Phoebus Film or Phoebus-Film was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

company active during the

silent era A silent film is a film with no 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, wh ...

. It was one of the medium-sized firms established during the early boom years of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

. It had a distribution agreement with the American studio

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

. In 1927 the studio became involved in major controversy during the Lohmann Affair, when it emerged that the company had secretly been granted a large sum from the German Navy Department geared toward military propaganda and support of

rearmament Rearmament may refer to: *German re-armament (''Aufrüstung''), the growth of the German military in contravention of the Versailles treaty (1930s) *British re-armament, the modernisation of the British military in response to German re-armament ( ...

at a time when this was forbidden by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. The ensuing scandal led to a political crisis in the

and the resignation of

Otto Gessler Otto Karl Gessler (or Geßler) (6 February 1875 – 24 March 1955) was a liberal German politician during the Weimar Republic. From 1910 until 1914, he was mayor of Regensburg and from 1913 to 1919 mayor of Nuremberg. He served in numerous We ...

Defence Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

. The company went bankrupt in the wake of the scandal. In 1928 the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

-based

Bavaria Film Bavaria Film is a German film production and film distribution, distribution company. It is one of Europe's largest film production companies, with some 30 subsidiaries. History The studios were founded in 1919, when Munich-raised film produc ...

bought up the remaining assets of the company Its former production chief

Ernst Hugo Correll Ernst Hugo Correll (9 June 1882 – 13 September 1942) was a German film producer active during the Weimar and early Nazi eras. Born in Alsace, recently incorporated into the German Empire, he worked as a lawyer before service in the First World ...

was appointed as the new head of Germany's largest company

UFA Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

.Hardt p.121-22

References

Bibliography

* Hardt, Ursula. ''From Caligari to California: Erich Pommer's life in the International Film Wars''. Berghahn Books, 1996. * Kreimeier, Klaus. ''The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945''. University of California Press, 1999. * Petley, Julian. ''Capital and Culture: German Cinema, 1933–45. British Film Institute, 1979. German film studios Film production companies of Germany Film distributors of Germany {{germany-company-stub