''The Little Napoleon'' (german: Der kleine Napoleon) is a 1923

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 ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

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

and starring Egon von Hagen,

Paul Heidemann Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

and

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 ...

. It depicts the life and amorous adventures of

Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), King of Westphalia, between 1807 and 1 ...

, the younger brother of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, who installed him as King of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

. The film is best known for the small role played by

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

as Kathrin, a lady's maid. Her brief appearance was filmed over several days during the summer of 1922. It marked Dietrich's film debut, though she was later unhappy with her early silent films. She was cast after impressing the director, Georg Jacoby, during a meeting arranged for them. Dietrich played gradually more substantial roles during the rest of the decade until her breakthrough film ''

The Blue Angel ''The Blue Angel'' (german: Der blaue Engel) is a 1930 German musical comedy-drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg, and starring Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings and Kurt Gerron. Written by Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Vollmöller and Robert Lie ...

'' (1930). The film was made by the European Film Alliance (EFA), a failed attempt by the American firm

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

to establish a production base in the lucrative German market. The EFA was wound up shortly after the film's completion, which delayed its release. It finally premièred on 29 November 1923 at the

Marmorhaus The Marmorhaus (English: Marble House) is a former cinema located on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. Opened in 1913, it takes its name from a large marble façade. Designed by the architect Hugo Pál, the walls of the foyer and auditorium were dec ...

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 Little Napoleon'' is one of many works from 1923 that entered the

public domain in the United States Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by intellectual property rights (such as copyright) at all, or if the intellectual property rights to the works have expired. All works first published or released in the United States b ...

in 2019.

Cast

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* 1923 films 1920s historical comedy films German black-and-white films German historical comedy films Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films Films directed by Georg Jacoby Films set in the 1800s Films set in the 1810s Comedy films based on actual events Films shot in Germany Depictions of Napoleon on film Silent comedy films 1920s German films {{historic-film-stub