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Österreichisches Filmarchiv

History reflected by de Distortion Mirror Seine Hoheit der Eintänzer , an Austrian silent movie
a contribution to « Projecto Lumière »

Widely unknown to the public, only mentioned by film historians in filmographies, some movies can rather be regarded as witnesses than mere products of a special historical period. One of these films - as a contribution to the EU-media program « Projecto Lumière » marked the entrepoint of the Austrian Film Archive's restoration work in 1995: Seine Hoheit der Eintänzer (Das Entfesselte Wien), an Austrian silent movie from 1926.

During the restoration period Seine Hoheit der Eintänzer not only turned out to be a very rare document of Austrian film production in the late Nineteen Twenties, but even more significant for a special part of Austrian history than it was originally expected. Walter Fritz, film historian and director of the Austrian Film Archive points out that « this film portrays an era of political and social changes in a balance between first means of the forthcoming Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) and sentimental quotations of the glory of historical past. » Theft an blackmail, romance and confusions are not the sole ingredients of the plot. The story itself can be interpreted as a parable about historical changes in Austria after the first World War, exemplified by the fate of an archduchess being forced to work as a typist and a count who becomes a variety theatre dancer (Seine Hoheit der Eintänzer approximately means His Highness the Gigolo or The Antimator Dancer). The late Twenties saw a number of art products mocking at the Habsburg family. Seine Hoheit... with its second title (The Unchained Vienna) although never mentioning the Imperial family's name specifically, is in tune with them. The scenery is definitely Vienna, specified only in the movie's second title but located in several meters used in the prelude of the film taken directly from historical documentary material (!) demonstrating the foundation of the first Austrian republic in 1918. Stylistically the film shows interesting parallels to another remarkable Austrian production of the Twenties: Cafe Elektric (shot only a few months later with Marlene Dietrich in her first starring role and Willi Forst as her partner), such as the moving camera shooting the excessive dance scenes.
Seine Hoheit der Eintänzer was restored by the Austrian Film Archive using a tinted and toned original 35mm nitrate print of a French version entitles Prince de Nuit with French flash titles from the collection of the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek. The film was written by Walter Reisch (who later emigrated to the USA to write scripts for successful movies like Cukor's Gaslight or Lubitsch's Ninotchka), directed by Karl Leiter and it starred Bruno Kastner, Anny Ondra and Elfriede Haerlin. Kastner was a popular German star of the Twenties, Anny Ondra three years later appeared in Hitshcock's Blackmail and Elfriede Haerlin - in some scenes - seemed to impersonate the young Greta Garbo. The story itself is clearly recognizable as a caricature but as being a good one it bears historical reality in its face.

Günter Krenn

Méconnus du public, à peine mentionnés par les historiens dans les filmographies, certains films sont autant de véritables témoins del'histoire que de simples produits d'une époque.

C'est le cas de Seine Hoheit der Eintänzer (Prince de Nuit) de Karl Leiter, 1926, restauré dans le cadre du Projet Lumière, à partir d'une copie de la Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek.

L'action du film - faite de romances, quiproquos, vols, chantages - peut être interprétée - le sous-titre, La Vienne déchaînée, le suggère - comme une parabole des boulversements historiques intervenus dans l'Autriche de l'entre deux guerres.

Parmi d'autres aspects, le film comporte au générique les noms de personnes qui, quelques années plus tard allaient prendre le chemin de l'Amérique; en particulier le scénariste Walter Reich et l'actrice Anny Ondra.



Ocurre que ciertas películas, casi ignoradas por historiadores e investigadores, sean tanto auténticos testimonios históricos como meros productos de una época.

Es el caso de Seine Hoheit der Eintänzer de Karl Leiter, 1926, restaurada en el marco del Proyecto Lumière, a partir de una copia de la Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek.

La trama narrativa del film - hecha de romances, confusiones, robos , chantajes - puede interpretarse - el subtítulo, Viena desencadenada, lo sugiere - como una parábola de los cambios históricos intervenidos en Austria entre las dos Guerras Mundiales.

Otro aspecto interesante de la película: sus créditos comportan los nombres de personas que, años más tarde cruzarían el Atlántico, en particular el guionista Walter Reich y la actriz Anny Ondra.