Otto Rippert (22 October 1869 – 15 January 1940) was a German film director during the

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 ...

era.

Biography

Rippert was born in

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...

, Germany, and began his career as a stage actor, working in theatres in

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

Forst (Lausitz) Forst (Lausitz) ( German, ) or Baršć (Łužyca) (Lower Sorbian, ; Polish: Barść) is a town in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. It lies east of Cottbus, on the Lusatian Neisse river which is also the German- Polish border. It i ...

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

and in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In 1906, he acted his first film in Baden-Baden for the French

Gaumont Film Company Gaumont SA () is a French film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Founded by the engineer-turned-inventor Léon Gaumont (1864–1946) in 1895, it is the oldest extant film company in ...

. In 1912 he appeared (complete with stick-on beard) as the millionaire Isidor Straus in '' In Nacht und Eis'', one of the first films about the sinking of the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

''. The film was made by Continental-Kunstfilm of Berlin, where Rippert continued to work as a director, making some ten motion pictures between 1912 and 1914. However, his reputation as one of the pioneers of German silent film rests on some of his later achievements, for example ''

Homunculus A homunculus ( , , ; "little person", : homunculi , , ) is a small human being. Popularized in 16th-century alchemy and 19th-century fiction, it has historically referred to the creation of a miniature, fully formed human. The concept has root ...

'' and '' The Plague of Florence''. ''

'', produced by Deutsche Bioskop in 1916, is a six-part serial

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

film involving mad scientists, superhuman androids and sinister technology. The script was written by Robert Reinert, and the film foreshadows various elements of

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 ...

's 1927 ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'', as well as serving as a model for later adaptations of

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...

's ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

'' rather than the original 1910 version. The subject-matter of ''Homunculus'' is similar to an earlier film about a monstrous man-made being, '' Der Golem'' ( Paul Wegener, 1915). Fritz Lang wrote the script for Rippert's historical epic '' The Plague of Florence'' (1919), the first film (of sixteen, as of 2007) to feature the

black plague The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

. The cameraman was Emil Schünemann, who was behind the lens for ''In Nacht und Eis''. After 1924, Rippert stopped directing films and worked as a

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

. He had a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in 1937 and died in Berlin in 1940.

Filmography

;Actor *'' In Nacht und Eis'', directed by Mime Misu (1912) ;Director *'' Zwischen Himmel und Erde'' (1912) *''Die fremde Legion'' (1912) *''Gelbstern'' (1912) *''Mannequins (1913 film)'' (1913) *''Zertrümmerte Ideale'' (1913) *''Scheingold'' (1913) *''Wie die Blätter...'' (1913) *''Surry der Steher'' (The Cyclist's Last Leap) (1913) *''Nach dem Tode'' (1913) *''Die Mustercollection'' (1914) : (All the above films were produced by Continental-Kunstfilm) *''

, 1. Teil - Der künstliche Mensch'' (1916) *''

, 2. Teil - Das geheimnisvolle Buch'' (1916) *''

, 3. Teil - Die Liebestragödie des Homunculus'' (1916) *''

, 4. Teil - Die Rache des Homunculus'' (1916) *''

, 5. Teil - Die Vernichtung der Menschheit'' (1916) *''

, 6. Teil - Das Ende des Homunculus'' (1916) *''Friedrich Werders Sendung'' (1916) *''BZ-Maxe & Co.'' (1916) *''Der Tod des Erasmus'' (1916) * '' The Knitting Needles'' (1916) *''Das Buch des Lasters'' (1917) *''Der Schwur der Renate Rabenau'' (1917) *''Wer küßt mich?'' (1917) *''Wenn die Lawinen stürzen'' (1917) *''Das Mädel von nebenan'' (1917) *'' Der Fremde'' (1917) *''Und wenn ich lieb' nimm dich in acht...!'' (1917) *''Die Tochter der Gräfin Stachowska'' (1917) *''Die gute Partie'' (1917) *''Die Krone des Lebens'' (1918) *''Der Weg, der zur Verdammnis führt, 1.Teil - Das Schicksal der Aenne Wolter'' (1918) *''Das Glück der Frau Beate'', co-director Alwin Neuß (1918) *''Baroneßchen auf Strafurlaub'' (1918) *''Arme Lena'' (1918) *''Heide-Gretel'' (1918) *''Das verwunschene Schloß'' (1918) *''Die fromme Helene'' (1918) *''Inge (1918 film)'' *''Der Weg, der zur Verdammnis führt, 2.Teil - Hyänen der Lust'' *''Hotel Wasserhose'' * '' The Plague of Florence'' (1919) * '' The Woman with Orchids'' (1919) * '' The Dance of Death'' (1919) * '' Countess Walewska'' (1920) *''Der Menschheit Anwalt'' *''Schatten einer Stunde'' *''Wie Satan starb'' *''Teufelchen'' *'' Aschermittwoch'' (1921) *''Susanne Stranzky'' *''Die Abenteuer der schönen Dorette'' *'' Die Beute der Erinnyen'' *'' Tingeltangel'' (1922) *''Die brennende Kugel'' *'' Winterstürme'' (1924) *''Die Tragödie zweier Menschen'' (1925)

Notes

External links

*Biography o
Otto Rippert
* * Three clips from ''Homunculus'': , , (Italian intertitles) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rippert, Otto German male film actors Film people from Hesse German cinema pioneers 1869 births 1940 deaths 20th-century German male actors People from Offenbach am Main Male actors from Hesse