''The Carousel of Life'' (German: ''Das Karussell des Lebens'') is a 1919 German silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Georg Jacoby Georg Jacoby (23 July 1882 – 21 February 1964) was a German film director and screenwriter.Profile
, bfi.org.uk; accessed 1 ...

and starring

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Apolonia Chalupec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femm ...

Harry Liedtke Harry Liedtke (12 October 1882 – 28 April 1945) was a German film actor. Early life Liedtke was born in Königsberg, East Prussia to a merchant as the seventh out of 12 children. After the death of his father in 1896, he grew up in an orphanage ...

, and Reinhold Schünzel. In the United States, it is also known by the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the ...

of ''The Last Payment''. It is now considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

. It was shot at the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial bac ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, Iola, a beautiful woman of the Latin Quarter, marries a rich cattle owner Pedro Maurez from South America to live in peace and happiness. The arrival of young Parisian Paul Durand whets her interest again in the old haunts of Paris. When her husband is slain in an uprising of laborers, she is again thrown on her own resources. She travels to Paris with the young businessman and, upon their arrival, she is sheltered by the youth's father Henri (Patry). Here she meets her former husband Jules Lambert who is secretary to Henri. The former husband, by his wife Iola's extravagance, had been led to defaulting trust funds. Her host and son both fall in love with her and her former husband stands like a Nemesis in the background. On the night of a carnival, where Iola is made queen of the festivities, the secretary confesses his past to Paul, telling of his imprisonment for larceny and his efforts to live down his past. Paul steps up to box at the carnival and sees his father embrace Iola. So horrified is the young man at the sight and of his own unrequited love that he kills himself almost at the feet of the couple. But Iola is feted and showered with flowers until the grim tragedy drives her from the ball room and into the night. She is confused and falls before a train, making her last payment.

Cast

as Iola *

as Paul Durand * Reinhold Schünzel as Jules Lambert *

Leopold von Ledebur Leopold von Ledebur (18 May 1876 – 22 August 1955) was a German stage and film actor. Selected filmography * ''Carmen'' (1918) * ''The Serenyi'' (1918) * ''Midnight'' (1918) * ''The Foolish Heart'' (1919) * '' The Golden Lie'' (1919) * '' T ...

as Pedro Maurez *Albert Patry (uncredited)

References

External links

* * Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films Films directed by Georg Jacoby German black-and-white films UFA GmbH films 1919 drama films Lost German films Films shot at Tempelhof Studios 1919 lost films Lost drama films Silent German drama films 1910s German films 1910s German-language films {{1910s-Germany-film-stub