Sumurun (1920)

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Friedrich Freska (pantomime)
Hanns Kräly (scenario)

Release Date:

25 September 1921 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Thousands of people - a wonder city is re-created - the master-work of Lubitsch, director of "Passion" (191 One Arabian Night poster)

Plot:

The favorite slave girl of a tyrannical sheik falls in love with a cloth merchant. Meanwhile, a hunchback clown suffers unrequited love for a traveling dancer who wants to join the harem.

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Harem | Hunchback | Troupe | Minstrel

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Ernst Lubitsch	...	Yeggar - the Hunchback Beggar
Pola Negri	...	Yannaia - a Dancer
Paul Wegener	...	Der alte Scheich
Jenny Hasselqvist	...	Zuleika
Aud Egede Nissen	...	Haidee
Harry Liedtke	...	Nur-Al Din
Carl Clewing	...	Der junge Scheich
Margarete Kupfer	...	Alte Frau
Jakob Tiedtke	...	Head Eunuch
Max Kronert	...	Muffti, 1st Servant of Nur-al-Djin
Paul Biensfeldt	...	Achmed, the Slave Trader
Paul Graetz	...	Pufti, 2nd Servant of Nur-al-Djin

Also Known As:

One Arabian Night

Runtime:

Hong Kong:115 min | USA:85 min | 103 min (Kino Print)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Projektions-AG Union (PAGU)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin - Von der Schönhauser Allee nach Hollywood (2006) (V)

A Lot of Lubitsch Goes a Long Way Astray!

Disappointing. The chief problem, as Lubitsch was quick to acknowledge, is Lubitsch. His exaggerated, hammy acting is one that Lubitsch the director would never have permitted any of his players. In fact, he was so unhappy with his over-the-top histrionics that he vowed never to act again.

Admittedly, there are a few other major faults. All the characters are one-dimensional and the story tends to drag, especially in the comedy relief sequences provided by camera-hoggers Kronert and Graetz, who are just awful. Margarete Kupfer's repulsive old hag is also over-indulged.

On the other hand, the film does provide an almost equal number of pleasures. not only in its exotic sets and cinematography, but in the alluring presence of Pola Negri, who receives excellent support from Paul Wegener who cleverly underplays his ruthless, self-indulgent sheik and thus makes him a really terrifying figure.

And for lessons in how to play comic relief with style, I nominate Jakob Tiedtke and Paul Biensfeldt, who both do amusing wonders with seemingly impossible characters. A slave trader, a comic figure? But that's how Biensfeldt plays this despicable little heap of slime--and it works!