Messter Film Berlin

Anna Boleyn

Anna Boleyn 1920

6.86

The story of the ill-fated second wife of the English king Henry VIII, whose marriage to the Henry led to momentous political and religious turmoil in England.

1920

The Life and Works of Richard Wagner

The Life and Works of Richard Wagner 1913

5.20

This biographical portrait of composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), feature-length and lavishly produced, was released in conjunction with the centennial of his birth. It's an outstanding achievement in many respects. Naturally it looks primitive by modern standards, but contemporary viewers should bear in mind that it was made at a time when the motion picture industry was still in its infancy, and feature films were still a novelty. The very notion of a silent movie about a composer may seem odd, but Wagner is an ideal choice, simply because his life was so tempestuous and dramatic. Wagner's personality was operatic, while his tumultuous love life unfolded like a soap opera. He knew great success and abysmal failure, luxury one day and poverty the next. He participated in the wave of revolutions that swept Europe in the late 1840s, and had to flee Germany under threat of arrest.

1913

Countess Kitchenmaid

Countess Kitchenmaid 1918

1

Henny Porten plays the dual role of a rather indecorous Countess and her kitchen maid Karoline Blum, an amateur actress.

1918

Rose Bernd

Rose Bernd 1919

1

An adaptation of the Gerhart Hauptmann play of the same name. A young farmer's daughter is used and abused by the men in her life.

1919