''The Master of the World'' (german: Der Herr der Welt) is a German science fiction movie made in 1934 (released in the US in 1935). Its themes are the ethical replacement of human labor by robots, and the threat to humanity by robots used as war machines. It was directed by

Harry Piel Heinrich Piel (12 July 1892 – 27 March 1963), known professionally as Harry Piel, was a prolific German actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer who was involved in over 150 films. Piel became a director in 1912, turning out such ...

and made by Ariel production.Master of the World (1935)
(Movie review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Accessed 2008-02-07.)

Synopsis

Wolf, as the half-crazy assistant to Dr. Heller, an inventor of robots, murders his master and attempts to take over the world with his death-ray equipped robots. He then proceeds to lend industrial robots all over the world for high fees. "Baumann", a mining engineer and friend of Dr. Heller, then visits Wolf in his entrenched laboratory of Heller's company and learns about his plan. Having witnessed the despair of his co-workers who lost their jobs due to being replaced by robots he explains to Wolf that the people will revolt when they lose their jobs en masse. Wolf, however, wants to crush down any revolts using his war machines and reach for world domination. He is then prevented from attaining this goal by Baumann and Dr. Heller's widow, as he gets killed by his own invention. In the happy end of the movie, Baumann realizes Dr. Heller's vision in which robots improve the lives of everyone and are used to do "dangerous, unhealthy and intellectually suffocating" jobs. The workers replaced by the robots don't lose their jobs but are instead employed in other areas – such as for the maintenance of the robots. Preserving workers' jobs also becomes a condition for the customers of the company's robots and thus humans are freed for a more worthy and humane life.

Cast

Walter Janssen Walter Janssen (7 February 1887 – 1 January 1976) was a German film actor and director. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1917 and 1970. Selected filmography * '' The Dancer'' (1919) * ''Destiny'' (1921) * ''Wandering Souls'' (1 ...

as Dr. Heller * Sybille Schmitz as Vilma, seine Frau *

Walter Franck Walter Franck (16 April 1896 – 10 August 1961) was a German film actor. He appeared in 32 films between 1926 and 1952. Selected filmography * '' Master of the World'' (1934) * '' The Island'' (1934) * '' Escapade'' (1936) * ''Stronger Tha ...

as Prof. Wolf * Aribert Wäscher as Ehrenberg, Geheimrat (privy council) *

Siegfried Schürenberg Siegfried Schürenberg (12 January 1900 – 31 August 1993) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1933 and 1974. He was born in Detmold, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany in 1993, at age 93. Although he never p ...

as Werner Baumann *

Willi Schur Willi Schur (22 August 1888 – 1 November 1940) was a German actor and singer. He appeared in roughly ninety feature films in a variety of supporting roles. Selected filmography * '' Berlin-Alexanderplatz'' (1931) * ''Who Takes Love Seriously? ...

as Karl Schumacher, Steiger *

Gustav Püttjer Gustav Püttjer (15 May 1886 – 11 August 1959) was a German film actor who appeared in around 150 feature films between 1927 and 1959. He largely played character parts. After the Second World War he settled in East Germany appearing in the fil ...

as Becker, Bergmann * Klaus Pohl as Stöppke, Bergmann * Oskar Höcker as Luppe, Bergmann *

Max Gülstorff Max Walter Gülstorff (23 March 1882 – 6 February 1947) was a German actor and stage director. Biography Gülstorff was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. He first appeared in 1900 at the Rudolstadt municipal Theater and moved to Cottbus in 1908. ...

as Neumeier, Berginspektor *

Otto Wernicke Otto Karl Robert Wernicke (30 September 1893, Osterode am Harz – 7 November 1965) was a German actor. He is best known for his role as police inspector Karl Lohmann in the two Fritz Lang films '' M'' and ''The Testament of Dr. Mabuse''. Marrie ...

as Wolter, Oberingenieur *

Hans Hermann Schaufuß Hans Hermann Schaufuß (13 July 1893 – 30 January 1982) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1922 to 1969. His sons were actors Hans Joachim Schaufuß Hans Joachim Schaufuß (transliterated: Schaufuss) (28 Decemb ...

as Fischer, Bürodirektor

References

External links

* * {{Amg movie, 101871, Master of the World 1934 films Films of Nazi Germany Robot films German science fiction films 1930s science fiction films Films directed by Harry Piel Films about artificial intelligence Films about technological impact 1930s German-language films German black-and-white films Works about automation Unemployment in fiction 1930s German films