Anna Boleyn (1920)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Norbert Falk (writer)
Hanns Kräly (writer)

Release Date:

17 April 1921 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The story of the ill-fated second wife of the English king Henry VIII, whose marriage to the Henry led...

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

Henny Porten	...	Anna Boleyn
Emil Jannings	...	Henry VIII
Paul Hartmann	...	Sir Henry Norris
Ludwig Hartau	...	Duke of Norfolk
Aud Egede Nissen	...	Jane Seymour
Hedwig Pauly-Winterstein	...	Queen Catherine
Hilde Müller	...	Princess Marie
Maria Reisenhofer	...	Lady Rochford
Ferdinand von Alten	...	Mark Smeaton
Adolf Klein	...	Cardinal Wolsey
Paul Biensfeldt	...	Jester
Wilhelm Diegelmann	...	Cardinal Campeggio
Friedrich Kühne	...	Archbishop Cranmer
Karl Platen	...	Physician
Erling Hanson	...	Count Percy

Also Known As:

Anne Boleyn
Deception

Runtime:

100 min | USA:133 min | 118 min (DVD)

Country:

Germany

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Liepnitzsee, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

Messter Film

Movie Connections:

Featured in Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin - Von der Schönhauser Allee nach Hollywood (2006) (V)

The Changing Relationship Between Henry VIII And Anna Boleyn

Continuing with the exclusive film programme about complicated relationships in some European courts, last night in the Schloss theatre was shown "Anna Boleyn", a film directed by the great Teutonic film director Herr Ernst Lubitsch. The film depicts the terrible story of the Queen consort of the British King Henry VIII. She was executed by her husband ( well, not exactly, the King ordered the executioners to do his dirty work) not to mention that this marriage caused an important political and religious historical event, the English Reformation.

The film stars Dame Henny Porten, Germany's first screen superstar during those early years and Herr Emil Jannings, Germany's fattest actor in that silent era. Both play their characters in a suitable way; Dame Porten as an innocent aristocrat who becomes progressively interested in the power that the court offers her and Herr Jannings as the unscrupulous, whimsical and womanizing British monarch, a character very suitable for this German actor who overacts appropriately, given the extravagance and excessive personality of the character himself.

In the early film period Herr Lubitsch was known for his outstanding costume films, colossal productions with big budgets ( "Anna Boleyn" cost about 8 million marks, a fortune even for this German count ) taking great care in magnificent decors as can be seen during the coronation procession in Westminster Abbey scene which employed 4.000 extras ( idle Germans of that time were used, causing revolutionary workers to create a fuss when German President Friedrich Ebert visited the set during filming).

Besides the spectacle, one of the most important aspect of this and every film of Herr Lubitsch, even during his epic period, is the complex relationship between the main characters. We experience a game of different interests, double meanings, and the complicated art of flirting but what is treated lightly at first ends in tragedy. The importance of those historical facts is brought to bear in an effective way but Lubitsch is really more interested in the changing relationship between Henry VIII and Anna Boleyn.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must take care that one of his fat and rich heiress doesn't lose her head for this Teutonic aristocrat.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/