Sascha-Film, in full Sascha-Filmindustrie AG and from 1933 Tobis-Sascha-Filmindustrie AG, was the largest

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n film production company of the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, 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) ...

and early

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

period.

History

The business was established in 1910 by Alexander Joseph "Sascha", Count Kolowrat-Krakowsky as the ''Sascha-Filmfabrik'' ("Sascha Film Factory") in Pfraumberg in Bohemia, and relocated in 1912 to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. On 10 September 1918, after the merger with the film distributors Philipp & Pressburger, the business became the ''Sascha-Filmindustrie AG''. With

epic film Epic films are a style of filmmaking with large-scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The usage of the term has shifted over time, sometimes designating a film genre and at other times simply synonymous with big-budget filmmaking. Like epics in ...

s such as

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)Prinz und Bettelknabe'' ("Prince and Beggar") (1920) and

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...

's '' Sodom und Gomorrha'' (1922) as well as '' Die Sklavenkönigin'' ("The Slave Queen") (1924), the company rose to be one of the most successful European film producers. In 1933 the German enterprise Tobis-Tonbild-Syndikat was amalgamated with the company, known formally from then on as the Tobis-Sascha-Filmindustrie AG. In 1938, in the context of the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...

, by which Austria was annexed to the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the concern passed into the ownership of the

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

government and was re-founded as Wien-Film GmbH. Its best-known director of the period to the end of the war was Gustav Ucicky. After the end of the war the name Sascha-Film was re-established for a couple of decades, and in the 1950s and 1960s produced light entertainment films.

Selected films

* 1912: Die Gewinnung des Erzes am steirischen Erzberg in Eisenerz ("The extraction of ore on the Styrian ore mountain in Eisenerz"; documentary, c. 6 min; direction by Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky) * 1912: Kaiser Joseph II. * 1913: Der Millionenonkel (c. 60 min; direction by

Hubert Marischka Hubert Marischka (27 August 1882 – 4 December 1959), brother of Ernst Marischka, was an Austrian operetta tenor, actor, film director and screenwriter. Career Marischka was born in Brunn am Gebirge, the son of Jiří (or Johann) Marisch ...

) * 1915: Das andere Ich (direction by Fritz Freisler) * 1916: Wien im Krieg (direction by

Heinz Hanus Heinz Hanus (24 May 1882 – 16 March 1972) was an Austrian actor and film director. He directed 21 films between 1908 and 1929. His younger brother was actor and film director Emmerich Hanus Emmerich Hanus (24 August 1884 – 20 Nov ...

* 1917:

Heldenkampf in Schnee und Eis ''Heldenkampf in Schnee und Eis'' (''Heroes' Fight in Snow and Ice'') is a 1917 Austro-Hungarian propaganda newsreel film made by Sascha-Film for the Imperial and Royal War Press Headquarters. The film is hand-coloured and presented in two secti ...

* 1918: Der Mandarin (61 min; direction by Paul Frank, Fritz Freisler) * 1922: Sodom und Gomorrha (direction by

) * 1922: Harun al Rashid (direction by Michael Curtiz) * 1923:

Der junge Medardus ''Young Medardus'' (German: ''Der junge Medardus'') is a 1923 Austrian silent historical drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Victor Varconi, Egon von Jordan and Agnes Esterhazy.Von Dassanowsky p.21 Based on a play with the ...

(direction by Michael Curtiz) * 1924: Die Sklavenkönigin (70 min; direction by Michael Curtiz) * 1925: Das Spielzeug von Paris (direction by

) * 1927: Café Elektric (direction by Gustav Ucicky) * 1927: Die Pratermizzi * 1929: '' Bright Eyes'' ( co-production with

British International Pictures Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appr ...

) * 1930: Geld auf der Straße (direction by

Georg Jacoby Georg Jacoby (23 July 1882 – 21 February 1964) was a German film director and screenwriter.Profile
, bfi.org.uk; accessed 1 ...

) * 1934: Maskerade (direction by Willi Forst) * 1934: Hohe Schule (direction by Erich Engel)

References

* Herbert Polak, 1948. ''30 Jahre Sascha-Film: Festschrift der Sascha-Film Verein- und Vertriebs- Ges. m.b.H. Wien''. Vienna.

External links

*
Vienna Cinema and Theatre Topography Project
*
History of Vienna website
*

{{Authority control Mass media companies established in 1910 Film production companies of Austria Austrian film studios Neubau Culture in Vienna 1910 establishments in Austria

History

Selected films

See also

References

External links