''Alexandra'' is a German

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

from 1914. It was directed by Curt A. Stark and stars his wife

Henny Porten Frieda Ulricke "Henny" Porten (7 January 1890 – 15 October 1960) was a German actress and film producer of the silent film, silent era, and Germany's first major film star. She appeared in more than 170 films between 1906 and 1955. Biography ...

in the lead role. It is based a novel by

Richard Voss Richard Voss (2 September 1851 – 10 June 1918) was a German dramatist and novelist. In standard German orthography, his surname is printed as Voß. Biography Voss was born on 2 September 1851, at Neu-Grape, the son of a country squire. Thou ...

Plot

Alexandra, a homeless young woman, meets Count Eberti. When she gets from him the security she had always yearned for, she becomes his lover. But his family detests her for being a commoner. One day, on his mother's exhortation, the Count leaves Alexandra when she is pregnant with his child. Unable to pay her apartment rent she is thrown out with her newborn. On a cold night, Alexandra goes to sleep hugging her child tight. When she wakes up, there is a crowd around him, beating her. Alexandra's tight clasp had apparently suffocated her infant. She is arrested and convicted as a murderer and received five years in prison. Once she is released, Alexandra only has revenge on her mind, against the man wo took everything from him. Alexandra ingratiates herself with the Count, who realizes he still has feelings for her. Even his mother is kind and Alexandra is let back into the Count's life. With this change in the family's attitude, Alexandra also is letting go of her plan for revenge. Just then, news of her prison past somehow becomes known. To spare her lover the shame, Alexandra takes her own life.

Cast

: Alexandra * Friedrich Fehér: Count Erwin Eberti * Henny Steinmann: Countess Eberti, his mother * Ernst Reschke: Anton

Production

The film is based on a play of the same name by

Recent screenings

The film was screened at the 1986

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

as part of a general retrospective of German film.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title German drama films German black-and-white films German silent films German short films 1914 films 1910s German films Films based on works by Richard Voss