Russian born actress Barbara von Annenkoff (1900-1978) appeared as an elegant lady in German silent films of the 1920s. Only in 1935, she made her sound film debut, and she was never able to gain a foothold there and moreover had to be content with steadily decreasing roles.
German postcard by Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 44/2. Photo: Karl Schenker. Barbara von Annenkoff as Empress Eugenie in Bismarck-Film, 2. Teil/Bismarck 1862-1898 (Kurt Blachy, 1927).
Barbara von Annenkoff was born as Warwara Annenkowa in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1900. Originating from the old Russian nobility, she was the granddaughter (or daughter - the sources differ) of the publicist, literary and theater critic Pawel Wassiljewitsch Annenkow, who was best known as the editor of Alexander Pushkin's works and in 1846 exchanged letters with Karl Marx.
As a result of the October Revolution in 1917, Annenkova left the young Soviet Union, like many Belarusian artists, headed west, settled in Berlin, and called herself Barbara von Annenkoff from then on.
At the age of 24, she made contact with the flourishing German film industry. She started her film career in silent films like Die Luftfahrt über den Ozean/The aviation about the ocean (Wolfgang Neff, 1924) and Der Sturz ins Glück/The Fall in Luck (Adolf E. Licho, 1924).
That same year she also played in the Dutch-German fisher drama Op hoop van zegen/Die Fahrt ins Verderben (James Bauer, Henk Kleinmann, 1924) starring Adele Sandrock as an old fisherwoman and Hans Adalbert Schlettow as her son who’s tragically killed at sea.
These were not artistically significant films by rather secondary directors. But the next year she played Helena in the William Shakespeare adaptation Ein Sommernachtstraum/A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hans Neumann, 1925) with Hans Albers as Demetrius, Werner Krauss as Bottom, and Valeska Gert as Puck. Barbara von Annenkoff played Helena
At The Bioscope, Urbanora reviews: "Ein Sommernachstraum is a fascinating film, strangely and undeservedly forgotten by the posterity that is to come. It is, of course, based on William Shakespeare’s comedy, 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', which is the title it has been given in America, though in Britain it has been rather curiously renamed Wood Love. It is the last silent film to be made of a Shakespeare play, and one of the oddest of that distinctly odd genre. (…)
It satirizes the performance of Shakespeare, and the rather confused critics have variously described it as being ribald, charming, stagey, sincere, magical, dull, and grotesque. The Berlin censors pronounced it as being forbidden to juveniles.
That this is intentionally a radical production can be seen from the presence of contributors such as the well-known poet and critic Alfred Henschke, writing the titles which slyly parody Shakespeare, while director Hans Neumann has been previously distinguished as a producer of titles such as Robert ‘Caligari’ Wiene’s strikingly expressionist Raskolnikov. Yet some critics see it only as being conventionally charming, with such magical features as double exposures for appearing and disappearing fairy folk."
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1495/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Oertel, Berlin.
Although Barbara von Annenkoff played mainly supporting parts as elegant ladies, she had also a few leading roles in the German silent cinema, such as in Derby. Ein Ausschnitt aus der Welt des Trabersports/Derby (Max Reichmann, Joe May, 1926) with Henry Stuart.
Other silent films were Höhere Töchter/Higher daughters (Richard Löwenbein, 1927) featuring Grete Mosheim and Fürst oder Clown/Prince or Clown (Aleksandr Razumnyj, 1928) with Marcella Albani.
There was an interval in her film career after the introduction of sound film. She made her sound debut in a small role as a Russian higher class lady in the operetta Petersburger Nächte/Waltzes at the Neva (E.W. Emo, 1935) starring Paul Hörbiger and Theo Lingen.
In the following years, she played bit parts in the German Western Der Kaiser von Kalifornien/The Emperor of California (Luis Trenker, 1936) and the Gustave Flaubert adaptation Madame Bovary (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1937) starring Pola Negri. Her last film was the Marika Rökk operetta Tanz mit dem Kaiser/Dance with the Emperor (Georg Jacoby, 1941).
She spent her twilight years in the place where the Russian aristocratic elite had pitched their tents in Germany since Dostoyevsky's time: in Baden-Baden. In this tranquil spa and casino city, she appeared sporadically on the stage and appeared in various radio plays, for example under the direction of Gert Westphal in the Stefan Zweig play 'Ungeduld des Herzens' (Impatience of the Heart, 1961) and in the novel adaptations 'Die grünen Fensterläden' (The green window shutters, 1964) and 'Der Zug' (The train, 1966) by Georges Simenon.
Barbara von Annenkoff passed away in Baden-Baden in 1978 (some sources say 1979). She was 78.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1822, 1927-1928. Photo: E. Bieber, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Sources: Urbanora (The Bioscope), Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.
German postcard by Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 44/2. Photo: Karl Schenker. Barbara von Annenkoff as Empress Eugenie in Bismarck-Film, 2. Teil/Bismarck 1862-1898 (Kurt Blachy, 1927).
A fascinating film, strangely and undeservedly forgotten
Barbara von Annenkoff was born as Warwara Annenkowa in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1900. Originating from the old Russian nobility, she was the granddaughter (or daughter - the sources differ) of the publicist, literary and theater critic Pawel Wassiljewitsch Annenkow, who was best known as the editor of Alexander Pushkin's works and in 1846 exchanged letters with Karl Marx.
As a result of the October Revolution in 1917, Annenkova left the young Soviet Union, like many Belarusian artists, headed west, settled in Berlin, and called herself Barbara von Annenkoff from then on.
At the age of 24, she made contact with the flourishing German film industry. She started her film career in silent films like Die Luftfahrt über den Ozean/The aviation about the ocean (Wolfgang Neff, 1924) and Der Sturz ins Glück/The Fall in Luck (Adolf E. Licho, 1924).
That same year she also played in the Dutch-German fisher drama Op hoop van zegen/Die Fahrt ins Verderben (James Bauer, Henk Kleinmann, 1924) starring Adele Sandrock as an old fisherwoman and Hans Adalbert Schlettow as her son who’s tragically killed at sea.
These were not artistically significant films by rather secondary directors. But the next year she played Helena in the William Shakespeare adaptation Ein Sommernachtstraum/A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hans Neumann, 1925) with Hans Albers as Demetrius, Werner Krauss as Bottom, and Valeska Gert as Puck. Barbara von Annenkoff played Helena
At The Bioscope, Urbanora reviews: "Ein Sommernachstraum is a fascinating film, strangely and undeservedly forgotten by the posterity that is to come. It is, of course, based on William Shakespeare’s comedy, 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream', which is the title it has been given in America, though in Britain it has been rather curiously renamed Wood Love. It is the last silent film to be made of a Shakespeare play, and one of the oddest of that distinctly odd genre. (…)
It satirizes the performance of Shakespeare, and the rather confused critics have variously described it as being ribald, charming, stagey, sincere, magical, dull, and grotesque. The Berlin censors pronounced it as being forbidden to juveniles.
That this is intentionally a radical production can be seen from the presence of contributors such as the well-known poet and critic Alfred Henschke, writing the titles which slyly parody Shakespeare, while director Hans Neumann has been previously distinguished as a producer of titles such as Robert ‘Caligari’ Wiene’s strikingly expressionist Raskolnikov. Yet some critics see it only as being conventionally charming, with such magical features as double exposures for appearing and disappearing fairy folk."
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1495/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Oertel, Berlin.
Supporting and bit parts as elegant ladies
Although Barbara von Annenkoff played mainly supporting parts as elegant ladies, she had also a few leading roles in the German silent cinema, such as in Derby. Ein Ausschnitt aus der Welt des Trabersports/Derby (Max Reichmann, Joe May, 1926) with Henry Stuart.
Other silent films were Höhere Töchter/Higher daughters (Richard Löwenbein, 1927) featuring Grete Mosheim and Fürst oder Clown/Prince or Clown (Aleksandr Razumnyj, 1928) with Marcella Albani.
There was an interval in her film career after the introduction of sound film. She made her sound debut in a small role as a Russian higher class lady in the operetta Petersburger Nächte/Waltzes at the Neva (E.W. Emo, 1935) starring Paul Hörbiger and Theo Lingen.
In the following years, she played bit parts in the German Western Der Kaiser von Kalifornien/The Emperor of California (Luis Trenker, 1936) and the Gustave Flaubert adaptation Madame Bovary (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1937) starring Pola Negri. Her last film was the Marika Rökk operetta Tanz mit dem Kaiser/Dance with the Emperor (Georg Jacoby, 1941).
She spent her twilight years in the place where the Russian aristocratic elite had pitched their tents in Germany since Dostoyevsky's time: in Baden-Baden. In this tranquil spa and casino city, she appeared sporadically on the stage and appeared in various radio plays, for example under the direction of Gert Westphal in the Stefan Zweig play 'Ungeduld des Herzens' (Impatience of the Heart, 1961) and in the novel adaptations 'Die grünen Fensterläden' (The green window shutters, 1964) and 'Der Zug' (The train, 1966) by Georges Simenon.
Barbara von Annenkoff passed away in Baden-Baden in 1978 (some sources say 1979). She was 78.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1822, 1927-1928. Photo: E. Bieber, Berlin. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Sources: Urbanora (The Bioscope), Wikipedia (English and German), and IMDb.
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