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Der brennende Acker (1922) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.5/10   180 votes
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Down 9% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Willy Haas (writer)
Arthur Rosen (writer)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Der brennende Acker on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 November 1922 (Finland) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Das Drama eines Ehrgeizigen
Plot:
When farmer Rog dies, his son Peter stays, but Johannes can not be satisfied with such a condition (and... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Reviews:
Excellent morality tale of greed from Murnau more (8 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)
Eugen Klöpfer ... Peter Rog
Vladimir Gajdarov ... Johannes Rog
Werner Krauss ... Der alte Rog / Old Rog
Eduard von Winterstein ... Graf Rudenburg / Count Rudenburg
Stella Arbenina ... Helga, Rudenburgs zweite Frau / Helga, Rudenburg's 2nd wife
Lya De Putti ... Gerda, Rudenburgs Tochter / Gerda, Rudenburg's daughter
Alfred Abel ... Ludwig von Lellewel
Grete Diercks ... Maria
Olga Engl
Elsa Wagner ... Magda
Emilia Unda ... Alte Magd / Old maid
Leonie Taliansky ... Gerdas Zofe / Gerda's maid
Albert Patry
Magnus Stifter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hellmuth Bergmann ... Kutscher
Hans Bernecker
Gustav Botz ... Professor Butkin
Harry Frank
Leonhard Haskel ... Pferdehändler
Georg John ... Großknecht / Head farm-hand
Adolf Klein
Emilie Kurz
Robert Leffler ... Diener
Rolf Prasch
Eugen Rex ... Ackerkäufer
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Burning Soil
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Runtime:
Germany:110 min (restored version) | USA:98 min
Country:
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This movie was considered lost for a long time. In 1978 an almost complete print was found in the estate of an Italian priest who had organised screenings in mental hospitals. See also La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928). more
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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful.
Excellent morality tale of greed from Murnau, 10 September 2001
7/10

This early film of Murnau's could have been titled GREED, like the Von Sroheim masterwork, because that is what it is about. Murnau tends to paint morality canvases in his films: lust and infidelity in SUNRISE; lust for youth and immortality in FAUST; flaunting society norms in TABU; false pride in THE LAST LAUGH, etc.

THE BURNING SOIL has the same early silent film look as does NOSFERATU, straightforward and slightly hard of line. Within only a few years cinematography was to become an entirely different creature and no one had lusher images than did Murnau of that period.

The story is simple. An old farmer dies and leaves his two sons the farm. The one son is content to stay and continue his father's work. The other is ambitious and lusts for wealth. He infiltrates himself into the home of a wealthy landowner, becoming his secretary and transcribing his will. He romances both the landowner's daughter and her stepmother but chooses to marry the latter at the old man's death, even knowing the daughter has gained almost all the inheritance, the stepmother being bequeathed the mansion and the "devil's field." The latter is a piece of property that abounds in superstition since it contains a hole that was seen once to "burn." Our conniver knows petroleum is buried there and plans to sell it and retire rich, having married to obtain wealth at the expense of love.

His plans go awry but not before he wrecks a number of lives.

The story is well told, well directed, and the performers are all adequate. A tinted print was recently discovered in Europe after being believed lost for many years. Worth seeing for Murnau's tight and interesting directorial style before he became "artistic" and as a fine example of early German silent film.

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