Gräfin Donelli/Countess Donelli (1924) was a typical Henny Porten film of the 1920s, a rather conventional melodrama. Porten's handsome co-star was the little-known Eberhard Leithoff. Remarkable is the director. Gräfin Donelli is the second film of Georg Wilhelm Pabst, one of the most influential German-language filmmakers during the Weimar Republic.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/1. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Friedrich Kayssler in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/2. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Eberhard Leithoff in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).
In Gräfin Donelli (1924), Henny Porten stars as Countess Mathilde Donelli who has become a widow early on, as her unfaithful husband killed himself.
Now she is in material need. Her uncle, the much older Count Bergheim (Friedrich Kayssler), shows interest in Mathilde, but she is much more interested in Bergheim's handsome secretary Hellwig (Eberhard Leithoff).
To help Mathilde, Hellwig sends Countess Donelli a larger sum of money. Thereupon the countess's uncle accuses his secretary of the theft because he wants to crush the young happiness.
Graf Bergheim is prepared to waive a criminal complaint should Hellwig stay away from Mathilde from now on. Countess Donelli then lets herself be carried out to an act of desperation and shoots him down. The doctors can save the wounded man.
Countess Donelli marries her great love after his recovery. Years later, Count Bergheim realises that he would never have a chance with Mathilde and admits that he staged the embezzlement. Now Hellwig is finally rehabilitated.
Gräfin Donelli (1924) was a production by Maxim Film and Ebner & Co. The script was written by Hans Kyser. The cinematographer was Guido Seeber, and the sets were designed by art director Herman Warm. The co-director and editor was Mark Sorkin. G. W. Pabst would later often work again with them in his films.
Pabst's best-known silent films concern the plight of women, including Die freudlose Gasse/The Joyless Street (1925) with Greta Garbo and Asta Nielsen, Geheimnisse einer Seele/Secrets of a Soul (1926) with Lily Damita, Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney/The Loves of Jeanne Ney (1927) with Brigitte Helm, Die Büchse der Pandora/Pandora's Box (1929), and Tagebuch einer Verlorenen/Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) with American actress Louise Brooks. He also co-directed with Arnold Fanck the Bergfilm (mountain film) Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü/The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) starring Leni Riefenstahl.
Gräfin Donelli passed censorship on 28 August 1924 and premiered on 7 November 1924 at the Primus-Palast in Berlin. The film is now believed to be lost.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/3. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Eberhard Leithoff in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/4. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten, Ferdinand von Alten, and Friedrich Kayssler in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924). Von Alten played Baron von Trachwitz.
Source: Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/1. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Friedrich Kayssler in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/2. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Eberhard Leithoff in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).
An act of desperation
In Gräfin Donelli (1924), Henny Porten stars as Countess Mathilde Donelli who has become a widow early on, as her unfaithful husband killed himself.
Now she is in material need. Her uncle, the much older Count Bergheim (Friedrich Kayssler), shows interest in Mathilde, but she is much more interested in Bergheim's handsome secretary Hellwig (Eberhard Leithoff).
To help Mathilde, Hellwig sends Countess Donelli a larger sum of money. Thereupon the countess's uncle accuses his secretary of the theft because he wants to crush the young happiness.
Graf Bergheim is prepared to waive a criminal complaint should Hellwig stay away from Mathilde from now on. Countess Donelli then lets herself be carried out to an act of desperation and shoots him down. The doctors can save the wounded man.
Countess Donelli marries her great love after his recovery. Years later, Count Bergheim realises that he would never have a chance with Mathilde and admits that he staged the embezzlement. Now Hellwig is finally rehabilitated.
Gräfin Donelli (1924) was a production by Maxim Film and Ebner & Co. The script was written by Hans Kyser. The cinematographer was Guido Seeber, and the sets were designed by art director Herman Warm. The co-director and editor was Mark Sorkin. G. W. Pabst would later often work again with them in his films.
Pabst's best-known silent films concern the plight of women, including Die freudlose Gasse/The Joyless Street (1925) with Greta Garbo and Asta Nielsen, Geheimnisse einer Seele/Secrets of a Soul (1926) with Lily Damita, Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney/The Loves of Jeanne Ney (1927) with Brigitte Helm, Die Büchse der Pandora/Pandora's Box (1929), and Tagebuch einer Verlorenen/Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) with American actress Louise Brooks. He also co-directed with Arnold Fanck the Bergfilm (mountain film) Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü/The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) starring Leni Riefenstahl.
Gräfin Donelli passed censorship on 28 August 1924 and premiered on 7 November 1924 at the Primus-Palast in Berlin. The film is now believed to be lost.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/3. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten and Eberhard Leithoff in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 695/4. Photo: Maxim Film. Henny Porten, Ferdinand von Alten, and Friedrich Kayssler in Gräfin Donelli (G.W. Pabst, 1924). Von Alten played Baron von Trachwitz.
Source: Wikipedia (German and English), and IMDb.
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