''Intoxication'' (German: ''Rausch'') 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

Ernst Lubitsch Ernst Lubitsch (; ; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; a ...

and starring

Asta Nielsen Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen (11 September 1881 – 24 May 1972) was a Danish silent film actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were ...

Alfred Abel Alfred Peter Abel (12 March 1879 – 12 December 1937) was a German film actor, director, and producer. He appeared in more than 140 silent and sound films between 1913 and 1938. His best-known performance was as Joh Fredersen in Fritz Lang' ...

and

Karl Meinhardt Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cachoe ...

. It was based on the play '' Brott och brott'' (''There are crimes and crimes'') by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

, which was later remade as the 1928 film ''

Sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

''. Lubitsch was loaned out by

UFA Ufa is a city in Russia and the capital of the republic of Bashkortostan. UFA or Ufa may also refer to: Places * Ufa (river), a river in Russia; a tributary of the Belaya * Ufa International Airport, near the Russian city * Ufa railway statio ...

to the smaller Argus-Film for the production. Only a 13-minute fragment of the film, kept in Bundesarchive in Germany, is known to have survived.

Plot

Gaston finally succeeds as a dramatist and decides to leave his wife and child for another woman. When the child dies, the finger is pointed at him, and he winds up as a destitute before all is revealed.

Cast

as Henriette Mauclerc *

as Gaston, ein Schriftsteller * Karl Meinhardt as Adolph *

Grete Diercks Margarete "Grete" Diercks (September 1, 1890, in Hamburg – July 15, 1978, in Lauingen) was a German actress. Biography Diercks had been active since childhood as an actress at the 1900 Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. On her 11th birthday, ...

as Jeanne *

Rudolf Klein-Rhoden Rudolf Klein-Rhoden (27 January 1871 – 5 January 1936) was a German stage and film actor. Selected filmography * '' Madeleine'' (1919) * ''Sins of the Parents'' (1919) * ''Intoxication'' (1919) * ''Prostitution'' (1919) * ''Indische Nächte'' (1 ...

as Untersuchungsrichter *

Frida Richard Frida Richard (born Friederike Raithel, 1 November 1873 – 12 September 1946) was an Austrian actress. She was a prolific actress in both the silent and sound eras. Selected filmography * ''The Sin of Helga Arndt'' (1916) * '' The Queen's Lov ...

as Haushälterin * Marga Köhler as Henriettes Mutter *

Sophie Pagay Sophie Berg Pagay (22 April 1860 – 23 January 1937) was an Austrian actress. Biography She was worn in Brno. She began acting as a child, and went to Berlin to perform on stage in 1887. She married actor Hans Pagay. Selected filmography * ' ...

as Mutter Kathrin * Heinz Stieda as Der Abbé

References

Bibliography

* Eyman, Scott. ''Ernst Lubitsch: Laughter in Paradise''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. * Hake, Sabine. ''Passions and Deceptions: The Early Films of Ernst Lubitsch''. Princeton University Press, 1992.

External links

* 1919 films Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films 1919 drama films Silent German drama films Films directed by Ernst Lubitsch German films based on plays German black-and-white films Films based on works by August Strindberg 1910s German films 1910s German-language films German-language drama films {{1910s-Germany-film-stub