''Four Around the Woman'' () is a 1921 German silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...

and starring

Hermann Böttcher Hermann Gotthilf Ferdinand Boettcher (12 November 1866 – 7 May 1935) was a German stage and film actor.Hardt p.223 Selected filmography * '' The Man of Action'' (1919) * '' The Swabian Maiden'' (1919) * ''Madame Récamier'' (1920) * '' The Big ...

, Carola Toelle and Lilli Lohrer. It is also known by the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the ...

of ''Kämpfende Herzen''. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Hans Jacoby Hans Jacoby (1904–1963) was a German screenwriter. Jacoby was of Jewish backgroundPrawer p.212 and was forced to go into exile when the Nazi Party took power in 1933. Jacoby settled in the United States for many years, working on the screenplay ...

. It was shot at the

Babelsberg Studios Babelsberg Film Studio () (also known as Studio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world, producing films since 1912. With a total area of about and a studio area of a ...

. The film premiered at the

Marmorhaus The Marmorhaus (English: Marble House) was a movie theater, cinema that used to be located on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. Opened in 1913, it takes its name from a large marble façade. Designed by the architect Hugo Pál, the walls of the foyer ...

in Berlin in February 1921.

Plot

Harry Yquem is a wealthy realtor. He disguises himself in order to purchase a piece of jewelry for his wife Florence (Carola Toelle) in a criminal cellar from the fence Upton (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) with counterfeit notes. He meets a man in whom he thinks he recognizes a former lover of Florence from before their marriage: it is Werner Krafft who has returned to the city after years and is looking for his former lover Florence. Since he is penniless, he seeks out his twin brother William Krafft to ask him for money. But William has become a bon vivant and a deceiver. Yquem thinks William is Werner and therefore has him shadowed by his confidant Meunier. Finally he passes him a bogus message that Florence allegedly wants to see him and offers him a rendez-vous, whereupon William drives to the Yquem household. Yquem follows him armed, hoping to catch him and his wife. At the same time, however, Meunier approaches Florence on his own initiative and with clear intentions, who is visibly confused. Werner Krafft has tried in vain to find his brother William. When Werner returns to Upton's basement, he overhears him and his assistant. They have discovered Yquem's fraud with the wrong money and want to kidnap Florence in order to extort the amount owed from Yquem. Upton and his friend drive to the Yquems estate, Werner Krafft pursues them. The Yquems have a showdown with shootings and a large police presence, in which all secrets are revealed.

Cast

as Florence's father * Carola Toelle as Florence Yquem *Lilli Lohrer as Florence's maid *

Ludwig Hartau Ludwig Hartau (19 February 1877 – 24 November 1922) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' The Dancer'' (1915) * '' Hungernde Millionäre'' (1919) * ''Baccarat'' (1919) * '' The Three Dances of Mary Wilford'' (1920) * '' Anna Boleyn'' ( ...

as Harry Yquem, a broker *

Anton Edthofer Anton Franz Edthofer (18 September 1883 – 21 February 1971) was an Austrian actor. He married Helene Thimig on December 4, 1948 and they remained married until his death. Partial filmography * '' The Sacrifice'' (1918) * ''Freier Dienst'' (191 ...

as Werner Krafft and as his twin brother William Krafft *Robert Forster-Larrinaga as Meunier *Lisa von Marton as Margot *

Gottfried Huppertz Gottfried Huppertz (11 March 1887 – 7 February 1937) was a German composer who is perhaps most known for his scores to German expressionist silent films such as the science fiction epic ''Metropolis'' (1927). He collaborated with director Fritz ...

as the head chef *

Rudolf Klein-Rogge Friedrich Rudolf Klein (24 November 1885 – 29 May 1955), better known as Rudolf Klein-Rogge, was a German film actor, best known for playing sinister figures in films in the 1920s and 1930s as well as being a mainstay in director Fritz Lang's ...

as Upton, a jewel fence *

Harry Frank Harry Frank (15 October 1896 – 12 December 1947) was a German actor. Selected filmography * '' In den Goldfeldern von Nevada'' (1920) * '' Das wandernde Bild'' (1920) * '' The Wandering Image'' (1920) * '' Four Around a Woman'' (1921) * '' The ...

as Bobby * Paul Morgan as the other jewel fence *

Gerhard Ritterband Gerhard Ritterband (1904–1959) was a German film actor.Hardt p.223 Selected filmography * '' The Doll'' (1919) * ''The Princess of the Nile'' (1920) * '' Va banque'' (1920) * '' A Day on Mars'' (1921) * '' Four Around a Woman'' (1921) * ''The D ...

as the newspaper boy *Hans Lipschütz as the rascal *Erika Unruh as the whore *Edgar Pauly as the inconspicuous gentleman *

Leonhard Haskel Leonhard Haskel (7 April 1872 – 30 December 1923) was a German stage and film actor and drama teacher. Haskel was born in Seelow, in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg, and died in Berlin. Selected filmography * '' Europe, General Deliver ...

as crook #1 *

Paul Rehkopf Paul Anton Heinrich Rehkopf (21 May 1872 – 29 June 1949) was a German actor. He was born in Braunschweig, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany Selected filmography * '' Diary of a Lost Woman'' (1918) * '' Film Kathi'' (1918) * '' Lorenzo Burgh ...

as crook #2

Restoration

Long regarded as lost, a film reel in Portuguese was found in 1986 in the Cinemateca Brasileira in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

by the film historian Walther Seidler, an employee of the Kinemathek in Berlin, together with Lang's ''

The Wandering Image ''The Wandering Image'' (German: ''Das wandernde Bild'') is a 1920 German silent drama film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Mia May, Hans Marr and Rudolf Klein-Rogge. It is also known by the alternative titles of ''The Wandering Picture'' ...

'', from the estate of a local distributor. After two years of restoration work, it was shown again in 1988 at the Berlinale. The reconstructed copy is 1,618 meters long. The intertitles have been translated back from Portuguese.

References

External links

* Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films Films directed by Fritz Lang 1921 drama films German black-and-white films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios Silent German drama films 1920s German films Films with screenplays by Thea von Harbou {{1920s-Germany-silent-drama-film-stub