''The Night of Queen Isabeau'' (german: Die Nacht der Königin Isabeau) is a 1920
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 ...
silent historical
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
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-g ...
directed by
Robert Wiene
Robert Wiene (; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a film director of the silent era of German cinema. He is particularly known for directing the German silent film ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' and a succession of other German Expressionism, ...
and starring
Fern Andra
Fern Andra, Dowager Baroness von Weichs (born Vernal Edna Andrews, November 24, 1893 – February 8, 1974) was an American actress, film director, script writer, and producer. Next to Henny Porten and Asta Nielsen, she was one of the most po ...
,
Fritz Kortner
Fritz Kortner (born Fritz Nathan Kohn; 12 May 1892 – 22 July 1970) was an Austrian stage and film actor and theatre director.
Life and career
Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn into a Jewish family. He studied at the Vienna A ...
,
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski (5 May 1898 – 19 November 1958) was a German film actor.
Career in Germany
Twardowski was born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin in Poland). He made his first film appearance in the 1920 Robert Wiene-directed horr ...
and
Elsa Wagner
Elsa Wagner (24 January 1881 – 17 August 1975) was a German actress who appeared in numerous theatrical productions and feature films during the 20th century, including 1920's '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari''.
Life and career
Born as Elisab ...
. The film depicts the marriage between the mad
Charles VI of France
Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé) and later the Mad (french: le Fol or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic ...
and his wife
Queen Isabeau
Isabeau of Bavaria (or Isabelle; also Elisabeth of Bavaria-Ingolstadt; c. 1370 – September 1435) was Queen of France from 1385 to 1422. She was born into the House of Wittelsbach as the only daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingols ...
. It was shot at the
Babelsberg Studios
Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...
in
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 is now considered a
lost film
A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress.
Conditions
During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...
, but contemporary reviews praised Wiene's direction. The story revolves around
insanity
Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
, a common theme in his films.
[Jung & Schatzberg p. 87–88]
Cast
*
Fern Andra
Fern Andra, Dowager Baroness von Weichs (born Vernal Edna Andrews, November 24, 1893 – February 8, 1974) was an American actress, film director, script writer, and producer. Next to Henny Porten and Asta Nielsen, she was one of the most po ...
as Königin Isabeau
*
Fritz Kortner
Fritz Kortner (born Fritz Nathan Kohn; 12 May 1892 – 22 July 1970) was an Austrian stage and film actor and theatre director.
Life and career
Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn into a Jewish family. He studied at the Vienna A ...
as Connetable
*
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski (5 May 1898 – 19 November 1958) was a German film actor.
Career in Germany
Twardowski was born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin in Poland). He made his first film appearance in the 1920 Robert Wiene-directed horr ...
as Page
*
Elsa Wagner
Elsa Wagner (24 January 1881 – 17 August 1975) was a German actress who appeared in numerous theatrical productions and feature films during the 20th century, including 1920's '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari''.
Life and career
Born as Elisab ...
*
Lothar Müthel
Lothar Müthel (né Lothar Max Lütcke; 18 February 1896 – 4 September 1964) was a German stage and film actor and director.
Career
Müthel was born in Berlin, where he attended the acting school of Max Reinhardt, ''Schauspielschule, Berl ...
as Jehan
*
John Gottowt
John Gottowt (15 June 1881 – 29 August 1942) was an Austrian actor, stage director and film director for theatres and silent movies.
He was born as Isidor Gesang in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (present-day Lviv, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. Af ...
as Buckliger Narr
*
Albert Lind
Sir Albert Eli Lind (21 February 1878 – 26 June 1964) was an Australian farmer and politician.
Early life
Lind was born in 1878 in East Charlton, Victoria, the son of Oliver Nicholas Lind, a farmer from Denmark, and his Welsh wife Mary Ann C ...
*
Alexander Moissi
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
as King Karl VI.
*
Harald Paulsen
Harald Paulsen (26 August 1895 – 4 August 1954) was a German stage and film actor and director. He appeared in 125 films between 1920 and 1954.
Career
Paulsen first appeared on stage at age sixteen. He then studied under from Leopold Jessner, ...
References
Bibliography
* Jacobsen, Wolfgang. ''Babelsberg: das Filmstudio''. Argon, 1994.
* Jung, Uli & Schatzberg, Walter. ''Beyond Caligari: The Films of Robert Wiene''. Berghahn Books, 1999.
External links
*
1920s historical drama films
Films of the Weimar Republic
1920 films
German silent feature films
Lost drama films
German historical drama films
Films directed by Robert Wiene
Films set in France
Films set in Paris
Films set in the 1400s
Films set in the 15th century
Lost German films
German black-and-white films
Films produced by Erich Pommer
1920 lost films
1920 drama films
Silent historical drama films
1920s German films
Films shot at Babelsberg Studios
1920s German-language films
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