With a poll coming up on IMDbs Classic Film board for the best films of 1934,I started to search around a DVD sellers page for forgotten movies from the year.With having strong memories of seeing Anton Walbrook in the excellent The Red Shoes & The Queen of Spades,I was thrilled to spot a title that Walbrook had filmed in Germany in 1934,which led to me getting ready to take the maskerade off.
The plot:
Vienna 1905:
Walking out of a carnival party,artist Der Zeichner Heideneck takes Gerda Harrandt back to his studio.Finding a mask & muff left around by Heideneck's secret lover Anita Keller, (who is Paul Harrandt's fiancée,who happens to be Gerda's husband Carl Ludwig Harrandt's brother)Gerda partially covers her face,and allows Heideneck to do a naked painting of her.Checking up on Heideneck the next day,Heideneck's housekeeper finds him fast asleep.Getting a knock at the door,the housekeeper discovers that Heideneck has been paid to do a magazine cover,which is to be published later that day.Looking round the studio,the housekeeper finds one painting laying around,and gives it to the publishers.
Looking around his studio after waking up,Heideneck is horrified to find that the naked painting he did has gone missing.Talking to his housekeeper,Heideneck is given the shock of his life,when he sees that the painting has ended up on the front page! As the front cover is passed around various members of the city's elite,Carl notices that the woman in the painting looks extremely similar to his wife Gerda.Fearing that Carl is about to explode,Heideneck begins making plans on how to put a mask over his maskerdae.
View on the film:
Taking the 1934 German audience away from the days of the Nazis on the horizon,co-writer/ (along with Walter Reisch)director Willi Forst gives the film an extraordinary stylised appearance that takes Germany back to the days of wealth & luxury,thanks to Forst showing the upper class being surrounded by elegant fashion,rows of flowers & rich theatrical events,that are all warped up in Willy Schmidt- Gentner's lush score.Whilst Forst and cinematographer Franz Planer struggled behind the scenes to find places to keep the microphones hidden in the movies epic locations,they display a real eye in crafting a superb atmosphere,with Forst and Planter's striking use of silhouettes suggesting a darkness & desperation hidden beneath the characters "perfect" lifestyles.
Although the naked painting is sadly not shown on screen,the writers hit a surprisingly raunchy note with their sex Comedy,which goes from frantic attempts to keep affairs hidden,to deadly shares,as Gerda shows Heideneck what happens when her fire is re-lit.Along with the sex Comedy elements,the writers soak the title in a deep melodrama that keeps the film away from being seedy with a real playful punch lighting up in Carl's investigation of the women behind the maskerade,and casting a net across the films last tender moments.
Making her debut,the pretty Paula Wessely gives a tremendous performance as Leopoldine Dur,with Wessely delicately balancing a strong,self-confidence in Dur,and a sweet innocence over not being aware about why Heideneck is suddenly interested in her.Looking absolutely dashing the moment he steps on screen, Anton Walbrook delivers a terrific performance as Heideneck,by covering his face in a devilish smile,which slowly breaks as Heideneck begins to realise what he has got himself involved in,which along with a joyful performance from Peter Petersen as Carl, leads to this being a mask that should be kept on.
The plot:
Vienna 1905:
Walking out of a carnival party,artist Der Zeichner Heideneck takes Gerda Harrandt back to his studio.Finding a mask & muff left around by Heideneck's secret lover Anita Keller, (who is Paul Harrandt's fiancée,who happens to be Gerda's husband Carl Ludwig Harrandt's brother)Gerda partially covers her face,and allows Heideneck to do a naked painting of her.Checking up on Heideneck the next day,Heideneck's housekeeper finds him fast asleep.Getting a knock at the door,the housekeeper discovers that Heideneck has been paid to do a magazine cover,which is to be published later that day.Looking round the studio,the housekeeper finds one painting laying around,and gives it to the publishers.
Looking around his studio after waking up,Heideneck is horrified to find that the naked painting he did has gone missing.Talking to his housekeeper,Heideneck is given the shock of his life,when he sees that the painting has ended up on the front page! As the front cover is passed around various members of the city's elite,Carl notices that the woman in the painting looks extremely similar to his wife Gerda.Fearing that Carl is about to explode,Heideneck begins making plans on how to put a mask over his maskerdae.
View on the film:
Taking the 1934 German audience away from the days of the Nazis on the horizon,co-writer/ (along with Walter Reisch)director Willi Forst gives the film an extraordinary stylised appearance that takes Germany back to the days of wealth & luxury,thanks to Forst showing the upper class being surrounded by elegant fashion,rows of flowers & rich theatrical events,that are all warped up in Willy Schmidt- Gentner's lush score.Whilst Forst and cinematographer Franz Planer struggled behind the scenes to find places to keep the microphones hidden in the movies epic locations,they display a real eye in crafting a superb atmosphere,with Forst and Planter's striking use of silhouettes suggesting a darkness & desperation hidden beneath the characters "perfect" lifestyles.
Although the naked painting is sadly not shown on screen,the writers hit a surprisingly raunchy note with their sex Comedy,which goes from frantic attempts to keep affairs hidden,to deadly shares,as Gerda shows Heideneck what happens when her fire is re-lit.Along with the sex Comedy elements,the writers soak the title in a deep melodrama that keeps the film away from being seedy with a real playful punch lighting up in Carl's investigation of the women behind the maskerade,and casting a net across the films last tender moments.
Making her debut,the pretty Paula Wessely gives a tremendous performance as Leopoldine Dur,with Wessely delicately balancing a strong,self-confidence in Dur,and a sweet innocence over not being aware about why Heideneck is suddenly interested in her.Looking absolutely dashing the moment he steps on screen, Anton Walbrook delivers a terrific performance as Heideneck,by covering his face in a devilish smile,which slowly breaks as Heideneck begins to realise what he has got himself involved in,which along with a joyful performance from Peter Petersen as Carl, leads to this being a mask that should be kept on.