"Lithuanian Stories" with Giulietta Masina and Richard Basehart
What a casting coup! When watching "The Nights of Cabiria", successful producer Kurt Ulrich ("Schwarzwaldmädel" / "ROSEN FÜR DEN STAATSANWALT / Roses for the Public Prosecutor") must have fallen in love with the leading actress Giulietta Masina (1921-1994), who was awarded the Silver Palm in Cannes , literally fell in love with it. The producer of Berolina Film hired the wife of master director Federico Fellini for three films. "Jons and Erdme" based on a story from the "Lithuanian Stories" by Hermann Sudermann (1857-1928) was the first in this series. Although Sudermann is all but forgotten today, he was once so popular that even ACADEMY AWARD nominee Marlene Dietrich starred in a Hollywood film adaptation of his novel "Das Hohe Lied / Song of Songs" (1933).
"Jons and Erdme" is about the tragic love story of two outsiders (Masina and Carl Raddatz), who, as poor settlers in the swamps of Lithuania, have to fight for survival against the injustices of nature and human existence. This happens so forcefully and shockingly that one might think that Italian neorealismo was crossed with the tragedies of Soviet cinema. Absolutely unusual for a film from the West German film industry!
With 842,000 (source: InsideKino) tickets sold (distributed by Deutsche Film Hansa), the film, shot in Poland and in the Tempelhof film studio, did not exactly cause a sensation in the box office. But that doesn't matter at all. Director and GOLDEN GLOBE winner Victor Vicas (1918-1985), who also made "Two in a Million" with GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Hardy Krüger, has created an impressive film. The scenes of the storm surge hitting Jons and Erdme are particularly magnificent. Bergman's friend Göran Strindberg was at the camera, and the later Oscar winner Rolf Zehetbauer was responsible for the buildings.
And then the cast! In addition to Masina and Raddatz, Karin Baal as their daughter, Moby Dick star Richard Basehart (1914-1984) as Erdme's friendly neighbor and sensual lover, Agnes Fink as his ailing wife, Gert Fröbe, Berta Drews, Werner Peters, Siegfried Wischnewski as a quack doctor and Dietmar Schönherr as a soap manufacturer! Great! So much misery (that doesn't mean the excellent actors, but the plot!) on the screen that it breaks your heart!
Unfortunately, Kurt Ulrich's next film ("DAS KUNSTSEIDENE MÄDCHEN / The Artificial Silk Girl", 1960) with the great Giulietta Masina was not a box office hit either. There was no third film. Hildegard Knef then took on the role of pirate Jenny in the "Threepenny Opera" (1962).
Giulietta Masina's wonderful guest appearance in the German-speaking film industry has remained with us and should urgently be rediscovered.
