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Alraune (1928 Film)
''Alraune'' is a 1928 German silent science fiction horror film directed by Henrik Galeen and starring Brigitte Helm in which a prostitute is artificially inseminated with the semen of a hanged man. The story is based upon the legend of Alraune. In this version, the blasphemous sexual union causes the progeny (a daughter) to grow to adulthood quickly, behave in a sexually promiscuous fashion and cause the men who fall in love with her nothing but hardship, heartache and financial ruin, if not death. Plot A wealthy Professor specializing in genetics is ambitious to conduct an experiment with a woman of "low social status", by impregnating her with a mandrake. The plant is believed by legend to sprout from the semen of hanged prisoners. He instructs his young nephew, Franz, to obtain a woman from the "scum of society". Franz reluctantly finds a prostitute, and the experiment is performed on her. The child from the experiment, Alraune, grows up to become a beautiful woman with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henrik Galeen
Henrik Galeen (7 January 1881 – 30 July 1949) was an Austrian-born actor, screenwriter and film director considered an influential figure in the development of German Expressionist cinema during the silent era. He wrote the screenplay for ''Nosferatu'' (1922). Early years Considerable mystery exists about Galeen's early life, and for many years it was uncertain where exactly he was born. Galeen came from a Jewish family in Lemberg, Galicia, which was then part of the Austrian Empire. He moved from Austria to Germany before the First World War, and became assistant to the leading theatre figure Max Reinhardt. Galeen subsequently became an actor in Berlin and touring other German-speaking cities. German silent films Galeen first became involved in film in 1913 when he worked on the screenplays for several uncredited films. In 1914, he wrote, directed and acted in '' The Golem'' the first of several depictions of the mythical figure The Golem. Following the First World War, he we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viscount
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is sometimes left untranslated as ''vicomte'' . Etymology The word ''viscount'' comes from Old French ( Modern French: ), itself from French language">Modern French: ), itself from Late Latin "deputy" + Latin">Vulgar_Latin.html" ;"title="Medieval Latin , accusative case">accusative of , from Vulgar Latin">Late Latin "deputy" + Latin (originally "companion"; later Roman imperial courtier or trusted appointee, ultimately count). History During the Carolingian Empire, the kings appointed counts to administer Government of the Carolingian Empire#subdivision, provinces and other smaller regions, as governors and military commanders. Viscounts were appointed to assist the counts in their running of the province, and often took on judicial r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Hardy (journalist)
Philippe George "Phil" 'Hardy (7 April 1945 – 8 April 2014) was an English film and music industry journalist. Life and career Hardy was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire in 1945 and studied at the University of Sussex, 1964–1969. He was a visiting student at the University of California, Berkeley (1966–1967). At Sussex he was a member of the committee of students, including Mike Robinson and Gary Herman, who ran the University of Sussex Film Society in 1968–1969, during which time the Society launched ''The Brighton Film Review''. He worked as a freelance music and screenwriter, writing for '' Time Out'', '' Variety'' and other publications while at the same time acting as a consultant on music business issues for bodies such as the Greater London Enterprise Board and the World Bank. In 1986 he travelled to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan to research and write the documentary film, ''Food Trucks & Rock 'n' Roll'' about how the money raised by Band Aid was spent in Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in Los Angeles, to cover the film industry, motion-picture industry. ''Variety'' website features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, plus a credits database, production charts and film calendar. History Founding ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville, with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. He subsequently decided to start his own publication that, he said, would "not be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father-in-law, he launched ''Variety'' as publisher and editor. In additi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time, she was known for her melancholic and somber screen persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, tragic characters, and her subtle and understated performances. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Garbo fifth on its list of the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Garbo launched her career with a secondary role in the 1924 Swedish film ''The Saga of Gosta Berling, The Saga of Gösta Berling''. Her performance caught the attention of Louis B. Mayer, chief executive of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), who brought her to Hollywood in 1925. She stirred interest with her first American silent film, ''Torrent (1926 film), Torrent'' (1926). Garbo's performance in ''Fle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theda Bara
Theda Bara ( ; born Theodosia Burr Goodman; July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. Bara was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" (short for ''vampire'', here meaning a seductive woman), later fueling the rising popularity in "vamp" roles based in exoticism and sexual domination. Born to a Jewish family in Cincinnati, Bara was the biggest star of Fox Studios, which concocted a fictitious persona for her as an Egyptian-born woman interested in the occult. She made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926, most of which were lost in the 1937 Fox vault fire. She left Fox in 1919 and was unable to recapture her previous success. After her marriage to Charles Brabin in 1921, she made two more films and then retired from acting in 1926. Bara never appeared in any sound films. Early life Bara was born Theodosia Burr Goodman on J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolis (1927 Film)
''Metropolis'' is a 1927 German expressionist cinema, German expressionist science-fiction film, science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou in collaboration with Lang from von Harbou's Metropolis (novel), 1925 novel of the same name (which was intentionally written as a film treatment, treatment). It stars Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and Brigitte Helm. Erich Pommer produced it in the Babelsberg Studio for UFA GmbH, Universum Film A.G. (UFA). ''Metropolis'' is regarded as a pioneering science-fiction film, being among the first Feature film, feature-length ones of that genre. Filming took place over 17 months in 1925–26 at a cost of more than five million Reichsmarks, or the equivalent of about € million. Made in Germany during the Weimar Republic, Weimar period, ''Metropolis'' is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Schroth
Heinrich August Franz Schroth (23 March 1871 – 14 January 1945) was a German stage and film actor. Career Schroth was born in Pirmasens, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He made his acting debut at the Sigmaringen Royal Theatre in 1890. In 1894 he went to the Municipal Theatre in Augsburg, in 1896 to Mainz and in 1897 to the Royal Court Theatre in Hanover. From 1899 to 1905, he spent six years as a part of the ensemble of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and from 1905 onwards at various Berlin theatres. Schroth made his film debut in the 1916 Walter Schmidthässler-directed drama ''Welker Lorbeer''. He spent the 1910s in numerous German silent film productions, working with such directors as George Jacoby, Robert Wiene and Harry Piel. His career in the 1920s was prolific, and he appeared opposite such silent film actors as Lil Dagover, Emil Jannings, Paul Wegener and Brigitte Helm and transitioned to sound film with ease. During World War II Heinrich Schroth par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georg John
Georg John (born Georg Jacobsohn; 23 July 1879 – 18 November 1941) was a German stage and film actor. Early life Georg Jacobsohn was born into a Jewish household in Schmiegel, Province of Posen, Imperial Germany. Career John began his career around 1900 in smaller stages and traveling theatres. In 1904, he was engaged at the Theater of Wilhelmshaven, followed by appearances at Stolp in 1905, Altona, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Bochum and Göttingen. In 1914, John worked as an actor and producer for Vaterländische Schauspiele in Vienna. In 1917, John first appeared in silent movies, playing a Tibetan monk in ''Die Fremde'' (''The Stranger''), and Death in ''Hilde Warren und der Tod'' (''Hilde Warren and Death''). These roles were typical of the kinds of parts he would become known for, even if, at first, he was more often seen as a father, husband or dignitary. Beginning in the 1920s, John appeared in the films of notable German filmmakers, where he often played bizarre, gno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valeska Gert
Valeska Gert (11 January 1892 – c. 16 March 1978) was a German dancer, pantomime, cabaret artist, actress and pioneering performance artist. Early life and career Gert was born as Gertrud Valesca Samosch in Berlin to a Jewish family. She was the eldest daughter of manufacturer Theodor Samosch and Augusta Rosenthal.Untitled review in ''Dance Research Journal'', vol. 18, no. 2, Winter 1986/87, pp. 70–73. Reviewed works: ''Valeska Gert: Tänzerin, Schauspielerin, Kabarettistin'' by Frank-Manuel Peter; ''Anita Berber: Tanz zwischen Rausch und Tod, 1918–1928 in Berlin'' by Lothar Fischer; ''Auf der Grossen Strasse: Jean Weidts Erinnerungen'' by Jean Weidt, Marion Reinisch Exhibiting no interest in academics or office work, she began taking dance lessons at the age of nine. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Loder (actor)
John Loder (born William John Muir Lowe; 3 January 1898 – 26 December 1988) was established as a British film actor in Germany and Britain before migrating to the United States in 1928 for work in the new talkies. He worked in Hollywood for two periods, becoming an American citizen in 1947. After living also in Argentina, he became a naturalized Argentine citizen in 1959. Biography Early life Loder was born in 1898 in Knightsbridge, London. His father was W.H.M. Lowe, a career British Army officer who achieved the rank of general. Patrick Pearse, the leader of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, surrendered to him. Both were present at the surrender. Loder's mother was Frances Broster Johnson (née de Salvo; 1857–1942), daughter of Francesco de Salvo of Palermo, Sicily and his English wife, Emma Broster. World War I Loder followed his father into the British Army, being commissioned into the 15th Hussars as a second lieutenant on 17 March 1915, during the Firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
