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Neckar Western Films from Heidelberg |
Sat, 23.01. 16:00h Metropol 2
The HOUSE OF DOCUMENTARY FILM presents:
Neckar Western Films made in Heidelberg
Introduction: Astrid Beyer
For two years cowboys and Indians rode before the scenery of Germany's Odenwald mountains. Because when Hermann Basler returned to Heidelberg from the USA in 1919, he brought home - together with his enthusiasm for Western movies - the knowledge of American methods of production and the idea of a Western hero. The Two Gun Man "Bull Arizona" was born and with him a new era began at the CHATEAU ART FILM PRODUCTION company.
The film studios were already built in 1912 on a former factory site in Heidelberg-Schlierbach. It was one of the first glass constructions worldwide, equipped with the latest stage techniques such as gangway, retractable platform and up-to-date light technology - only the studios of the GERMAN BIOSCOP SOCIETY in Babelsberg were bigger.
Owners of the glasshouse changed frequently over the years as Heidelberg was not a film metropolis and the productions could not keep up with the artistically sophisticated films of the time.
It was only through the initiative of the Basler family that the INTERNATIONALE FILM-INDUSTRIE GMBH gained some speed. The concept of a contemporary genre cinema with detective stories, western movies and art films adapted from the American pattern was developed. Crime thrillers about a detective named Ferry White and the western movies of the Arizona Bull series were produced. The leading actor was Hermann Basler, his father Adolf, a chemist, directed and his mother Maria wrote the script for the first production "Bull Arizona - Desert Eagle" (1919). Following this production several western films were shot. Local newcomers like, among others, cinematographer Ernst Vachenauer, director Phil Jutzi and actor Conny Carstennsen worked alongside experienced film crew members such as Franz Schmelter and Otto Trippel from Berlin. Phil Jutzi, who later on showed his skills directing "Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück" and "Berlin, Alexanderplatz" was director for two further western films "Das Vermächtnis der Prärie" (1921) and "Feuerteufel" (1921).
The implementation of censorship in May 1920 helped to accelerate the end of film productions in Heidelberg. Some of the films, which had already been finished, were banned afterwards. Furthermore it became obvious that a significant amount of capital and stars would be necessary to produce successful films and series. Additionally the focus of film production increasingly turned towards Berlin. A de-central production, as it had been before 1913, became an exception. The film factory in Heidelberg was closed down in 1924.
Bull Arizona - Der Wüstenadler
Bull Arizona - Desert Eagle
D 1919, 35 mm, S/W, 52:00 Min., stumm, mit Live-Vertonung
Regie: Phil Jutzi & Horst Krahé, DarstellerInnen: Hermann Basler, Sonya Bernini, Sepha Berny, Robert Moser, Maria Basler, Horst Krahé
Bull Arizona is a two-part Western movie produced in 1919 in Heidelberg, Germany. The first part, of which a 52-minute fragment could be preserved, made its debut in theatres in 1919, the second part "Das Vermächtnis der Prärie" (The Prairie's Legacy) followed one year later.
The film centres on cowboy hero Bull Arizona. He robs banks around the American-Mexican border area and falls in love with Mary who is on her way West as a member of a wagon trek. The trek's leader is a hoodlum named Black Cat. Searching for water for her thirsty husband Mary gets lost in the desert. Bull Arizona finds her half-dead and saves her. When the trek is attacked by Indians, Bull agrees to defend it under the condition that Mary will stay at his side.
In the programme of 1919 the film was introduced as follows:
"Shivering and shocked we stare into the deep abyss of the soul - where man turns into an animal, a savage beast - but we can also watch how the very same man literally becomes a nobleman through the light of love."
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