Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth (1919)

Henny Porten starred in the silent comedy Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth/Ruth's Two Husbands (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919) produced by Oskar Messter for his company Messters Projektion GmbH and distributed by Universum Film (UFA). She is supported by Curt Goetz, who later became known as a comedy writer, and Erich Schönfelder in the leading male roles. Ross Verlag published a series of seven postcards for the film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 615/1. Photo: Messter-Film. Henny Porten and Curt Goetz in Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 615/2. Photo: Messter-Film. Henny Porten in Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 615/3. Photo: Messter-Film. Henny Porten in Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).

How two newlyweds reconcile

Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth/Ruth's Two Husbands (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919) was scripted by Henrik Galeen. For the screenwriter, a specialist in fantastic film material, this film was one of his very few forays into the comedy genre. Considering the Danish character names in the film, the plot was probably set in Denmark. The film sets were designed by Kurt Dürnhöfer and realised by Jack Winter. Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth was made in late spring 1919 in the Ufa-Messter studio in Berlin-Tempelhof, had four acts and was 1331 metres long at its premiere on 25 July 1919 in Berlin's Mozartsaal. After re-censorship on 13 January 1921, the film was shortened to 1143 metres. A youth ban was imposed.

The engineer and researcher Dr Robert Holversen (Curt Goetz) is asked in a letter to take over the guardianship of the daughter of a good friend. The ‘little girl’ (Henny Porten) is called Ruth Elvstedt and has been living in a boarding house, which she will now leave. Holversen is very busy with his work and therefore asks his sister, who lives in his flat, to make the necessary arrangements for the ‘child’, whose age nobody knows exactly, to move in. As a precaution, a room is first converted into a nursery and a doll is bought for the girl to play with.

Holversen and his sister are all the more surprised when a fully grown, charming young lady appears who has long since left her childhood behind her. The astonishment soon gives way to doubts as to whether it is proper for a woman of prime marriageable age and an unmarried gentleman of the highest social standing to live under the same roof. Unmarried! Not that there would suddenly be talk! Especially as engineer Holversen develops an interest in Ruth that goes far beyond mere guardianship...

The solution is obvious: the two should marry so that the lost customs and decency can be restored as quickly as possible. No sooner said than done. But Ruth soon realises that her husband is a researcher and scholar through and through. He soon has hardly any time left for his newlywed and is completely absorbed in his studies. So it's a good thing that Baron Alfred Alberg (Erich Schönfelder), a friend of the house, is visiting and Ruth, left alone, is only too happy to be distracted by the urbane bon vivant. This doesn't suit her husband at all, especially as Ruth takes a fancy to the baron and is already talking about divorce!

The only thing missing now is a reason for divorce. Ruth has a ‘brilliant’ idea: during a soirée, she asks her still-husband to slap her hard in the face, which he is more than happy to do. But now Ruth suddenly becomes jealous of Robert because he wants to take advantage of the situation to hook up with another lady. Ruth is not at all happy about this and goes to the agreed meeting place instead, where she meets her baffled husband hidden under a veil. In the end, everything turns out well and the two newlyweds reconcile. Holversen explains to Ruth that the date with the ominous other lady was faked, solely to win Ruth back.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 615/4. Photo: Messter-Film. Curt Goetz and Henny Porten in Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 615/5. Photo: Messter-Film. Curt Goetz and Henny Porten in Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 615/6. Photo: Messter-Film. Curt Goetz and Henny Porten in Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 615/7. Photo: Messter-Film. Curt Goetz and Henny Porten in Die beiden Gatten der Frau Ruth (Rudolf Biebrach, 1919).

Sources: Filmportal, The German Early Cinema Database, Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.