IF ORDERED IN CASES, THE DISCS WILL COME IN * ONE * CASE HOLDING ALL THE DVDs. INDIVIDUAL COVERS WILL NOT BE SENT OUT.
10 DVD collection of Georg Wilhelm Pabst's films at a discounted price (see the individual film descriptions for screenshots and sample videos!):
KAMERADSCHAFT (1931):
Auch nach Ende der Ersten Weltkriegs ist das Klima an der deutsch-französischen Grenze von Feindseligkeit und Ressentiments geprägt. Trotzdem eilen die deutschen Bergarbeiter zu Hilfe, als sich auf französischer Seite ein Grubenunglück ereignet. Der Steiger Wilderer, der am Tag zuvor von einer Französin bei einem Tanzvergnügen einen Korb bekommen hatte, beschließt ebenfalls zu helfen. Wilderer und zwei Kollegen dringen durch einen Verbindungsstollen auf die französische Seite vor, wobei sie das Gitter einreißen, das seit dem Krieg die Grenze markiert. Durch einen Wassereinbruch geraten die Retter in Lebensgefahr, doch am Ende werden auch sie – zusammen mit zwei französischen Kollegen – geborgen.
Based on an actual, similar event which took place in 1906, the screenwriters for this movie changed the time frame to right after the First World War, so as to emphasize the inbred emnity between the French and the Germans and the stupidity inherent in blind hate. It is the early 1920s and the place is a border town where the main occupation for both Frenchmen and Germans alike is coal mining. An explosion takes place on the French side of a mine shared by both countries and over 600 miners are trapped alive. Rescuers in France are on the way, but German specialists are actually closer and capable of saving the trapped miners. Will the Germans be able to overcome their resentment of the Versailles Diktat and the Ruhr occupation to help their former enemies? Will the French be able to put aside their memories of the Germans laying waste to their land to let the Germans help?
Approximately 86 minutes long; excellent quality film.
Region Free (can be played in all DVD players).
IN GERMAN WITH SWITCHABLE ENGLISH SUBTITLES.
ABWEGE (1928):
Irene Beck glaubt die Zuneigung des Malers Walter Frank entdeckt zu haben, als dieser ihr Profil während eines Besuches auf einer Servierte skizzierte. Mit vielversprechenden Blicken lädt dieser sie zu einem Gegenbesuch ein. Doch ihr Ehemann Thomas Beck hält nichts von dieser Gesellschaft und schränkt sie in ihrer Bewegungsfreiheit ein. Doch die beiden treffen sich heimlich und verabreden eine Flucht nach Wien, die vom Ehemann in letzter Minute vereitelt wird. Frustriert stürzt Irene sich in das pulsierende Nachtleben Berlins mit Alkohol- und Drogenexzessen. Eine belanglose Beziehung mit dem Boxer Sam Tayler entfremdet das Ehepaar noch weiter.
Irene Beck believes she's discovered the painter Walter Frank's affection for her after he sketched her profile on a napkin during a visit. With glances that promise much, he invites her to visit him at his place. But her husband Thomas Beck doesn't think much of the man and restricts her freedom of movement. Nevertheless, the two meet secretly and arrange to flee to Vienna, which is thwarted by her husband at the last minute. Frustrated, Irene buries herself in Berlin's vibrant nightlife, complete with the consumption of alcohol and drugs. An insignificant affair with the boxer Sam Taylor only alienates the couple even further.
DVD-R has German intertitles and switchable English subtitles. Approx. 96 mins. Excellent quality film with minor softness.
DER SCHATZ (1923):
In and around a bell maker near Marburg (today Maribor in Slovenia), people tell the story of a treasure that was hidden during the Turkish invasion of 1683, the year the Turkish Army was besieging Vienna. Everybody thinks it's nonsense, except for an old worker there, who feels that the treasure must be in the bell maker's house. A young traveling worker, who has fallen in love with the bell maker's daughter, Beate, makes fun of this, but she convinces him that the old worker is not that nuts. So he starts searching for himself and soon finds it (as does the old worker). He tells his master, who decides, that the young one has to disappear.
DVD-R HAS GERMAN INTERTITLES WITH SWITCHABLE ENGLISH SUBTITLES (except for the Newsreel).
QUALITY (of feature film only): Excellent, digital DVD quality
LENGTH OF FEATURE FILM: 79 mins
DIE FREUDLOSE GASSE (1925):
In 1921, in the poverty-stricken part of an Austrian town, a street called Melchiorgasse is inhabited by impoverished gentry and blue-collar workers. There are only two wealthy people: the butcher Josef Geiringer and his wife. Mrs. Greifer runs a fashion boutique and a nightclub patronized by the wealthier class of Vienna. Annexed to the nightclub is „Merkl“ hotel, a by-the-hour establishment, in which the women of the nightclub prostitute themselves in order to pay back their debts to Frau Greifer. The film follows the plights of two women from the same neighborhood in their attempts to pull themselves out of the rubble of postwar hyperinflation: Marie, who lives in abject poverty, succumbs to the lure of prostitution. Grete, from a struggling family used to better circumstances, takes the higher road. At the end of the film, a sick and impoverished Else kills the butcher because he won't give her any meat and the poor in the neighborhood, hearing the sounds from the nightclub, begin a stone-throwing revolt against the rich. In the ruckus, the building goes up in flames, killing a pair of beggars. In the end, only Grete seems to have any hope of someday rising out of Melchiorgasse, because of her relationship with an American Red Cross officer.
DVD-R IS 140 minutes; silent film with German intertitles and optional English subtitles. Very good quality
DIE HERRIN VON ATLANTIS (1932):
In Afrika erzählt der französische Kolonialoffizier Saint-Avit einem jungen Leutnant von seinem zurückliegenden Abenteuer in der sagenhaften Stadt Atlantis, die unter dem Wüstensand begraben liegen soll: Vor zwei Jahren sind er und sein Freund Morhange dorthin verschleppt worden.
In Africa, a French colonial officer, Saint-Avit, tells a young lieutenant about his past adventures in the fabled city of Atlantis, which is supposedly buried in the sands of the Sahara. Two years before, he and his friend Morhange were abducted and brought there.
DVD-R IS IN GERMAN WITH SWITCHABLE ENGLISH SUBTITLES. APPROX. 74 MINS. COMBINED TOTAL. VERY GOODL FILM QUALITY OVERALL.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
It has come to my attention, that the version we have listed here may not be what I'm claiming it is. There are three versions of this film, all different, and the one I'm listing is supposedly lost to history (except it has a 7.1 rating with IMDB, which seems to contradict that claim). Unfortunately, when looking at this film, I cannot determine which version it is for the following reasons:
- like the other versions, this one is directed by Pabst;
- the film's actors are not provided in the credits;
- the film is obviously truncated, since the 75 minute long total matches none of those versions
Please take the above into account when purchasing this film.
GEHEIMNISSE EINER SEELE (1926) + DAS WACHSFIGURENKABINETT (1924):
GEHEIMNISSE EINER SEELE (1926):
Als ein Chemiker erfährt, dass der charmante Vetter seiner schönen Frau nach langer Zeit aus Indien zurückkehrt, häufen sich bei ihm bizarre, Furcht erregende Träume. So träumt er beispielsweise, dass er versucht, seine Frau mit einem Dolch zu erstechen. Dieser Traum verfolgt ihn so sehr, dass er am nächsten Tag von einer wahren Messer-Phobie besessen ist. Seine Frau und deren Vetter beginnen indes, sich Sorgen um den Mann zu machen, dessen eigene, wahnhafte Verzweiflung in dem Versuch endet, seine Frau tatsächlich zu erstechen – gerade so, wie er es in seinem Traum vorweggenommen hat.
When a chemist discovers, that the charming cousin of his pretty wife has returned home after being in India for a long time, he starts having more and more bizarre and frightening dreams. He dreams, for example, that he's trying to stab his wife with a dagger. This dream bothers him so much, that he becomes obsessed with a knife-phobia the next day. His wife and her cousing begin to worry about her husband; especially when, in a desperate delusion he does indeed attempt to stab his wife with a dagger ... just like he dream the night before. (74 mins; in very good quality)
DAS WACHSFIGURENKABINETT (1924):
Aufwändig gestalteter Episodenfilm über die Figuren eines Wachsfigurenkabinetts, die in den Erzählungen eines jungen Dichters zum Leben erwachen. Der Kalif Harun al Raschid, Iwan der Schreckliche und Jack the Ripper sind die jeweiligen Protagonisten der drei Phantasiegebilde, in denen auch der Dichter selbst sowie die von ihm verehrte Tochter des Kabinettbesitzers in verschiedenen Rollen auftauchen.
Waxworks (original title: Das Wachsfigurenkabinett) is a 1924 fantasy/horror silent film directed by Paul Leni. The film is about a writer who accepts a job from a waxworks proprietor to write a series of stories about the exhibits of Caliph of Baghdad (Emil Jannings), Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt) and Jack the Ripper (Werner Krauss) in the museum in order to boost business. Although Waxworks is often credited as a horror film, it is a anthology film that goes through various genre's including a fantasy adventure, a historical film, and a horror film through its various episodes. This film would be director Paul Leni's last film made in Germany before he went on to make The Cat and the Canary (1927) in America. (83 mins.; in very good quality).
SILENT FILMS WITH ENGLISH INTERTITLES. DVD-R IS APPROX. 157 MINS. VERY GOOD QUALITY. REGION FREE.
SKANDAL UM EVA (1930):
Die beliebte Lehrerin Eva Rüttgers ist glücklich mit Dr. Kurt Hiller verlobt. Eines Tages erfährt sie durch einen Brief, daß Hiller einen 4-jährigen unehelichen Sohn hat. Ohne Wissen Hillers holt Eva den kleinen Gustav zu sich, um ihren Verlobten mit dem Kind zu überraschen. Doch bei seiner Ankunft halten die Bürger – sowie Hiller – Eva für die leibliche Mutter von Gustav, was für einen Skandal in der Stadt sorgt. Wegen vermeintlich unsittlichen Verhaltens soll Eva ihre Stelle verlieren, und erst nachdem die Schüler für ihre Lehrerin demonstrieren, werden die zahlreichen Missverständnisse aufgeklärt.
Beloved teacher Eva Ruttgers is happily engaged to Dr. Kurt Hiller. One day, she discovers via a letter, that Hiller has a four year old son out of wedlock. Without Hiller’s knowledge, Eva goes to get Gustav to surprise her fiancée. But upon the child’s arrival, the townspeople – including Hiller – believe Eva is the child’s mother, which, of course, leads to a scandal in the city. And when Eva is destined to lose her job for a lack of morals, only her schoolchildren’s protests will result in the many misunderstandings being cleared up.
DVD-R IS IN GERMAN WITH SWITCHABLE ENGLISH SUBTITLES
QUALITY (of feature film only): very good picture quality.
LENGTH OF FEATURE FILM: 85 mins
TAGEBUCH EINER VERLORENEN (1929):
Die junge Thymian, selbst noch ein Kind, wird vom Gehilfen ihres Vaters verführt und nach der Geburt ihres unehelichen Kindes von der Familie in ein Heim gesteckt. Dort leidet sie, wie die anderen Mädchen, unter dem sadistischen Regiment des Vorsteher-Paares. Sie flüchtet mit Hilfe des jungen, mittellosen Grafen Osdorff und landet in einem großstädtischen Bordell. In dieser neuen Umgebung gefällt es ihr, sie wird zum Mittelpunkt einer für sie ganz anderen, aufregenden Welt. Um einem Bordellbesucher finanziell zu helfen, lässt sich Thymian in einem Nachtlokal versteigern. Dieser Auslosung wohnt der eigene Vater bei, der kurz darauf stirbt.
Young Thymian, herself still a child, is seduced by her father’s servant and is put into a home by the family after the birth of her child out of wedlock. Like the other girls there, she suffers under the sadistic rule of the housemasters. With the help of the young, penniless Count Osdorff, she flees the institution and ends up in a brothel in a large city. Nevetheless, she enjoys this new atmosphere, being the center of a completely different and exciting world for her. And to financially help out one of the brothel’s patrons, she lets herself be auctioned off in a local nightclub. Her own father actually takes part in this drawing and shortly dies afterwards.
DVD-R HAS GERMAN INTERTITLES WITH SWITCHABLE ENGLISH SUBTITLES
QUALITY (of feature film only): excellent picture quality with any defects being in the original print, not the transfer
LENGTH OF FEATURE FILM: 107 mins.
WESTFRONT 1918 (1930):
G.W. Pabst Antikriegsfilm-Klassiker erzählt die Geschichte vierer deutscher Soldaten an der französischen Front im letzten Jahr des Ersten Weltkriegs. Der Bayer betrachtet den Krieg in erster Linie als Abenteuer. Der Student erlebt mit der Französin Yvette seine erste große Liebe. Ihr Vorgesetzter, der Leutnant, kennt nur eins, nämlich Pflichterfüllung. Als Karl, der Vierte im Bunde, nach einem Heimaturlaub, bei dem er seine Frau mit einem Fleischergesellen im Bett überrascht, an die Front zurückkehrt, ereilt die Vier ihr Schicksal.
Germany's answer to All Quiet on the Western Front, this 1930 film should be required viewing for any politician, who thinks war is the best answer. Banned by the Nazis when they came to power three years later, this film does not glorify war, but shows realistically the horror, boredom and discomforts of trench life from "the enemy's" point of view. The final scene in the hospital is enough to tear one's heart out, even if it is a bit overdramatic by today's standards. Don't underestimate this film: it may be slow at times and tedious, and the style a bit outmoded, but the message is powerful. It is as valid today when hundreds are killed from a distance with missiles as it was back then, when men fought within yards of each other and tens of thousands of soldiers lost their lives advancing those few yards. The film finishes with the words The End? ... Unfortunately, within a short time thereafter, events proved the question mark to be a valid addendum.
DVD-R IS IN GERMAN WITH OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES. EXCELLENT FILM QUALITY, GIVEN ITS AGE. APPROX. 90 MINS.
THE WHITE HELL OF PITZ PALU (1930):
Maria Krafft, die Frau des Bergsteigers Dr. Johannes Krafft, stürzt wegen der Leichtfertigkeit des Paares in eine Gletscherspalte am Piz Palü und stirbt. Einige Jahre später: Das frischvermählte Paar Hans Brandt und Maria Maioni begibt sich ebendort auf eine Bergtour. Sie quartieren sich in der einsamen iavolezzaberghütte ein. Der befreundete Kunstflieger Udet wirft ihnen eine Flasche Sekt zum Feiern mit dem Fallschirm hinunter. Die erhoffte Einsamkeit wird durch das Auftauchen des Bergführers Christian und von Dr. Johannes Krafft vereitelt. Krafft, der den Tod seiner Frau nicht verwunden hat, besteigt immer wieder den Piz Palü und versucht die Nordwand alleine zu bezwingen, was ihm aber schon zweimal misslungen ist. Maria fühlt sich zu dem schweigsamen Mann hingezogen. Seine verunglückte Frau hieß ebenfalls Maria. Am nächsten Tag begibt sich das Paar gemeinsam mit Krafft auf den Weg zur Nordwand des Piz Palü. Eine Gruppe von bergunerfahrenen Studenten folgt ihnen, doch werden sie von einer Lawine in die Tiefe gerissen. Keiner der jungen Männer überlebt.
The White Hell of Pitz Palu (German: Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü) is a 1929 silent mountain film directed by Arnold Fanck and Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring future filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and World War I flying ace Ernst Udet.The wife of alpinist Dr Johannes Krafft (Gustav Diessl) dies after a crevasse fall. It is implied that the accident was due to his negligence. Ten years later the newlywed Karl Stern (Ernst Petersen) and Maria Majoni (Leni Riefenstahl) arrive in an alpine hut near St. Moritz. They meet Dr Krafft who is obsessed with the death of his wife and is still searching for her in the mountains. Together they depart to climb Piz Palü, not knowing that a storm is approaching. Trapped in the mountain and with Stern having broken his leg they are forced to spend the night on a small ledge. Dr Krafft who had given his coat to Karl does not survive until the next morning. Eventually the aviator Ernst Udet (played by himself), who is also a friend of Karl and Maria, finds the couple. He alerts the rescuers who eventually safely escort Karl and Maria back to the valley.
THIS IS THE AMERICAN VERSION FROM 1930 WITH SOUND AND ENGLISH INTERTILES CUT BACK TO 76 MINS.
TOTAL TIME: 990 MINUTES (more than 16.5 hours!)
