Alraune (1918 film)
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| + | '''''Alraune''''' is a [[1918 in film|1918]] [[Cinema of Hungary|Hungarian]] [[science fiction]] [[Horror film|horror]] [[film]] directed by [[Michael Curtiz]] and [[Edmund Fritz]] and starring [[Géza Erdélyi]]. Little is known about this film which is now believed to be lost. It is a variation on the original legend of [[Alraune]] in which a [[Mad Scientist]] creates a beautiful but [[Demon|demonic]] child from the forced union between a woman and a [[mandrake root]]. | ||
| - | '''''Alraune''''' (German for ''Mandrake'') is a novel by German novelist [[Hanns Heinz Ewers]] published in 1911. It is also the name of the female lead character. | + | ==Cast== |
| - | + | *Gyula Gál ... Professor Brinken | |
| - | ==Legend== | + | *[[Rózsi Szöllösi]] ... Alraune |
| - | The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the Middles Ages in Germany. The [[humanoid]]-shaped [[Mandrake (plant)|Mandrake]] root or ''Mandragora officinarum'' was widely believed to be produced by the semen of [[hanged]] men under the [[gallows]]. [[Alchemy|Alchemists]] claimed that hanged men [[ejaculation|ejaculated]] after their [[neck]]s were broken and that the earth absorbed their final "strengths". In some versions, it is blood instead of semen. The [[root]] itself was used in love [[philtre]]s and [[potion]]s while its [[fruit]] was supposed to facilitate [[pregnancy]]. Witches who "made love" to the Mandrake root were said to produce [[offspring]] which had no [[feeling]]s of real [[love]] and had no [[soul]]. | + | *[[Kálmán Körmendy]] ... Frank Braun |
| - | + | *Böske Malatinszky ... Alma Raune, mother of Alraune | |
| - | ==Fiction== | + | *[[Géza Erdélyi]] ... Farkas Gontran |
| - | The novel deviates from the myth by concentrating on the issues of [[artificial insemination]] and individuality: [[genetics]] versus [[Nature versus nurture|environment]]. A scientist, Professor Jakob ten Brincken, interested in the laws of [[heredity]], impregnates a prostitute in a [[laboratory]] with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a female child who has no concept of love, whom the professor adopts. The girl, Alraune, suffers from obsessive sexuality and perverse [[intimate relationship|relationship]]s throughout her life. She learns of her unnatural origins and she revenges herself against the professor. | + | *Andor Kardos ... Sebestyén Gontran, legal adviser |
| - | + | *András Kruppka ... Instructor Petersen (as Andor K. Kovács) | |
| - | There have been a number of films based on the myth and the novel of ''Alraune''. | + | *Károly Árnyai ... Manesse attorney |
| - | + | *[[Margit Lux]] | |
| - | * 1918 - ''[[Alraune (1918 film)|Alraune]]'', an 80 minute [[Hungary|Hungarian]] movie which is now believed to be lost | + | *Violetta Szlatényi |
| - | + | *[[Jenő Törzs]] | |
| - | * 1918 - ''[[Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne]]'', an 88 minute [[Germany|German]] movie directed by Eugen Illés | + | *Viktor Daniel |
| - | * 1928 - ''[[Alraune (1928 film)|Alraune]]'', also known as ''Unholy Love'', a 125 minute black and white, silent German version directed by Henrik (Heinrich) Galeen. It starred [[Brigitte Helm]] as Alraune and Paul Wegener as the scientist Professor Jakob ten Brinken. It uses the novel and is regarded by critics as the definitive version of Alraune. When this film was first shown in Britain, [[British Board of Film Classification|film censors]] removed the details of the woman's origins, thereby making the story and motivations confusing to British audiences. | + | *Boleszlav Szobierszki |
| - | + | ||
| - | * 1930 - ''Alraune'', also known as ''The Daughter of Evil'', a 103 minute black and white German version directed by [[Richard Oswald]] and again starring Brigitte Helm as Alma Raune (Alraune). This is the sound version of the above film. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | * 1952 - ''Alraune'', or ''The Unnatural'', a black and white German version directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt. This had an all-star German cast including [[Hildegard Knef]] as Alraune and [[Erich von Stroheim]] as the scientist. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | * 1998 - 2004 - ''Alraune'', a series of black and white German comic books by Tony Greis. Only a single issue was published each year the last being volume 8 in 2004. The comic books deviate significantly from the novel. The main character is cursed and must live as if she is Alraune until she can find a way out from under the curse. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Several movies have shown the influence of the Alraune theme: | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | *''[[Embryo (1976 film)|Embryo]]'' (1976) | + | |
| - | *The ''Species'' trilogy: | + | |
| - | **''[[Species (movie)|Species]]'' (1995) | + | |
| - | **''[[Species II]]'' (1998) | + | |
| - | **''[[Species III]]'' (2004) | + | |
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | *[[Mandrake (plant)|Mandrake]] | + | * [[Michael Curtiz filmography]] |
| - | *[[Alruna]] | + | * [[List of lost films]] |
| - | *[[Artificial insemination]] | + | |
| - | *[[Gynoid]] | + | |
| - | *[[Homunculus]] | + | |
| - | *[[Nature versus nurture]] | + | |
| - | *[[List of films made in Weimar Germany]] | + | |
| - | + | ||
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
Current revision
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Alraune is a 1918 Hungarian science fiction horror film directed by Michael Curtiz and Edmund Fritz and starring Géza Erdélyi. Little is known about this film which is now believed to be lost. It is a variation on the original legend of Alraune in which a Mad Scientist creates a beautiful but demonic child from the forced union between a woman and a mandrake root.
[edit]
Cast
- Gyula Gál ... Professor Brinken
- Rózsi Szöllösi ... Alraune
- Kálmán Körmendy ... Frank Braun
- Böske Malatinszky ... Alma Raune, mother of Alraune
- Géza Erdélyi ... Farkas Gontran
- Andor Kardos ... Sebestyén Gontran, legal adviser
- András Kruppka ... Instructor Petersen (as Andor K. Kovács)
- Károly Árnyai ... Manesse attorney
- Margit Lux
- Violetta Szlatényi
- Jenő Törzs
- Viktor Daniel
- Boleszlav Szobierszki
[edit]
See also
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Alraune (1918 film)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
