The Mysterious X (1914)
"Det hemmelighedsfulde X" (original title)

Director:

Benjamin Christensen

Writers:

Benjamin Christensen, Laurids Skands (manuscript)

Stars:

Benjamin Christensen, Karen Caspersen, Otto Reinwald

Cast

Credited cast:
Benjamin Christensen	...	Løjtnant van Hauen
Karen Caspersen	...	Fru van Hauen
Otto Reinwald	...	Ældste søn
Fritz Lamprecht	...	Kontreadmiral van Hauen
Amanda Lund	...	Gamle Jane, barnepige
Hermann Spiro	...	Grev Spinelli
Bjørn Spiro	...	Yngste søn, Johnny
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Løwaas	...	Flådeofficer
Holger Rasmussen	...	Flådeofficer
Svend Rindom	...	Lærer
Robert Schmidt	...	Sagfører
Finn Wennerwald	...	Flådeofficer

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

school | officer | newspaper | lieutenant | espionage | 

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Taglines:

En dansk Sensations-Film

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

April 1914 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mysterious X

Filming Locations:

Helsingør Havn, Helsingør, Sjælland, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dansk Biograf Compagni

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When 'Benjamin Christiensen' brought the film to America, a screening was set up at Sing Sing Prison. During the screening, an inmate stabbed another to death.

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Connections

Featured in Ved den danske films vugge (1941)

User Reviews

See it!

When you look well into the past of cinema, what you usually get are historically significant films, and that isn't absolutely a synonym for good films. Well here's one you may want to watch simply for the fact that it is good.

Sealed orders is Christiansen's first film (a man I only know for the film "Haxan")and it is war drama at it's best. Tragic twist of fate, clear storyline, good pacing and great lighting work. It's a few years in advance on it's time, but it isn't technical wonders of the cinema of the 20s or of now. It's still theatrical, though it isn't anything like the early films of it's time and before. The film survived to our days in a great condition, nothing like the jerky pictures moving at a wrong speed we like to think of.

To put it simply, you'll watch it and have a great time, as long you like dramas of this kind. But if you actually cared enough to read a IMDb review of a 1914 film, It's surely your kind.