greatest propaganda film made anywhere, and a
masterpiece of its type. Much of it turns up as stock in American and British films, and
was used as documentary evidence against war criminals in the Nuremburg trials. (Leni herself
was arrested in 1945, and found to be a major offender by the Spruchkammar, or denazification
court). Currently she is suing the German government for return of her "Olympia"
negative, claiming that it was financed by her personally and not the Nazi party. It is worth
recording perhaps that Leni was born in Berlin and was a dancer (as this film bears out) before
entering films. "The Sacred Mountain" was her first film, followed by "The White Hell of Pitz
Palu," "Storm Over Mont Blanc", "SOS Iceberg" (one of several mountain-type films made in
conjunction with Carl Laemmle and Universal in the early thirties) "White Flame" and others.
Ernst Petersen, one of the to two male leads in "The Sacred Mountain", played opposite Leni again
in "The White Hell of Pitz Palu" as her husband. Luis Trenker, born in the Austrian Tyrol in
1896, was a First Lieutenant of Engineers in World War One, and later a pilot. He broke into
films by acting as a mountain guide to production units, and was soon acting and directing.
One of his most interesting films was the British "The Challenge", dealing with Whymper's
conquest of the Matterhorn. Currently he is active producing, directing and acting in
mountain films for his own company - TYROL FILMS. Fanck himself was a geologist from
Freiburg, a city in Baden on the edge of the Black Forest. He made Leni a star and made too
tha best mountain films ever produced. He is still living, but not active in films.
- - - - - - - - - -
L'ARGENT - MONEY 1929 Written and directed by Marcel L'Herbier, from the novel
Emile Zola
The Cast: Nicholas Saccard (Alcover); Gundermann (Alfred Abel); Baroness Sandorf (Brigitte
Helm); Lina Hamelin (Mary Glory); Jack Hamelin (Henry Victor); Massias (Jules Berry).
When we travelled down to Maryland recently to screen this subject, it proved to be a
complete surprise. An almost unknown film, it has a peculiar plot which refuses to
telegraph its punches, and sustains interest at fever pitch throughout. Because it's such
a real - and unfortunately, rare - pleasure to stumble across such unusual items, we'll
refrain from saying too much about it and leave our members to enjoy its surprising quality
for themselves.
Its plot? Something of an earlier equivalent of the current "Executive Suite" perhaps.
Its treatment? Like most late European silents, rather over-obsessed with the moving
camera. But the photography here is so striking and imaginative that the obsession becomes
definite virtue.
Its cast has an odd international flavor, with those two German artistes Alfred Abel ("Dr.
Mabuse", etc.) and Brigitte Helm ("Metropolis", "Jeanne Ney", "Atlantide") stealing most of
the honors. Jules Berry is little more than a bit player in this one.
Like meet of Marcel L'Herbier's films, "L'Argent" is odd, unpredictable and thoroughly
absorbing. (Apart from' the quite brilliant and generally unrecognised "La Nuit Fantastique,"
L'Herbier's later work was less distinguished, concentrating on talkative comedies and an
occasional rather dull spectacle, of which the Micheline Preale "Last Days of Pompeii," not
yest shown here, is a good example).
- - - - - - - - - -
LE TOURNAMENT DANS LA CITE - THE TOURNAMENT 1929 Written and directed by JEAN RENOIR
The Cast: Francois de Baynes (Aldo Nadi); Catherine de Meidici (Blanche Bernis); Comtesse
de Baynes (Suzanne Despries) with Enrique de Rivero, Manuel Raaby, Jackie Monnier.
(Most of the cast reappeared in Renoir's "Le Bled" that same year).
"The Tournament" is one of those odd films that seems, to have deliberately kept itself out
of the reference books, making life even more exasperating for always frustrated film
historians. The few references one does find to it dismiss it casually as being "a commercial
film", implying that consideration of the boxoffice, if not actually obscene is very
definitely reprehensible. (Some day writers on the film will perhaps realize that even
"Greed", "Mare Nostrum", "Tabu" and "Intolerance" were made in the belief and hope that they
would make money!) It is based en a scenario by Dupuis-Haquel, who specialised in spectacular
historical intrigues that were usually more literary than cinematographic. Its plot is set
in the year 1562, when Charles IX, a mere boy, was King of France while the real power
behind the throne was his scheming mother, Catherine. It was a period of tension between
Catholics and Protestants, tension that eventually was to errupt into the fearsome
St. Bartholomew massacre of 1572, so brilliantly staged by D.W. Griffith in "Intolerance".
We haven't yet screened this subject, so we're reprinting some comments made by George
Mitchell: ...... "The Tournament" has a finale such has seldom been seen in a Renoir film....
a jousting sequence that has seldom been equalled, and can well be compared with the similar
sequence done by stunt-director Yakima Canutt for MGM's "Ivanhoe". This great tournament
sequence ends with much blood and gore, with a very ironic touch provided by Renoir.......
Renoir again demonstrates his flair for imagery and studied composition as employed in his
earlier "Nana". Many scenes seem to have come from the paintings of the old Flemish
masters ...... yet the striking and beautiful scenes (do not) distract attention from the
fast-moving action. There are times when it seems that Renoir has outdone himself in
depicting sadism, as in the scene where DeBaynes wipes his bloody sword on the tresses of
his mistress ..... the film was shot in the Chateaux dlstrict of the Loire amongst actual
locations of the story - all of the castles seen are the real thing, and not studio sets.
Costuming and set decoration are handsome, and many of the props appear to be quite
authentic. Although our print has been trimmed, the final tournament sequence is intact.
Many French film historians (Georges Sadoul, Bardache and Braissilach) dismiss the film
as one of Renoir's "commercial" films (amongst the left-wing critics of France the word
commercial is obscene) but a look at "The Tournament" should dispel this notion, for it is
definitely good Renoir, and a film of which the maker of "La Grande Illusion", "La Bete
Humaine", "The Southerner" and so many other "greats" need not be ashamed......".
A final word on the film from Paul Rotha, who found it a ".... costume romance in the best
French historical manner" and "scrupulously accurate".
- - - - - - - - - -
DAS BLAUE LICHT - THE BLUE LIGHT (1932) UFA release of a Leni Riefenstahl production
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl; script by Bela Balazs; photographed by Ian Schneeberger
The Cast: Junta (Leni Riefenstahl); Vigo (Mathias Wiemann); Tonio (Bennie Fuehrer); Lucia
(Martha Mair); Guzzi (Frantz Maldacea); Innkeeper (Max Ohlsboer {Holsboer [sic]}).
"The Blue Light, like "Extase", was a talkie only because talkies had arrived. It told its
tale visually, dialogue was kept to a minimum and it really needed neither printed title nor
spoken-word to convey its meaning. Our print is a silent, and nothing is lost because of that.
Again, the superb mountain photography of Schneeberger is the most striking single aspect
of the film, and it is shown to fine advantage in this first-class print.
"The Blue Light" has two qualities that are rare in current cinema; beauty, which has today
almost disappeared, and a haunting mysticism, which has completely disappeared. In the hands
of Dreyer or Lang, "The Blue Light" might well have emerged as a horror tale; as it is, it is
fragile, pathetic and rather lovely, with supernatural elements that never approach the weird.
The story is based on an old legend of the Italian Dolomites. Each night when the moon is
full, goes the legend, the peak of Mount Cristallo radiates a blue light. Even though their
parents try to keep them safe at home behind closed shutters, the young people of the village
are drawn like somnambulists to the light, and find only death among the treacherous rocks.
Because Junta, a strange, wild mountain girl, reaches the light in safety she is considered
by the superstitious villagers to be a witch. A strange and rather touching little love
story brings the film to a really powerful climax.
Kracauer really pulled out all the stops on this one: "Beautiful outdoor shots stress the
insoluble ties between primitive people and their natural surroundings .... while the
peasants are merely related to the soil, Junta is a true incarnation of elemental powers...
like the meteorologist in "Avalanche", this mountain girl conforms to a political regime
which relies on intuition, worships nature and cultivates myths. To be sure, at the end
the village rejoices in its fortune and the myth seems defeated, but this rational
solution is treated in such a summary way that it enhances rather than reduces Junta's
significance. What remains is nostalgia for her realm and sadness over a disenchanted world
in which the miraculous becomes merchandise".
Easier to accept are these additional statements by Kracauer: "The statues of saints are
carved in a rock by the road; the mute Dolomites partake of the life in the village.
Close-ups of genuine peasant faces thread through the whole of the film; these faces
resemble landscapes moulded by nature itself, and in rendering them, the camera achieves
a fascinating study in facial folklore".
Apart from its other, greater, merits, "The Blue Light" has interest in being perhaps the
only one of her films that could really be called a Leni Riefenstahl vehicle. Being both
director and star, she not unnaturally builds the film around herself as much as possible,
and seems to delight in bringing a near-erotic quality to many of her scenes. Mathias
Wiemann, her male lead, subsequently made many Nazi propaganda films, and also the more
recent and quite notable "Traumerei", in which he played Robert Schumann.
"The Blue Light" comes today as a reminder of a cult of mountain film that is no more --
the cycle continues with a vengeance, it's true, in Germany and Austria, but there's a
difference. Much of this exhilaration, mysticism and semi-worship have gone, and have been
supplanted by straight melodramatics. However, "The Blue Light" did inspire at least one
post-war imitation of sorts - the 1949 British film "The Glass Mountain" included a complete
opera by Nino Rota likewise based on a mystic legend of the Dolomites, and remarkably
similar to the Legend of the Blue Light.
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NOTE: We plan to bring along a number of stills, books and other items relating to
Trenker, the German mountain films and so on for perusal at this meeting. Any
interested paries are advised to come along early (our doors will be open from
6.45 onwards) as it is unlikely that there will be sufficient time to pass this
sort of material around during or after the show.
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