Status of the Silent Films of Brigitte Helm?

[Keatonesque]

To those with far more knowledge than I, would you be so kind as to inform us what the rights, preservation, and restoration status is for the following silent films of our favorite Maria in silent film, Brigitte Helm?



Of course, as things stand, we do have her on Blu-ray in METROPOLIS, L'ARGENT, and DIE LIEBE DER JEANNE NEY. These were all restored at various points in time and were shown at silent film festivals or screenings prior to release. However, what of the following silents below?

ALRAUNE (1927) / Digital restoration via Filmmuseum München (c. ?) & shown at 2023 SFSFF (?)
ABWEGE (1928)
DIE YACHT DER SIEBEN SÜNDEN (1928)
SKANDAL IN BADEN-BADEN (1929)
MANOLESCU (1929) / 2018-2022 restoration via Murnau Stiftung & shown at Pordenone 2022 (?)
DIE WUNDERBARE LÜGE DER NINA PETROWNA (1929)









Bonus points for any releases of her restored post-silent films. Cheers.

[Tintin]

I was lucky to find a collector in San Francisco from whom I purchased ALL of Helm's German silent and sound films, except for "Skandal in Baden-Baden" (my most wanted silent film) and the lost sound films "Im Geheimdienst" (1931) and "Hochzeitsreise zu dritt" (1933). I have never been able to find the English-language "The Blue Danube" (1932) or any of the French-language versions of the German films, except for "Gloria" (1932). Unfortunately, this collector no longer sells her films.

It's been a long time since I watched them, but "Am Rande der Welt" (1927) and "Die Jacht der sieben Suenden" (1928) are pretty poor unrestored prints. The others are pretty good. I'm thinking maybe "Alraune" (1928) isn't that great of a print, either.

She's said to have appeared in 1923 "in a kultur film as a Swedish girl", but I don't know what the name of that one would be.

[Tintin]

BTW, Thomas Hamilton in England, who did a recent DVD biographies of Leslie Howard and Boris Karloff, has a HUGE list of silent and sound DVD's for sale. I know it includes some Brigitte Helm sound films. You might try looking at his website and e-mailing him for a list. Try putting in your e-mail here: https://inafferrabileleslie.wordpress.c ... d-on-sale/

[Keatonesque]

A compelling obituary that described her attitude towards her film career for the rest of her life after retiring in 1935 and leaving behind Nazi Germany which she loathed: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obit ... 37656.html

[David Pierce]

Earlier this year, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival showed Henrik Galeen’s Alraune/A Daughter of Destiny (1928), restored by the Filmmuseum München (Munich Filmuseum).

https://silentfilm.org/event/a-daughter-of-destiny/

David Pierce

[Keatonesque]

Earlier this year, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival showed Henrik Galeen’s Alraune/A Daughter of Destiny (1928), restored by the Filmmuseum München (Munich Filmuseum).

https://silentfilm.org/event/a-daughter-of-destiny/

David Pierce

How was the print quality of this cobbled-together "digital restoration via Filmmuseum München"?

Was the SFSFF 2023 the first time this restoration was seen/shown as completed?

Who wouldn't want to marvel at this wo–erm... film, that is, from the comforts of their home theater?

[Mike Gebert]

ALRAUNE (1927) / Digital restoration via Filmmuseum München (c. ?) & shown at 2023 SFSFF (?)
ABWEGE (1928)
DIE YACHT DER SIEBEN SÜNDEN (1928)
SKANDAL IN BADEN-BADEN (1929)
MANOLESCU (1929) / 2018-2022 restoration via Murnau Stiftung & shown at Pordenone 2022 (?)
DIE WUNDERBARE LÜGE DER NINA PETROWNA (1929)

Abwege played Pordenone the year it was online only (2020). As noted above, Manolescu played last year. Nina Petrovna has played around, and it's on You Tube.

[Keatonesque]

ALRAUNE (1927) / Digital restoration via Filmmuseum München (c. ?) & shown at 2023 SFSFF (?)
ABWEGE (1928)
DIE YACHT DER SIEBEN SÜNDEN (1928)
SKANDAL IN BADEN-BADEN (1929)
MANOLESCU (1929) / 2018-2022 restoration via Murnau Stiftung & shown at Pordenone 2022 (?)
DIE WUNDERBARE LÜGE DER NINA PETROWNA (1929)

Abwege played Pordenone the year it was online only (2020). As noted above, Manolescu played last year. Nina Petrovna has played around, and it's on You Tube.

What was the print quality of ABWEGE for the online-only edition of Pordenone? Was it restored?

[Tintin]

BTW, there's a great biography of her in German called "Brigitte Helm: Der Vamp des Deutschen Films" (2008). I don't suppose there will ever be an English translation done, but who knows. It includes a wonderful picture of her with her husband and daughter from 1956 - still just as beautiful and classy as she was as a young woman.

[Tintin]

Here is said picture - not sure how to post a pic on here, so here is the URL:

https://ibb.co/Xty8R1p

[Mike Gebert]

What was the print quality of ABWEGE for the online-only edition of Pordenone? Was it restored?

I remember it looking very nice, a stylishly designed picture. Don't know why that, of Pabst's films, is the hard one to see-- I liked it a lot.

[Arndt]

The Bundesarchiv put a decent print of AM RANDE DER WELT with German titles online about ten years ago. You can find it here:
https://www.filmportal.de/node/44071/video/1223456

There is a good print of MANOLESCU with German titles on Youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGz9KqyOnl4&t=2856s



and Youtube also has good copies of ABWEGE with English and/or German titles, for example here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6K0NoyIv5M

[Roscoe]

How was the print quality of this cobbled-together "digital restoration via Filmmuseum München" (of ALRAUNE)?

I saw it earlier this year at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. It looked very good, crystal clear, no problems that I recall, but I disliked the film so intensely that I may be mis-remembering in my haste to obliterate it from my memory.

[Tintin]

Thanks for the filmportal.de info - I was completely unaware of that site. Am I reading the German correctly in that they're saying "Skandal in Baden-Baden" will be digitized in 2023?

https://www.filmportal.de/node/41647/gallery

[Keatonesque]

The Bundesarchiv put a decent print of AM RANDE DER WELT with German titles online about ten years ago. You can find it here:
https://www.filmportal.de/node/44071/video/1223456

There is a good print of MANOLESCU with German titles on Youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGz9KqyOnl4&t=2856s

and Youtube also has good copies of ABWEGE with English and/or German titles, for example here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6K0NoyIv5M

Not just a "good" print but the Murnau-Stiftung restoration apparently. Unfortunately, it's just a visual experience for me as there are no English subtitles. However, given it's uploaded to YT, I wonder why there is seemingly no interest in putting it out on disc? This restored print in 1080p looks fantastic (even with YT compression).

Ironically, NINA PETROVNA, which by many has been regarded as a minor classic and arguably her best performance, does not seem to have any restoration as of yet?

[andybenz]

Ironically, NINA PETROVNA, which by many has been regarded as a minor classic and arguably her best performance, does not seem to have any restoration as of yet?

To the best of my knowledge, the original camera negatives survive in good condition for this film so there's hardly any restoration necessary.

[Arndt]

Not just a "good" print but the Murnau-Stiftung restoration apparently. Unfortunately, it's just a visual experience for me as there are no English subtitles.

In 2008 I translated the titles for the version of Manolescu then making the rounds from German into English. Here they are:

MANOLESCU (1929): English translation of German intertitles

Writer: Robert Liebmann
Director: W. Turjansky
Photography: Carl Hoffmann
Sets: R. Herlth and W. Röhrig
Assistant director: A. Uralsky
Costumes: René Hubert

Main roles:
Manolescu Iwan Mosjukin
Cleo Brigitte Helm
Jack Heinrich George
Jeanette Dita Parlo

Also playing:
Fritz Alberti, Lya Christi, Boris de Fass, Valy Arnheim, Fred Selva-Goebel, Harry Hardt, v. Nevlinski, Elsa Wagner, Max Wogritsch, Franz Verdier

UFA

1. 0.03.03
George Manolescu's day begins at 7 o'clock...

2. 0.03.25
"Don't turn on the light!...Let the sun come in..."

3. 0.05.11
"What's the matter? We'll be late for the club!"

4. 0.05.39
[Neon sign] Adieu Paris. Grande Revue.

5. 0.05.45
"Good-bye Paris!"

6. 0.06.01
[Neon sign] Visite Monte Carlo.

7. 0.06.03
[Sign on train] Paris. Lyon-Marseille-Nice. Monte Carlo. Vintimille.

8. 0.07.20
"Look, Jack! At the second pillar!"

9. 0.07.33
"There is a criminal on the train!"

10. 0.10.34
"I ran away from my husband...I was so afraid he'd have me brought back to him..."

11. 0.11.04
"I'm very grateful to you, but..."

12. 0.13.37
"Dearest, I've left my umbrella in the compartment!"

13. 0.16.01
"What is the lady's room number?"

14. 0.16.21
"Yes, Marquis..."

15. 0.16.31
"Just as you wish, Marquis..."

16. 0.16.41
"It will be seen to immediately, Marquis..."

17. 0.16.52
"Call room 217 and tell Milady that Count Lahovary wishes to speak to her!"

18. 0.17.05
"Immediately, Milord!"

19. 0.18.01
"...I've been looking for you in vain for three days now..."

20. 0.18.18
"If I'm not mistaken we know each other rather well...from the train ride."

21. 0.18.36
"Count Lahovary! It is its fleeting nature that makes a railway encounter so attractive!"

22. 0.19.24
"Have you got a room for me?"

23. 0.19.44
"Would you like a south-facing room, Milord?"

24. 0.22.36
"I have found your umbrella!"

25. 0.24.09
"What do you want from me?"

26. 0.25.03
"Get me the hotel detective!"

27. 0.26.06
"It's me, baby, your little Jack!"

28. 0.26.34
"One moment, please! I'm just getting dressed..."

29. 0.27.00
"Wait on the balcony!...I'll explain it all later!"

30. 0.28.39
"Hey presto!"

31. 0.30.24
"Please get changed for dinner..."

32. 0.30.47
"Go! Just go! I'll explain it all later..."

33. 0.35.40
"I'm leaving at once. We mustn't see each other again!"

34. 0.35.56
"I'm not leaving you - we'll stay together!"

35. 0.36.08
"We'll stay together? Can you offer me the kind of lifestyle I am accustomed to?"

36. 0.36.50
"Go and pack your cases!"

37. 0.36.55
Thus began George Manulescu's career as a conman.

38. 0.37.10
"Have you brought a few 'samples'?"

39. 0.37.43
"Let's try them out."

40. 0.38.11
" I'd like to exchange 20 fifty-mark-notes for a one-thousand-mark-note!"

41. 0.39.09
"It's agreed then...! 100,000 of yours for 40,000 real ones! - But I'll only take the 'goods' on once we're on the train!"

42. 0.39.53
"You wanted the 100,000 in new fifty-mark-notes?"

43. 0.41.36
"I have left my briefcase on the train..."

44. 0.41.52
"...a briefcase marked with the letters V.T. It contains 100,000 marks in fifty-mark-notes."

45. 0.42.07
"I will have somebody look for it at once..."

46. 0.42.46
"Somebody must have left a briefcase in here!"

47. 0.44.04
"Thank you very much...Everything seems to be there."

48. 0.46.13
"A very competent fake that must have been substituted for the real pearl necklace..."

49. 0.46.40
[newspaper headline] Theft

50. 0.47.02
[newspaper headline] Forgery

51. 0.47.11
Paris

52. 0.48.38
"Will you please stop behaving like this."

53. 0.51.16
"We're going home at once..."

54. 0.51.31
"Why are you getting all worked up? When I make these acquaintances I only have our 'business' in mind..."

55. 0.53.24
"Be careful! We're being watched!"

56. 0.54.30
"Your Cleo is in Paris! I know where she is staying!"

57. 0.56.07
" I need a word with you...I've had it up to here with your moods and your jealousy!..."

58. 0.56.26
"Leave me alone...I cannot and will not go on living like this..."

59. 0.56.40
"Very well then, Milord! So we'll share a one-room flat..."

60. 0.57.10
"Charming! Manolescu, the repentant sinner!..."


61. 0.57.45
"You coward!"

62. 1.01.52
"I'm so happy to have you back...!"

63. 1.02.32
"Scoundrel!"

64. 1.03.57
Theft

65. 1.03.58
Fraud

66. 1.03.59
Forgery

67. 1.04.17
"...Cleo...all because of her...she..."

68. 1.05.48
"Have prints made at once! Manolescu is rumoured to be in Paris!"

69. 1.07.05
"Jeanette...Your arrival means joy - a ray of sunshine - for me!..."

70. 1.07.11
"I am so happy that you are finally on the mend."

71. 1.07.28
"You have given me a new lease of life!..."

72. 1.08.23
"The 'Journal'!...The 'Journal'!...Get the latest news about Manolescu!..."

73. 1.10.17
"I need to speak to you in private...urgently."

74. 1.11.14
"I am not to blame for what happened...please forgive me."

75. 1.12.13
[newspaper headline] Manolescu in Paris?

76. 1.12.34
"This is your doing...!"

77. 1.13.16
"I have to ask you to leave the patient alone."

78. 1.13.37
"Are you not maybe a little too concerned for your patient's welfare?!.."

79. 1.13.51
"I am only doing my duty as a nurse!"

80. 1.14.50
"Doctor, I really feel that seclusion from the world would speed up my recovery."

81. 1.15.06
"Well, winter sun and mountain air would certainly do you good..."

82. 1.15.25
"Would it be possible for nurse Jeanette to accompany me and look after me on the trip?"

83. 1.18.44
"He has left together with nurse Jeanette..."

84. 1.19.01
"Could you give me his address?"

85. 1.21.20
"What it is that I want? You, of course!"

86. 1.21.34
"We belong together...I will never give you up to anybody else!"

87. 1.22.06
"I hate you!"

88. 1.23.02
"Congratulations! That's a fine lover you've got there!..."

89. 1.23.09
"...a thief..."

90. 1.23.11
".. a conman.."

91. 1.23.22
"Get out!!!"

92. 1.23.55
New Year's Eve.

93. 1.25.34
"Are you George Manolescu?"

94. 1.25.53
"You're under arrest!"

95. 1.26.22
"...I'll be with you in a moment, Jeanette..."

96. 1.26.39
"I am at your disposal..."

97. 1.26.44
"...but...in view of the fact that it is New Year's Eve...could you not maybe..."

98. 1.27.01
"...just give me ten more minutes...?"

99. 1.27.21
Manolescu, King of Conmen. Act 9

100. 1.27.46
"Jeanette, these gentlemen have lost their way in the mountains...I have invited them in..."

101. 1.31.04
"I'm coming to stay with you...for good..."

102. 1.31.14
"...and Manolescu?.."

103. 1.31.34
"I...have...shopped him to the police..."

104. 1.34.00
"George, pour the champagne, it's nearly twelve o'clock!"

105. 1.35.34
"All the best for the new year!"

106. 1.36.58
"It is time!"

107. 1.38.51
"I know, Jeanette, they're here to take me in!"

108. 1.41.23
"George!..George!.."

109. 1.41.33
"George! I'll wait for you!"

[Tintin]

Die schönen Tage von Aranjuez (1933) posted on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/IMmGwgzzu4E

[Tintin]

Die Yacht Der Sieben Sünden (1928) reposted on Youtube (with German and English titles):

https://youtu.be/TvrKkFz2_gQ?si=eP9xr4wAGpq2ZWE1



Youtube keeps stretching my videos horizontally - not sure why.

[Tintin]

"Inge und die Millionen" (1933) posted on Youtube. German language with Czech titles (only).

https://youtu.be/o0xxsOGjG7w?si=i8Aa-dbwlhlLFazO

[Rodney]

Ironically, NINA PETROVNA, which by many has been regarded as a minor classic and arguably her best performance, does not seem to have any restoration as of yet?

Mont Alto has played for this film at least three times, and all of the prints we've seen look very nice. I'd still like to see the BFI's version (which has the contemporaneous English titles), to see how my German translation compares. When we first played the film at Telluride, we found that the American version that they ran had been rather viciously edited by American censors, so much so that we had to shorten our score to fit.

[Frame Rate]

When we first played the film at Telluride, we found that the American version that they ran had been rather viciously edited by American censors...

Do you recall what was chopped out? Did its removal significantly change the story line and character motivations -- or just make the film confusing and hard to follow?

[Rodney]

When we first played the film at Telluride, we found that the American version that they ran had been rather viciously edited by American censors...

Do you recall what was chopped out? Did its removal significantly change the story line and character motivations -- or just make the film confusing and hard to follow?

It's been a long time, but two edits stood out to me enough to be memorable (mild spoilers):

In the restaurant, Helm goes up to the young soldier as she and the general are leaving, after the general realizes that the attraction between the two younger people is getting out of hand. In a close-up, we see Helm giving the soldier her house key, a clear invitation to come over later. That close-up was removed by the censors, meaning that instead of Helm inviting the soldier over, he appears to go to the house later on his own initiative. (Though if you pay attention, he has obtained a key to the house somehow.)

Later at the house, things get pretty hot and heavy between Niina and he soldier, and more drinking happens. The soldier doesn't want to compromise her (he may also not want to horn in on his superior officer's territory), and prepares to leave. Nina thinks that's cute, lets him sleep in the bed, and she goes to sleep outside the bedroom door, keeping things chaste. In the censored version, a large cut comes as the romance is heating up, then suddenly we see both of them waking up separately the next morning. Ironically, by omitting the soldier's refusal to sleep with Nina, it's left to our imaginations (where, believe me, he did).

It would be interesting to compare the two versions more carefully throughout.

[BudAbbott]

THE COUNTESS OF MONTE CRISTO just popped up here:

http://rarefilm.net/the-countess-of-mon ... more-47068

[sepiatone]

Tara Devi (Eugenie Grosup) was recently a feature article on Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_Devi_of_Kapurthala

The photo of her I thought was Brigitte Helm. I couldn't find any other photo of Devi/Grosup and thought somebody had screwed up with the photo. She certainly passes as Brigitte Helm's doppelganger.