''The Circus of Life'' (German: ''Die Flucht in den Zirkus'') is a 1926 German

silent film 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, when ...

directed by

Mario Bonnard Mario Bonnard (24 December 1889 – 22 March 1965) was an Italian actor and film director. Bonnard was born and died in Rome. He began his cinematic career as an actor becoming a popular romantic lead in numerous silent films made before World ...

and

Guido Parish Guido is a given name Latinisation of names, Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America an ...

and starring

Marcella Albani Marcella Albani (born Ida Fidalma Angela Maranca; 7 December 1899 – 11 May 1959), was an Italian actress and writer. Although largely forgotten today, Albani was an idol of European cinema in the 1920s, and appeared in 50 films between 1919 and ...

Vladimir Gajdarov Vladimir Georgievich Gajdarov (Russian: Владимир Георгиевич Гайдаров; 25 July 1893 – 17 November 1978) was a Russian film actor and star of Russian and German silent cinema. Filmography *''Father Sergius'' (1917), as N ...

and

Fritz Kampers Fritz Kampers (14 July 1891 – 1 September 1950) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1913 and 1950. Early life Fritz Kampers was the son of a Munich hotel owner, spent his early childhood in Garmisch-Partenk ...

.Bock & Bergfelder p.90 It was shot at the

Staaken Studios Staaken Studios was a film studio located in Staaken on the outskirts of the German capital Berlin. A large former zeppelin hangar, it was converted to film use following the First World War and operated during the Weimar Republic. In July 1923 it ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

.The film's

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

was by

Andrej Andrejew Andrey, Andrej or Andrei (in Cyrillic script: Андрей, Андреј or Андрэй) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk ( – 1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...

Karl Görge Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

and

August Rinaldi August Rinaldi (1883–1962) was a German art director. He worked on around fifty films during the silent era. Rinaldi was of Jewish descent.Prawer p.212 Selected filmography * ''Let There Be Light'' (1917) * '' Diary of a Lost Woman'' (1918) * ...

. The film was screened in the United Kingdom in 1928, with a reviewer for the ''Derby Daily Telegraph'' calling it "one of the best Russian films seen for some time".

Plot

A young nobleman marries a poor peasant girl, who is falsely accused of murder and transported to Siberia. She eventually escapes with her lover.

Cast

as Mistress Wera *

as Officer Wladimir Bobrikoff *

as Iwanoff - Anarchist *

Henry Bender Henry Bender (born Harry Bandheimer; 1867–1933) was a German stage and film actor.Chandler p. 272 He appeared in more than a hundred films during his career. Selected filmography * ''The Devil'' (1918) * '' Madeleine'' (1919) * ''Whitechapel'' ...

Eugen Burg Eugen Burg (6 January 1871 – 17 April 1944) was a German actor. His daughter was Hansi Burg. Burg was a close friend of the actor Hans Albers. Burg was born Eugen Hirschburg into a Jewish family, but later converted to Protestantism. He was ban ...

William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Hollywood primarily as a director for much of his ...

as Cossack *

Olga Engl Olga Engl (30 May 1871 – 21 September 1946) was an Austrian-German stage and motion picture actress who appeared in nearly 200 films. Biography Engl was privately educated in an Ursuline monastery and began her acting career at the Prague Co ...

as Mother of Wladimir *

Karl Harbacher Karl Harbacher (1879–1943) was an Austrian actor. Selected filmography * '' Miss Piccolo'' (1914) * '' No Sin on the Alpine Pastures'' (1915) * ''Fanny Elssler'' (1920) * '' Das blaue Duell'' (1920) * ''The Adventuress of Monte Carlo'' (1921) * ...

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) * '' Th ...

Hans Mierendorff Hans Mierendorff (born Johannes Reingold Mierendorff; 30 June 1882 – 26 December 1955) was a German stage and film actor. Selected filmography * ''A Night of Horror'' (1916) * '' Vengeance Is Mine'' (1916) * ''Hilde Warren und der Tod'' ...

Hermann Picha Hermann Picha (20 March 1865 – 7 June 1936) was a German stage and film actor. Picha was extremely prolific, appearing in over 300 short and feature films during the silent and early sound eras. Picha played a mixture of lead and supporting r ...

Louis Ralph Louis Ralph (born Ludwig Josef Musik; 17 August 1878 – September 1952) was an Austrian film actor and director. He was born Ludwig Musik in Graz, Styria, Austria-Hungary (now Austria), and died in Berlin at age 68. Selected filmography * ''D ...

as Boris - Anarchist *

Frida Richard Frida Richard (born Friederike Raithel, 1 November 1873 – 12 September 1946) was an Austrian actress. Selected filmography * ''The Sin of Helga Arndt'' (1916) * '' The Queen's Love Letter'' (1916) * '' The Marriage of Luise Rohrbach'' (1917) * ...

Gerhard Ritterband Gerhard Ritterband (1904–1959) was a German film actor.Hardt p.223 Selected filmography * '' The Doll'' (1919) * ''The Princess of the Nile'' (1920) * '' Va banque'' (1920) * ''A Day on Mars'' (1921) * ''Four Around a Woman'' (1921) * ''The Dan ...

References

Bibliography

* Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. ''The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema''. Berghahn Books, 2009.

External links

* 1926 films Films of the Weimar Republic Films directed by Mario Bonnard German silent feature films Films set in Russia German black-and-white films UFA GmbH films Films shot at Staaken Studios {{Germany-silent-film-stub