''The Merry-Go-Round'' (German: ''Der Reigen'') is a 1920 German

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 ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It was adapted from the 1897 play, '' La Ronde'' by

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

. 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 Dreier Hans Dreier (August 21, 1885 – October 24, 1966) was a German motion picture art director. He was Paramount Pictures' supervising art director from 1927 until his retirement in 1950, when he was succeeded by Hal Pereira. Hans Dreier was born ...

Plot

The film tells the story of Elena, a woman with a dubious past, who marries a shop keeper, Albert. When her former pimp Peter shows up, her life is ruined. She shoots him and poisons herself.

Cast

as Elena *

as Petre Karvan *

as Albert Peters *

Irmgard Bern Irmgard is a feminine German given name. Notable people with the name include: * Irmgard of Berg (fl. 12th century), German noble, daughter of Adolf VI, Count of Berg * Irmgard of Chiemsee (c. 831/833 – 16 July 866) * Irmgard of Cleves (c. 13 ...

as Frau Peters *

Theodor Loos Theodor August Konrad Loos (18 May 1883 – 27 June 1954) was a German actor. The son of a watchmaker and instruments manufacturer, he left secondary school prematurely and worked for three years at an export firm for music instruments in Leipz ...

as Fritz Peters *

Loni Nest Eleonore "Loni" Arnault ( Nest, 4 August 1915 – 2 October 1990), known professionally by her maiden name of Loni Nest, was a German actress. Born in Berlin, she was a child star of German silent films in the 1920s. She was filmed for the first ...

Willi Schaeffers Willi Schaeffers (1884–1962) was a German film actor and cabaret performer.Jelavich p.246 Selected filmography * ''The Blue Mouse (1913 film), The Blue Mouse'' (1913) * ''A Blackmailer's Trick'' (1921) * ''Nameless Woman'' (1927) * ''The Street ...

* Ilse von Tasso-Lind as Mutter *

Hugo Döblin Hugo Döblin (29 October 1876 – 4 November 1960) was a German stage and film actor.Hardt, Ursula. ''From Caligari to California: Erich Pommer's Life in the International Film Wars''. Berghahn Books, 1996. p. 233 He appeared in more than eighty ...

* Willy Karin

Bibliography

External links

* 1920 films Films based on works by Arthur Schnitzler Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films Films directed by Richard Oswald German films based on plays Films about adultery in Germany Films about prostitution in Germany German black-and-white films {{1920s-Germany-silent-film-stub