Wednesday, January 26, 2022, Opening Event 7.30 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
The Marriage Circle
USA 1924, 85 min.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch,
Accompaniment: Ensemble Déjà Vu conducted by Gabriel Thibaudeau.
We are in Vienna. Professor Stock is no longer getting along with his wife, the attractive and seductive Mizzie—a woman who never misses an opportunity to charm the opposite sex. In a taxi, she meets Dr. Franz Braun—who, unbeknownst to her, happens to be the husband of her best friend, Charlotte. This sets off a turbulent chain of misunderstandings, cases of mistaken identity, and more, until, eventually, the right people find their perfect match.
In other words: Goethe’s “Elective Affinities” in the 20th century. …
Repetition: Sunday, January 30 2022, 3.00 p.m., Kinemathek Karlsruhe, Kaiser-Passage
German theatrical Poster for “The Marriage Circle”
Thursday, January 27 2022, 7.00 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
Tillie’s Punctured Romance
USA 1914, 82 min.
Director: Mack Sennett, with Charles Chaplin and other
Accompaniment: SaiLento (Reiko Emura, piano; and Shinichi Minami, percussion)
The film’s characters: a clumsy country bumpkin (Marie Dressler)—who accidentally hits a small-time crook (Chaplin) in the head with a brick—and the pretty Mabel, whom the crook has just jilted. This cast of characters is enough to trigger total chaos, as the country bumpkin inherits a fortune—a windfall the crook is determined not to miss out on. Needless to say, any hope of reconciling with the far more attractive Mabel is completely off the table.
Repetition: Sunday, January 30, 2022, as part of a double-feature program, at approximately 8:00 p.m. (please check for exact start times), Kinemathek Karlsruhe.
“Tillie’s Punctured Romance” by Mack Sennett
with Charles Chaplin and Marie Dressler (right)
Thursday January 27, 2022, 9.15 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
The Plaid Raincoat (OT: Der Karierte Regenmantel)
Germany, 1917 31 min.
Director: Max Mack
Accompaniment (both films) Leo Perrigo (piano).
A light, fresh comedy of mistaken identity: A young woman lends her new raincoat to a friend, who wears it to a rendezvous. By chance, the coat’s owner’s husband spots her and immediately assumes he is witnessing his wife having an affair.
“The Plaid Raincoat” by Max Mack
Picture: Frame ot the print
The Eskimo Baby
Germany, 1916/17, 62 min.
Director: Heinz Schall (Walter Schmidthässler?), with Asta Nielsen
To the surprise of his parents and his long-waiting fiancée, Greenland explorer Knud Prätorius brings home a young Inuit woman named Ivigtut. This creates a culture shock for the young woman from Greenland, leading to a series of highly amusing incidents. However, Knud keeps the fact that he is already married to Ivigtut a secret—a complication that sparks conflicts, which the film resolves in a most surprising way!
Asta Nielsen in “The Eskimo Baby” by Heinz Schall (Walter Schmidthässler?)
Freitag 28.1.2022, 16.00 Uhr
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
Alice Guy-Blaché / Louis Feuillade – A Program of Short Films, ca. 70 min.
Accompaniment: Richard Siedhoff (piano)
A long time ago, Alice Guy-Blaché was all but erased from film history, with many of her films misattributed to Louis Feuillade. In reality, Alice Guy-Blaché had been employed at Gaumont before Feuillade; strictly speaking, Louis Feuillade was her protégé—even though, in later years, he went on to create enduring masterpieces of cinema, such as the serials “Les Vampires” and “Fantômas.” It was only during his earlier years that he also produced comedies. We are presenting a program featuring a variety of short comedies and slapstick films by Alice Guy-Blaché—including “La femme collante” (The Clinging Woman) and “Chirurgie fin de siècle”—as well as works by Louis Feuillade, such as “Le Récit du Colonel” (The Colonel’s Tale), in which the apartment furnishings end up taking quite a beating. …
“Chirurgie fin-de-siècle” by Alice Guy-Blaché
Poster of the film by Louis Feuillade
Friday, January 28, 2022, 7.00 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
The Girl with the Hatbox (OT: Dewuschka s korobkoi)
Russia, 1928, 92 min.
Direchtor: Boris Barnet
Accompaniment: “Küspert und Kollegen” (Küspert and Colleagues
Natascha, a young milliner, has not only captured the heart of a railway official who is hopelessly in love with her, but has also entered into a sham marriage with Ilya—a man without a home who has come to Moscow to study. She does all this simply to oblige Madame Irene, the cantankerous owner of the hat shop, who uses various ruses to deceive the socialist housing authority. Furthermore, instead of being paid for the hats she crafts, Natascha receives a lottery ticket from Irene’s husband. And then, as luck would have it, that very ticket wins.
Poster by the Brothers Stenberg
Friday, January 28 2022, 9.30 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
The Alcoholic Slapstick
Dutration of the Programm: ca. 83 min.
Accompaniment: Natália Martin Barroso Garcia and Nicolas Mischke (both students at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Karlsruhe) provide musical accompaniment for the program, featuring music composed specifically for the occasion—partly pre-recorded and partly performed live.
.The six films in this short-film program are all about one thing: alcohol. We begin with a piece of slapstick from the Prohibition era, continue with Charles Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle as nocturnal roamers, depict the nightmare of a patron (Onésime aux enfers) who cannot pay his bill, and conclude with Charles Chaplin visiting a “healing spring.”
Repetition: Sunday, January 30 6.00 p.m. Kinemathek
Charles Chaplin and Edna Purviance in “The Cure”
Saturday January 29.2022, 3.00 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
The Fabulous Lola
Germany, 1927
Director: Richard Eichberg, ca. 70 min.
Accompaniment: Richard Siedhoff (piano)
Lilian Harvey plays the fabulous Lola—a spirited Spanish woman who occasionally dons a blonde wig and breaks countless hearts along the way. By the end of this fast-paced carnival comedy, however, she finds herself safely anchored in the harbor of marriage. The premiere was an overwhelming success with the audience. Top-notch entertainment guaranteed!
Lilian Harvey as “The fabuious Lola” by Richard Eichberg
© Foto: Collection Josef Jünger
Saturday, January 29 2022, 7.00 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
Film Concert: Erotikon
Sweden 1920, 106 min.
Director: Mauritz Stiller
Accompaniment: Ensemble Transformer conducted by Sabine Zimmer (piano)
A highly intricate comedy that presents a whole spectrum of erotic pairings: an aging and slightly bumbling professor with a young, vivacious wife who manages several admirers with the help of her appointment book; a housekeeper who perhaps knows more than just the professor’s favorite dish. The plot unfolds in a way that only narrowly avoids a “worst-case scenario”—which appears only in the form of a ballet that the protagonists attend. Ernst Lubitsch’s favorite film!
Tora Teje and Lars Hanson in “Erotikon” by Mauritz Stiller
Saturday, January 29 2022, 9.30 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
German comedies from the collection of the EYE Institute Amsterdam
Accompaniment: Richard Siedhoff (piano)
The Dutch film archive holds an overwhelming wealth of German films, including the Desmet Collection—recognized as part of UNESCO’s documentary heritage—and many others. Regrettably, we can present only three of them: two short films—“Appearances are deceptivet” (OT: Der Schein trügt, 1913), a comedy of mistaken identity with a screenplay by Gustav Trautschold; and “An inexpensive Beach Trip” (OT: Eine billige Badereise,1911), featuring a very young Henny Porten—in which several gentlemen place a bet on who might succeed in winning the favor of a young lady.
“Der Schein trügt”
The third film is::
Komtesse Doddy
Director: Georg Jacoby; Germany 1919, 60 min.
Doddy (Pola Negri) stands to inherit 10 million marks, provided she is happily married by her 21st birthday—which happens to be the very next day. Her fiancé, Frank, an explorer in Africa, intends to arrive by plane, but is taken captive following an emergency landing near the equator. Consequently, a substitute groom must be found. The wedding takes place, and arguments quickly ensue. Yet, just in time, a reconciliation occurs, leading to a happy ending… (from FWM Foundation)
Sunday, January 30 2022, 12.00 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
His wife, the unknown woman (OT: Seine Frau die Unbekannte)
Denmark, Germany 1923, 82 min.
Director: Benjamin Christensen
Accompaniment: Andreas Benz (piano)
A young man, blinded in the war, recalls an encounter with an elegant beauty. His mother tracks the woman down, but instead of her, a young widow arrives. When the young man regains his sight following an operation, he fails to recognize his wife. Outraged, she leaves him—only to return later as a housekeeper. … A film featuring a star-studded cast: Lil Dagover and Willy Fritsch.
Lil Dagover and Willy Fritsch in “His Wife, the Unknown Woman”
by Benjamin Christensen
Sonntag, 30. 1. 2022, 15.00 Uhr
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
Charlie Chaplin Experience Day featuring two short films: “The Rink” and “The Champion”
includes a reading and a craft session for the youngest ones
Reading: Susanna Krauthauser reads from Margret Steenfatt’s “Charlie the Clown.”
Craft session: Susanna Krauthauser leads the craft session for the youngest ones.
Accompaniment: Trio Transformer conducted by Sabine Zimmer (piano)
The films: “The Rink” (25 min.) Charlie works as a waiter and spends his free time at the roller rink. As a waiter, he makes life difficult for both his colleagues and the customers; at the roller rink, however, he is a master.
“The Champion” (29 min.) Charlie decides to take part in a boxing match. With a horseshoe inside his glove, he is unbeatable. He is then set to face the world champion—and falls in love with his trainer’s daughter.
Sunday, January 30 2022, 7.00 p.m.
Festhalle KA-Durlach, Kanzlerstraße 13
Festival Closing Event: The Z-Rays (OT: I Raggi Z)
Italy 1917, 38 min., Fragment
Director: Eleuterio Rodolfi (?),
Accompaniment (both films): Gabriel Thibaudeau (piano)
Bruniquel, a Parisian delicatessen owner, suffers under the thumb of his domineering wife. Fortunately, she soon has to go away on a trip, allowing Bruniquel to finally throw himself into the carnival festivities. He encounters Gigetta, and—after consuming plenty of alcohol— he no longer has any idea what actually took place. … The print features German intertitles!
As for the “Z-rays”: they were intended to make it possible to observe people from a distance—telepathically, so to speak—thereby revealing what a husband might be up to while his wife was away.
Gigetta Morano (left) in “The Z-Rays” (OT: I Raggi Z)
College
USA, 1927, 62 min.
Director: James W. Horne & Buster Keaton
Ronald (Buster Keaton) is only a student because the object of his affection is one, too. She goads the homebody into taking up sports—with all the consequences one might easily imagine. Situational comedy at its very best!
“The College” by and with Buster Keaton
