Henny Porten played the title role as a simple and natural mountain girl in the German silent drama Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927), which is situated in the Swiss Alps. Again Henny's happiness is in danger because of secrets from the past. The later director Wilhelm (William) Dieterle was her co-star. The film was produced by Porten's own film company, which she managed together with director Carl Froelich, and by the Swiss company Monopol-Film.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/1. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/2. Photo: A. Schmoll, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten and Inge Landgut.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/3. Photo: A. Schmoll, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/4. Photo: A. Schmoll, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten and Wilhelm Diegelmann.
Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) was scripted by Walter Supper, Hans Wilhelm, and Ernst Zahn, and was adapted from the novel Der Schatten (1904) by Ernst Zahn.
Ms. Zureich (Elsa Wagner) is the owner of a hostel in the Swiss Val Tremola (Ticino Alps), which has a pretty bad reputation. To generate additional revenues, she presses her employees and even her own daughter to sexually provide themselves to the hosts. Only her niece Violantha (Henny Porten) can escape such impositions.
One day a company of soldiers set up their quarters nearby in preparation for a manoeuvre. Since soldiers are often sexually starved because of their long service, Violantha has the good sense to stay away from these people. Nevertheless, a lieutenant manages to seduce the young woman and drag her to her bed.
To his great misfortune, his immediate superior, the commander of the troop, is on a general inspection tour and notices the unauthorised absence of his officer. When he returns to his company at the camp, he is immediately arrested for unauthorised removal from the troops. Violantha, who does not know why suddenly her lieutenant has vanished, thinks her part of it and leaves her valley in the Ticino for the city, hoping to find work there. She finally receives it from the old innkeeper Hofer (Wilhelm Diegelmann).
Meanwhile, years pass by in the countryside. Alderman Alderich Renner (Wilhelm Dieterle) tries to woo Violantha, who since the unpleasant meeting with the soldier has become quite shy. Finally, she gives in to his urge to marry him. Shortly before the wedding, Violantha learns of her future from his dark family secret. He has a brother named Marianus (Alexander Sacha), the 'black sheep' of the family, who, one day, emigrated to America by night and fog, and since then nothing was heard from him again.
One day, when Marianus reappears in Alderich's hometown out of nowhere, Violantha, now the mother of two children, realises with horror that this man is her former soldierly seducer. Not that Marianus now asks for forgiveness for his sexual surprise act, no: he rather tries to make Violantha again compliant by threatening her, he will otherwise exchange words with his brother over her previous life.
Violantha, however, is not ready to be blackmailed by Marianus, and flees on her own into the mountains. Marianus follows her and wants to rape her this time. It comes to a fight in which the villain finds his death falling from a cliff into the depths. Freed from all the shadows of the past, the faithful wife returns to her husband Alderich.
The film's happy ending is different from the more tragic in the novel by Ernst Zahn. In Zahn's novel, Violantha knows the identity of her seducer from the very beginning, and she finally kills him intentionally in the mountains and then poisons herself.
Violantha was shot from August to October 1926 in the Efa studio in Berlin-Halensee (the interiors) and in Switzerland (the exteriors on the Gotthard massif, in Flüelen, Airolo, Andermatt, Hospental, Schöllenen and in the Val Treola). The not even four-year-old Inge Landgut made her film debut here as Porten's daughter. The sets were designed by Franz Schroedter, the costumes by Ali Hubert, while cinematography was by Axel Graatkjær and Gustave Preiss.
The six-act film passed German censorship on 9 March 1927, but had already premiered on 19 January 1927 in the Zurich Capitol cinema. In Germany Violantha was first shown at the Munich Phoebia-Kino on 25 November 1927. In 1942, the Ufa presented another film adaptation directed by Paul May. This sound version was released in German cinemas under the slightly changed title Violanta and it starred Annelies Reinhold.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/5. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/6. Photo: A. Schmoll, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/8. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten and Wilhelm Dieterle.
Sources: Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/1. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/2. Photo: A. Schmoll, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten and Inge Landgut.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/3. Photo: A. Schmoll, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/4. Photo: A. Schmoll, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten and Wilhelm Diegelmann.
A dark family secret in the Swiss Alps
Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) was scripted by Walter Supper, Hans Wilhelm, and Ernst Zahn, and was adapted from the novel Der Schatten (1904) by Ernst Zahn.
Ms. Zureich (Elsa Wagner) is the owner of a hostel in the Swiss Val Tremola (Ticino Alps), which has a pretty bad reputation. To generate additional revenues, she presses her employees and even her own daughter to sexually provide themselves to the hosts. Only her niece Violantha (Henny Porten) can escape such impositions.
One day a company of soldiers set up their quarters nearby in preparation for a manoeuvre. Since soldiers are often sexually starved because of their long service, Violantha has the good sense to stay away from these people. Nevertheless, a lieutenant manages to seduce the young woman and drag her to her bed.
To his great misfortune, his immediate superior, the commander of the troop, is on a general inspection tour and notices the unauthorised absence of his officer. When he returns to his company at the camp, he is immediately arrested for unauthorised removal from the troops. Violantha, who does not know why suddenly her lieutenant has vanished, thinks her part of it and leaves her valley in the Ticino for the city, hoping to find work there. She finally receives it from the old innkeeper Hofer (Wilhelm Diegelmann).
Meanwhile, years pass by in the countryside. Alderman Alderich Renner (Wilhelm Dieterle) tries to woo Violantha, who since the unpleasant meeting with the soldier has become quite shy. Finally, she gives in to his urge to marry him. Shortly before the wedding, Violantha learns of her future from his dark family secret. He has a brother named Marianus (Alexander Sacha), the 'black sheep' of the family, who, one day, emigrated to America by night and fog, and since then nothing was heard from him again.
One day, when Marianus reappears in Alderich's hometown out of nowhere, Violantha, now the mother of two children, realises with horror that this man is her former soldierly seducer. Not that Marianus now asks for forgiveness for his sexual surprise act, no: he rather tries to make Violantha again compliant by threatening her, he will otherwise exchange words with his brother over her previous life.
Violantha, however, is not ready to be blackmailed by Marianus, and flees on her own into the mountains. Marianus follows her and wants to rape her this time. It comes to a fight in which the villain finds his death falling from a cliff into the depths. Freed from all the shadows of the past, the faithful wife returns to her husband Alderich.
The film's happy ending is different from the more tragic in the novel by Ernst Zahn. In Zahn's novel, Violantha knows the identity of her seducer from the very beginning, and she finally kills him intentionally in the mountains and then poisons herself.
Violantha was shot from August to October 1926 in the Efa studio in Berlin-Halensee (the interiors) and in Switzerland (the exteriors on the Gotthard massif, in Flüelen, Airolo, Andermatt, Hospental, Schöllenen and in the Val Treola). The not even four-year-old Inge Landgut made her film debut here as Porten's daughter. The sets were designed by Franz Schroedter, the costumes by Ali Hubert, while cinematography was by Axel Graatkjær and Gustave Preiss.
The six-act film passed German censorship on 9 March 1927, but had already premiered on 19 January 1927 in the Zurich Capitol cinema. In Germany Violantha was first shown at the Munich Phoebia-Kino on 25 November 1927. In 1942, the Ufa presented another film adaptation directed by Paul May. This sound version was released in German cinemas under the slightly changed title Violanta and it starred Annelies Reinhold.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/5. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/6. Photo: A. Schmoll, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 68/8. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin / Henny Porten-Film. Publicity still for Violantha (Carl Froehlich, 1927) with Henny Porten and Wilhelm Dieterle.
Sources: Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.
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