05 September 2015

Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (1919)

Today a post on a series of Ross Verlag postcards for the silent salon melodrama Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern/The destiny of Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919). The young aristocratic Carola of the title is played by Lotte Neumann, one of the most successful actresses in the early days of the German cinema.

Lotte Neumann in Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/1. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).

Lotte Neumann in Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/2. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).

Lotte Neumann in Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/3. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).

Destiny


Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern/The destiny of Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919) was adapted by Ludwig Wolff from the novel Der grosse Rachen (1915) by Olga Wohlbrück-Wendland.

The melodramatic story tells about the destiny of a mother and daughter. Carola von Geldern's mother (Grete Ebinger) has an affair with a gambler and dies. Carola (Lotte Neumann) herself loves a benefactor. When she has caused an accident, he kills her.

The postcards don't give a clear view of the story nor the timeline. They are focused on the star of the film, Lotte Neumann (1896-1977), who seems to play Carola in different phases of her life (in the last cards of the series, she plays a young girl with long tails). Neumann was not only a successful actress of the early German cinema, but she also worked as a screenwriter and a producer.

Who's who on the postcards is not clear to us.The other cast members were little known actors like Rudolf Lettinger (the husband, Jack von Geldern), Eduard Rothauser (Von Glienen/Von Glidien), Martin Lübbert (Dr. Graebner), Margarete Ferida (Von Glidien's girlfriend), Paul Kaufmann (Dr. Ertzky) and Mrs. Klein-Rohden (housekeeper).

Our sources differ about who is the director of the film. Possibly scriptwriter Ludwig Wolff was the (co-)director of the film, together with Carl Froelich. Cinematographer was Otto Tober, set designer Hans Sohnle.

Lotte Neumann in Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/4. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).

Lotte Neumann in Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/5. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).

Lotte Neumann in Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 631/6. Photo: Maxim Film. Publicity still for Das Schicksal der Carola von Geldern (Carl Froehlich, 1919).

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth at the blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy. You can visit her by clicking on the button below.


Sources: The German Early Cinema DatabaseFilmportal.de and IMDb.

2 comments:

Bunched Undies said...

The sets look really good. Great images.

Beth Niquette said...

What a wonderful woman she was. I adore her costumes...perhaps I am a throwback to those times, but I would wear what she wears! lol What a lovely post. Thank you. Your research of these artists of old, bring them to life, help us to remember them. Their memory is not forgotten after all.