The Blackguard
| The Blackguard | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Graham Cutts |
| Produced by |
Michael Balcon Erich Pommer |
| Written by |
Raymond Paton (novel) Alfred Hitchcock Adrian Brunel |
| Starring |
Jane Novak Walter Rilla Frank Stanmore Bernhard Goetzke |
| Cinematography | Theodor Sparkuhl |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
Wardour Films (UK) Lee-Bradford Corporation (US) |
Release dates |
|
| Country |
United Kingdom Weimar Republic |
| Language | English, German |
The Blackguard (1925) is a British-German drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Jane Novak, Walter Rilla, and Frank Stanmore.[1] Its German title is Die Prinzessin und der Geiger.
Production
The film was a co-production between Gainsborough Studios and UFA initiating a decade-long series of co-productions which ended with the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s.[2] The film was based on the novel The Blackguard by Raymond Paton, and shot at Studio Babelsberg, in Potsdam near Berlin, the first time a Gainsborough film was shot abroad. The film was one of a number of films made in this genre during the 1920s, the most successful of which was the American film The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927).[3]
While working on the film, Alfred Hitchcock was able to study several films being made nearby, including The Last Laugh (1924) by F. W. Murnau, which were a major influence on his later work.
Cast
- Jane Novak – Prinzessin Maria Idourska / Princess Marie Idourska
- Walter Rilla – Michael Caviol, The Blackguard
- Frank Stanmore – Pompouard
- Bernhard Goetzke – Adrian Levinsky
- Rosa Valetti – Grandmother
- Dora Bergner – Duchess
- Fritz Alberti – Painter
- Robert Leffler – Leidner
- Alexander Murski – Vollmark
- Martin Herzberg – Michael Caviol as a boy
- Loni Nest – Prinzessin Maria as little girl
- Robert Scholz – Grandduke Paul
Plot
Against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, a violinist (Rilla) saves a princess (Novak) from execution.
References
- ↑ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/26077
- ↑ Cook p.16-17
- ↑ Cook p.36
Bibliography
- Cook, Pam (ed.). Gainsborough Pictures. Cassell, 1997.
- Kreimeier, Klaus. The Ufa story: a history of Germany's greatest film company, 1918–1945. University of California Press, 1999.
External links
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