''Prostitution'' (German: ''Die Prostitution'') is a 1919 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

Richard Oswald Richard Oswald (5 November 1880 – 11 September 1963) was an Austrian film director, producer, screenwriter, and father of German-American film director Gerd Oswald. Early life and career Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, ...

and starring

Conrad Veidt Hans Walter Conrad Veidt ( , ; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German and British actor. He attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and ''The Man ...

Reinhold Schünzel Reinhold Schünzel (7 November 1888 – 11 November 1954) was a German actor and director, active in both Germany and the United States. The son of a German father and a Jewish mother, he was born in St. Pauli, the poorest part of Hamburg. Despit ...

and

Gussy Holl Auguste Marie Christine Holl (22 February 1888 – 16 July 1966) was a German actress and singer. Holl was briefly a silent film star during the early Weimar Republic, appearing in productions such as F. W. Murnau's ''Desire'' (1921). As of 2021 ...

.Rogowski p.139 It was released in two parts ''Das gelbe Haus'' and ''Die sich verkaufen''. It was one of several enlightenment films made during the era by Oswald. The physician

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician, Sexology, sexologist and LGBTQ advocate, whose German citizenship was later revoked by the Nazi government.David A. Gerstner, ''Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer ...

was an advisor on the production. The first part 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 ...

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 ...

Cast

Part I

* Fritz Beckmann as Klaßen, Agent *

Anita Berber Anita Berber (10 June 1899 – 10 November 1928) was a German dancer, actress, and writer who was the subject of an Otto Dix painting. She lived during the time of the Weimar Republic. Early life Berber was born in Leipzig to the violinist Feli ...

as Lola, dessen Tochter *

as Hedwig *

as Alfred Werner * Rudolf Klein-Rhoden as Hiller, Hausbesitzer * Rita Clermont as Vera, Hillers Tochter *

as Karl Döring *

Ferdinand Bonn Ferdinand Bonn (20 December 1861 – 24 September 1933) was a German stage and film actor. Bonn was born in Donauwörth, Kingdom of Bavaria and died at age 71 in Berlin. Selected filmography * ''Svengali'' (1914) * '' The Silent Mill'' (1914) * ...

as Michalsky * Marga Köhler as Madame Riedel * Kissa von Sievers as Die Prostitution * Preben J. Rist as Diener der Gerechtigkeit *

Emil Lind Emil Lind (14 August 1872 – 7 April 1948) was an Austrian actor, theatre director and drama teacher on German-speaking stages. Selected filmography * '' The Story of Dida Ibsen'' (1918) * '' Die Arche'' (1919) * ''Prostitution'' (1919) * '' Hu ...

as alter Herr *

Werner Krauss Werner Johannes Krauss (''Krauß'' in German; 23 June 1884 – 20 October 1959) was a German stage and film actor. Krauss dominated the German stage of the early 20th century. However, his participation in the antisemitic propaganda film '' Jud ...

as Mann *

Ernst Gronau Ernst Gronau (21 August 1887 – 10 August 1938) was a German actor and writer. Selected filmography * ''Prostitution'' (1919) * '' Genuine'' (1920) * '' Roswolsky's Mistress'' (1921) * '' The Graveyard of the Living'' (1921) * ''Miss Julie'' ( ...

Wilhelm Diegelmann Wilhelm Diegelmann (28 September 1861 – 1 March 1934) was a German actor. Career Diegelmann's first stage appearance was in 1878 in the chorus for the Frankfurt Opera. In 1881 he debuted at the Frankfurt City Theater, playing King Lear, Wil ...

Part II

* Gertrude Hoffman *

Eduard von Winterstein Eduard Clemens Franz Anna Freiherr von Wangenheim (1 August 1871 – 22 July 1961), known as Eduard von Winterstein, was an Austrian-German film actor who appeared in over one hundred fifty German films during the silent and sound eras. He was ...

Ilka Grüning Ilka Grüning (born Ilka Henriette Grünzweig; 4 September 1876 – 11 November 1964) was an Austrian-Hungarian actress. Born in Vienna in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire, she was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to fl ...

* Preben J. Rist * Paul Morgan * Kissa von Sievers *

References

Bibliography

* Soister, John T. ''Conrad Veidt on Screen: A Comprehensive Illustrated Filmography''. McFarland, 2002. * Rogowski, Christian. ''The Many Faces of Weimar Cinema: Rediscovering Germany's Filmic Legacy''. Camden House, 2010.

External links

* * 1919 films Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films Films directed by Richard Oswald 1919 drama films German black-and-white films Films about prostitution in Germany Silent German drama films 1910s German films 1910s German-language films German-language drama films {{1910s-Germany-film-stub