The Merchant of Venice (1923 film)
| The Merchant of Venice | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Paul Felner |
| Produced by | Peter Paul Felner |
| Written by |
William Shakespeare (play) Peter Paul Felner Giovanni Fiorentino |
| Starring |
Werner Krauss Henny Porten Harry Liedtke Carl Ebert |
| Music by | Michael Krausz |
| Cinematography |
Axel Graatkjaer Rudolph Maté |
| Edited by | Peter Paul Felner |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Phoebus Film |
Release dates | 13 October 1923 |
| Country | Germany |
| Language |
Silent German intertitles |
The Merchant of Venice (German:Der Kaufmann von Venedig) is a 1923 German silent drama film directed by Peter Paul Felner and starring Werner Krauss, Henny Porten and Harry Liedtke. The film is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice. It was released in the United States in 1926 as The Jew of Mestri.[1] The film was made on location in Venice, with scenes and characters added which were not in the original play. This is the surviving copy, being two reels shorter than the German version. The characters in the German retained Shakespeare’s nomenclature, but in the American they were given new names sourced from the Italian work Il Pecorone, a 14th century short story collection attributed to Giovanni Fiorentino, from which Shakespeare is believed to have drawn his idea. The film purports to return be a to the original, as an excuse for its differences from the play.
Cast
The characters are renamed in the extant English script.[2]
- Werner Krauss - Shylock (Mordecai)
- Henny Porten - Porzia (Beatrice)
- Harry Liedtke - Bassanio (Giannetto)
- Carl Ebert - Antonio (Benito)
- Max Schreck - Der Doge von Venedig (Doge of Venice)
- Ferdinand von Alten - Prinz von Arragon (Prince of Aragon)
- Albert Steinrück - Tubal (Tubal)
- Frida Richard - Shylocks Mutter (Wife of Mordecai)
- Lia Eibenschütz - Jessica (Rachela)
- Hans Brausewetter - Lanzelot Gobbo (Elias)
- Jakob Tiedtke - Beppo (Marco)
Synopsis
The script varies significantly from Shakespeare's original.
Mordecai, The Jew of Mestri, has a young daughter, Rachela, whom he has betrothed against her will to Elias, the son of his merchant friend Tubal. Rachela is secretly in love with the Signor Lorenzo, a Venetian gentleman - and a Christian.
References
External links
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