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Ottawa
Audio-visual Sector (CAVA) / Secteur audio-visuel (DACA)
National Archives of Canada / Archives Nationales du Canada

Lotos, The Temple Dancer restored

A nitrate print of this film has languished in our vaults since 1974 but, having no credits except for the title, it had never been properly identified.
Examined last year during a routine inspection, we decided to try to identify it. It is listed in the AFI teens catalogue as The Lotus Dancer, a 1913 release, with a footnote expressing possible doubt as to its US origin. On examination it was clear that it was not a US production, nor French or Italian. The most obvious provenance was Germany or Denmark. Reference to Lamprecht confirmed the diagnosis fully: a German production with a Danish director, L.A. Winkel, and a Danish actress, the director's wife Ellen Jensen-Eck, in the title role.
Four reels long, this little known film seemed like an ideal candidate for presentation at Pordenone in 1993 as part of the section devoted to films made in 1913.
Deterioration had begun and was quite severe at the end but, given its considerable age, the fully tinted nitrate print was in remarkably good condition.
Lotos was copied onto pre-flashed Agfa black-and-white polyester base negative on an Oxberry optical printer with a wet-gate head and the image reduced to Academy aperture. The positive projection print was made on Kodak colour stock with the tints reproduced using filters. All dry work was done in-house by Archives staff; the processing and colour printing were done at Film House laboratory in Toronto. The restored print runs 42 minutes at 19 fps (approx. 920 metres).

The main title, fully capitalized, appears thus:
Lotos,
The Temple Dancer

There are no other credits of any kind. The main title and inter-titles are all done in the same style.
Synopsis:
In a temple in India, the dancer Lotos (Ellen Jensen-Eck) performs in the festival of the lotos-flowers. A party of European soldiers enters the temple in pursuit of rebellious natives. They remove a large diamond from the forehead of the statue of Buddha, later to hand it over to their commander, Sir Percy Grenville. Lotos vows to recover the stone and is aided in this endeavour by the Maharadja (sic) Hanam. When Sir Percy sails for Europe, Lotos, now in western garb, and the Maharadja (sic) board the same ship. An attempt to recover the jewel from Sir Percy's cabin is unsuccessful. Once in Europe, the Maharadja (sic) is engaged as a servant in Sir Percy's household. Sir Percy plans to give the diamond to Ethel, his fiancee, on her birthday. By now Lotos is in love with Sir Percy but the Maharadja (sic) reminds her of her vow. Together they attempt to remove the diamond from the safe but are discovered by Ethel. When she learns the significance of the stone, she gives it to Lotos and the Maharadja (sic) who then return to India. However, unable to forget Sir Percy, Lotos performs her last dance and dies. Her body is carried to a burning pyre on the sacred river.

Curiously, though the action is clearly set in British India and in England, the inter-titles make no mention of this, simply describing the soldiers as European. The print has a Province of Ontario censor board stamp so we may presume that this was the version presented in Ontario and across Canada, though not necessarily in the United States. It would be interesting to know why, and to see if the original German inter-titles differ in any substantial way.
We would be very interested in receiving any further information, both on the director and this film in particular, to compliment what we know from Lamprecht.

D.J. Turner


Restauration de Lotos, the Temple Dancer (1913)

Une copie en mauvais était entreposée dans les locaux de conservation pour films nitrate depuis 1974, sans que, par manque de moyens, les archives aient pu s'en occuper.
Lors d'une récente inspection de routine, la décision fut prise d'identifier et de préserver ce film.
Une première référence filmographique (titre et année de sortie aux Etats Unis) fut trouvée dans le catalogue des années 1910 de l'AFI. D'autres recherches permirent de déterminer qu'il s'agissait d'une production allemande réalisée par le Danois L. A. Winkel.
La restauration et le catalogage du film fut entreprise par le personnel de la Section audiovisuelle des Archives Nationales du Canada à Ottawa. Ce fut l'une des curiosités des Giornate del Cinema Muto de Pordenone 93.

Restauración de Lotos, the Temple Dancer

Una copia muy dañada se encontraba en los depósitos de películas nitrato desde 1974 sin que, por falta de recursos, se haya podido rescatarla. A raíz de une reciente inspección de rutina, se ha decidido identificar y preservar esta película.
Una primera referencia filmográfica (título y año de estreno en los Estados Unidos) fué hallada en el catálogo del AFI. Otras investigaciones permitieron determinar que se trataba de una producción alemana dirigida por el danés L. A. Winkel.
La reconstitución y catalogación del filme estuvo a cargo del personal de la Sección audiovisual de los Archivos Nacionales de Canada de Ottawa. La obra fué una de la curiosidades ofrecidas por los Giornate del Cinema Muto di Pordenone 93.