''Swifter Than Death'' (German: ''Schneller als der Tod'', French: ''Face à la mort'') is a 1925 French-Germany silent

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by Gérard Bourgeois and

Harry Piel Heinrich Piel (12 July 1892 – 27 March 1963), known professionally as Harry Piel, was a prolific German actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer who was involved in over 150 films. Piel became a director in 1912, turning out such ...

and starring Piel,

Dary Holm Dary Holm (born Anna Maria Dorothea Meyer; 16 April 1897 – 29 August 1960) was a German actress. She married film star Harry Piel in 1927. Holm starred alongside Piel in several films, such as ''Johnny Steals Europe'' (1932).Grange p.389 Select ...

Denise Legeay Denise Augusta Marguerite Legeay (22 January 1898 – 27 May 1968) was a French film actress whose popularity peaked during the silent film era of the 1920s. Legeay made her film debut at age 23 in the 1921 Henry Houry directed film ''L’ ...

and

José Davert José Davert (1874–1934) was a French film actor.Goble p.143 Selected filmography * '' The House of Mystery'' (1923) * '' The Man Without Nerves'' (1924) * '' Adventure on the Night Express'' (1925) * ''The Phantom of the Moulin Rouge ''The ...

.Elsaesser & Wedel p.191 It was shot at the

Cité Elgé Cité Elgé were French film studios located in Paris. They were constructed in 1905 in the Buttes-Chaumont area of the city by the Gaumont Film Company The Gaumont Film Company (, ), often shortened to Gaumont, is a French film studio headq ...

Studios in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and on location in

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 ...

and the

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Fritz Kraenke .

Cast

as Harry Piel *

as Lizzie *

as Jack Brown * Fred Berger as Éric Holsen *

as Christensen * Marguerite Madys as Yvette Riccoldi * Paul Guidé as Le duc de Frontignac *

Albert Paulig Albert Paulig (14 January 1873 – 19 March 1933) was a German film actor who was popular during the silent era. Paulig made his first film in 1914. The following year he appeared in one of Ernst Lubitsch's first directorial attempts, '' A Trip on ...

as L'éditeur Riccoldi

References

Bibliography

* Elsaesser, Thomas & Wedel, Michael. ''The BFI companion to German cinema''. British Film Institute, 1999.

External links

* 1925 films Films of the Weimar Republic French silent feature films 1920s French films German action films French action films 1920s action films German silent feature films Films directed by Harry Piel 1920s German films Gaumont Film Company films {{1920s-Germany-film-stub de:Schneller als der Tod