Atlantis (1913 film)
Encyclopedia
Atlantis is a 1913 Danish silent film directed by August Blom
, the head of production at the Nordisk Film
company, and was based upon the 1912 novel by Gerhart Hauptmann
. It starred an international cast headlined by Danish matinee actor Olaf Fønss
and Austrian opera diva Ida Orloff
. The film was the first Danish multi-reeled feature film. The story, which tells the tale of a doctor who travels to the United States in search of a cure for his ailing wife, includes the tragic sinking of an ocean liner after it strikes an object at sea. Released only one year after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the movie drew considerable attention as well as criticism due to similarities to the actual tragedy.
The high production costs for Atlantis were not equaled by box office returns at that time. However, the film went on to become the most watched film for Nordisk Film and has been hailed by film historian Erik Ulrichsen as a Danish masterpiece and "one of the first modern films."
), a surgeon, is devastated after his wife develops a brain disorder and is institutionalized. On the advice of his parents, von Kammacher leaves Denmark to gain some respite from his wife's illness. Von Kammacher travels to Berlin, where he meets a young dancer named Ingigerd (Ida Orloff
) and the doctor becomes fond of her and very interested in her. However she has a large amount of admirers and thus Von Kammacher gives up on her. However, while in Paris he sees an ad in the paper that she is going to New York with her father and decides to follow her. Von Kammacher buys a first ticket on the same liner as Ingigered, the SS Roland.
Aboard the ship, von Kammacher learns Ingigerd has a boyfriend with her and thus he backs down. Shortly after, he is called to treat a young Russian girl with seasickness and they nearly get romantically involved but class stops this from happening.
Halfway across the sea the Roland strikes an unseen object which causes massive flooding and dooms the ship. The passengers panic as the ship sinks into the Atlantic. Von Kammacher finds Ingigered passed out in her cabin from shock and carries her to a lifeboat. He goes back and searches in vain her father but when he cant find him, von Kammacher returns to the lifeboat and holds Ingigereds hand as the lifeboat pulls away. They watch in horror as the Roland sinks into the ocean. The liner sinks so rapidly that many of the lifeboats are never launched and several passengers are swept into the sea and drowned. By morning, only von Kammachers lifeboat is still floating (the rest having been swamped by swimmers) and 8 still alive. They are spotted by a cargo liner
and saved. Ingigerd is devastated when she is told that there are no more survivors and both her father and boyfriend have drowned.
Von Kammacher and Ingigerd arrive in New York and she is unable to continue with her career since she is still shocked over the Roland disaster. Von Kammacher tries to tell her that he loves her and wants a life with her in New York but she refuses to be tied down by one man. He gives up on her and they go their separate ways after she turns down his offer to live with him in New York. Von Kammacher is impressed by an art gallery and takes an interest in fine art. Through the artistic community, he is introduced to a kind and pleasant sculptress names Eva Burns, and they develop a friendship. A New York doctor, who is a friend of von Kammacher, offers him the use of a mountain cabin, where it is hoped that Friedrich will find some peace and solace. While he is in the mountains, a telegram from Denmark arrives in New York with information that von Kammacher's wife has died. Upon hearing the news, Friedrich falls critically ill. Eva takes it upon herself to tend to him in the mountain cabin. As she nurses him back to health, their relationship blossoms. Happiness returns to Friedrich's life as he realizes Eva will be a good mother for his children.
director Mihály Kertész
, who under the name Michael Curtiz
became one the most well-known Hollywood directors through films such as Casablanca
and White Christmas
. Curtiz also appeared in Atlantis in a small supporting role.
For the filming of the shipboard scenes, Nordisk Film chartered the Norwegian steamship C.F. Tietgen which had been taken out of service that year. However, the Atlantis sinking scene used a large scale model and about 500 extras as swimmers, and was filmed in the bay off Køge
, Denmark. Some sources claimed that the sinking ship scenes were inspired by the Titanic sinking. However, Blom based his filming entirely on the Gerhardt Hauptmann novel, Atlantis, which was published a month before the Titanic disaster. Nevertheless, due to the film’s release only one year after the Titanic sinking, Atlantis became associated with the Titanic. In Norway, the film was banned because authorities felt it was in poor taste to turn a tragedy into entertainment.
Blom filmed two endings for the movie—one happy and one tragic. The alternate tragic ending,in which the Doctor dies at the end, was made in particular for the Russian market. It was believed that the Russians had a preference for sad endings.
The other required actor was Carl Herman Unthan
(credited as Charles Unthan), a Prussian violinist who had been born without arms and learned to use his feet as hands. He played the role of Arthur Stoss, an armless virtuoso. Although his abilities were impressive, critics of Atlantis felt his appearance in the film was simply extraneous and non-integral to the story.
Another notable actor in Atlantis was Torben Meyer
who went on to a long Hollywood career as a comedic character actor, usually playing a thick-accented waiter or maitr'de. Some film historians have also spotted Danish comedian Carl Schenstrøm
, later the tall half of the Pat and Patachon comedy team, playing a waiter in the film. Although Schenstrøm was employed at Nordisk Film at the time, his participation has not been fully established.
in 1993 and in DVD
format in 2005. The restoration was created through a high definition scan of a restored negative and the tinting was recreated using an abbreviated version from The National Film Center in Japan
.
The restored version also was made with combined intertitles in Danish
and English
. Extra material on the DVD included the two-minute alternative ending originally filmed for Russian audiences and the 15-minute surviving fragment of August Blom’s and Holger-Madsen’s 1914 film Liebelei.
August Blom
August Blom was a Danish film director, production leader and pioneer of silent films during the "golden age" of Danish filmmaking from 1910 to 1914.-Career:...
, the head of production at the Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film , established in Denmark in 1906 by Danish filmmaker Ole Olsen, is the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world. Olsen started his company in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby under the name "Ole Olsen's Film Factory" but soon changed it to the Nordisk Film Kompagni...
company, and was based upon the 1912 novel by Gerhart Hauptmann
Gerhart Hauptmann
Gerhart Hauptmann was a German dramatist and novelist who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912.-Life and work:...
. It starred an international cast headlined by Danish matinee actor Olaf Fønss
Olaf Fønss
Olaf Fønss was a Danish actor, director, producer, film censor and one of Denmark and Germany's biggest stars of the silent film era.- Biography :...
and Austrian opera diva Ida Orloff
Ida Orloff
Ida Orloff was an Austrian actress of silent film and the stage. She starred in the classic Danish silent film Atlantis which was based upon the 1912 novel by Gerhardt Hauptmann...
. The film was the first Danish multi-reeled feature film. The story, which tells the tale of a doctor who travels to the United States in search of a cure for his ailing wife, includes the tragic sinking of an ocean liner after it strikes an object at sea. Released only one year after the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the movie drew considerable attention as well as criticism due to similarities to the actual tragedy.
The high production costs for Atlantis were not equaled by box office returns at that time. However, the film went on to become the most watched film for Nordisk Film and has been hailed by film historian Erik Ulrichsen as a Danish masterpiece and "one of the first modern films."
Plot
Dr. Friedrich von Kammacher (Olaf FønssOlaf Fønss
Olaf Fønss was a Danish actor, director, producer, film censor and one of Denmark and Germany's biggest stars of the silent film era.- Biography :...
), a surgeon, is devastated after his wife develops a brain disorder and is institutionalized. On the advice of his parents, von Kammacher leaves Denmark to gain some respite from his wife's illness. Von Kammacher travels to Berlin, where he meets a young dancer named Ingigerd (Ida Orloff
Ida Orloff
Ida Orloff was an Austrian actress of silent film and the stage. She starred in the classic Danish silent film Atlantis which was based upon the 1912 novel by Gerhardt Hauptmann...
) and the doctor becomes fond of her and very interested in her. However she has a large amount of admirers and thus Von Kammacher gives up on her. However, while in Paris he sees an ad in the paper that she is going to New York with her father and decides to follow her. Von Kammacher buys a first ticket on the same liner as Ingigered, the SS Roland.
Aboard the ship, von Kammacher learns Ingigerd has a boyfriend with her and thus he backs down. Shortly after, he is called to treat a young Russian girl with seasickness and they nearly get romantically involved but class stops this from happening.
Halfway across the sea the Roland strikes an unseen object which causes massive flooding and dooms the ship. The passengers panic as the ship sinks into the Atlantic. Von Kammacher finds Ingigered passed out in her cabin from shock and carries her to a lifeboat. He goes back and searches in vain her father but when he cant find him, von Kammacher returns to the lifeboat and holds Ingigereds hand as the lifeboat pulls away. They watch in horror as the Roland sinks into the ocean. The liner sinks so rapidly that many of the lifeboats are never launched and several passengers are swept into the sea and drowned. By morning, only von Kammachers lifeboat is still floating (the rest having been swamped by swimmers) and 8 still alive. They are spotted by a cargo liner
Cargo liner
A Cargo liner is a type of merchant ship which carried general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the nineteenth century, and eventually gave way to container ships and other more specialized carriers in the latter half of the twentieth...
and saved. Ingigerd is devastated when she is told that there are no more survivors and both her father and boyfriend have drowned.
Von Kammacher and Ingigerd arrive in New York and she is unable to continue with her career since she is still shocked over the Roland disaster. Von Kammacher tries to tell her that he loves her and wants a life with her in New York but she refuses to be tied down by one man. He gives up on her and they go their separate ways after she turns down his offer to live with him in New York. Von Kammacher is impressed by an art gallery and takes an interest in fine art. Through the artistic community, he is introduced to a kind and pleasant sculptress names Eva Burns, and they develop a friendship. A New York doctor, who is a friend of von Kammacher, offers him the use of a mountain cabin, where it is hoped that Friedrich will find some peace and solace. While he is in the mountains, a telegram from Denmark arrives in New York with information that von Kammacher's wife has died. Upon hearing the news, Friedrich falls critically ill. Eva takes it upon herself to tend to him in the mountain cabin. As she nurses him back to health, their relationship blossoms. Happiness returns to Friedrich's life as he realizes Eva will be a good mother for his children.
Production
Due to the large number of cast, extras, and locations, and the amount of equipment, Blom took the unusual step of employing two assistant directors for filming. The first was Robert Dinesen who later had his own successful career as a director with Nordisk Film in Denmark and Germany. The second assistant was the young HungarianHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
director Mihály Kertész
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
, who under the name Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
became one the most well-known Hollywood directors through films such as Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
and White Christmas
White Christmas
A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...
. Curtiz also appeared in Atlantis in a small supporting role.
For the filming of the shipboard scenes, Nordisk Film chartered the Norwegian steamship C.F. Tietgen which had been taken out of service that year. However, the Atlantis sinking scene used a large scale model and about 500 extras as swimmers, and was filmed in the bay off Køge
Køge
Køge Municipality is a municipality in Region Sjælland on the east coast of the island of Zealand approx. 40 km. southwest of Copenhagen. The municipality covers an area of 255 km² , and has a total population of 56,637...
, Denmark. Some sources claimed that the sinking ship scenes were inspired by the Titanic sinking. However, Blom based his filming entirely on the Gerhardt Hauptmann novel, Atlantis, which was published a month before the Titanic disaster. Nevertheless, due to the film’s release only one year after the Titanic sinking, Atlantis became associated with the Titanic. In Norway, the film was banned because authorities felt it was in poor taste to turn a tragedy into entertainment.
Blom filmed two endings for the movie—one happy and one tragic. The alternate tragic ending,in which the Doctor dies at the end, was made in particular for the Russian market. It was believed that the Russians had a preference for sad endings.
Cast
Because his original story was partly autobiographical, Hauptmann's contract with Nordisk Film required two roles be acted by the actual people who were their inspiration. A letter from Nordisk Film to Fred A. Talbot of England explained, "...the part of "Ingigerd" and the armless virtuoso "Arthur Stoss" were played by the very same persons, who where, so to speak, used as models by Gerhart Hauptmann, when he wrote his famous novel. These two artists, Miss Ida Orloff and Mr. C. Unthan (these are their real names) were his traveling companions on the trip across the Atlantic." Orloff had had a romantic relationship with Hauptmann beginning several years earlier when she was a 16-year-old cabaret dancer. Reviewers of Atlantis criticized the choice of Orloff because, by the time of filming, she was no longer a svelte athletic dancer who could embody the eroticism of the part. Nevertheless, Nordisk Films had been forced to cast her.The other required actor was Carl Herman Unthan
Carl Herman Unthan
Carl Hermann Unthan was a Prussian-born violinist who was born without arms.Unthan's father was a teacher who insisted he not be "coddled". Whether this was the reason or not, Carl reportedly could feed himself at two and around the age of ten is said to have taught himself to play the violin by...
(credited as Charles Unthan), a Prussian violinist who had been born without arms and learned to use his feet as hands. He played the role of Arthur Stoss, an armless virtuoso. Although his abilities were impressive, critics of Atlantis felt his appearance in the film was simply extraneous and non-integral to the story.
Another notable actor in Atlantis was Torben Meyer
Torben Meyer
Torben Emil Meyer was a Danish character actor who appeared in over 190 films in a 55-year career.-Early career:...
who went on to a long Hollywood career as a comedic character actor, usually playing a thick-accented waiter or maitr'de. Some film historians have also spotted Danish comedian Carl Schenstrøm
Carl Schenstrøm
Karl Georg Harald Schenstrøm was a Danish stage and film actor of the silent era in Denmark. He worked under directors such as August Blom and Lau Lauritzen Sr..- External links:**...
, later the tall half of the Pat and Patachon comedy team, playing a waiter in the film. Although Schenstrøm was employed at Nordisk Film at the time, his participation has not been fully established.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Olaf Fønss Olaf Fønss Olaf Fønss was a Danish actor, director, producer, film censor and one of Denmark and Germany's biggest stars of the silent film era.- Biography :... |
Dr. Friedrich von Kammacher |
| Ida Orloff Ida Orloff Ida Orloff was an Austrian actress of silent film and the stage. She starred in the classic Danish silent film Atlantis which was based upon the 1912 novel by Gerhardt Hauptmann... |
Ingigerd Hahlstroem, artistic danser |
| Ebba Thomsen Ebba Thomsen Ebba Thomsen was a Danish actress during the golden era of silent films in Denmark. Thomsen was best known for her roles as the elegant leading lady opposite the Danish matinee idol Valdemar Psilander.-Life and career:... |
Eva Burns, sculptress |
| Carl Lauritzen Carl Lauritzen Carl Lauritzen , was a Danish actor. He appeared in 15 films between 1912 and 1920.-External links:... |
Dr. Schmidt |
| Frederik Jacobsen Frederik Jacobsen Frederik Jacobsen , was a Danish actor. He appeared in 27 films between 1911 and 1923.-External links:... |
Dr. Georg Rasmussen |
| Charles Unthan Carl Herman Unthan Carl Hermann Unthan was a Prussian-born violinist who was born without arms.Unthan's father was a teacher who insisted he not be "coddled". Whether this was the reason or not, Carl reportedly could feed himself at two and around the age of ten is said to have taught himself to play the violin by... |
Arthur Stoss, armless virtuoso |
| Torben Meyer Torben Meyer Torben Emil Meyer was a Danish character actor who appeared in over 190 films in a 55-year career.-Early career:... |
Willy Snyders, artist |
| Cajus Bruun | Friedrich's Father |
| Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész... |
Hans Fuellenberg, Friedrich's Colleague (credited as Mihály Kertész Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész... ) |
| Marie Dinesen | Friedrich's Mother |
| Lily Frederiksen | Angle', Friedrich's Wife |
| Thomas P. Hejle | Office Worker |
| Alma Hinding | Russian Immigrant |
| Musse Kornbech | Young Canadian Woman |
| Sven Kombach | Ship's Captain |
| Bertel Krause | Artist's Agent |
| Emilie Otterdahl | Lady at Fancy Dress Ball |
| Albrecht Schmidt Albrecht Schmidt Albrecht Schmidt was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 13 films between 1911 and 1941.He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark.-Filmography:* Skæbnebæltet * Morfinisten * Atlantis... |
Eva's Father |
| Christian Schrøder Christian Schrøder Christian Schrøder was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 30 films between 1912 and 1940.He was born in Middelfart, Denmark and died in Denmark.-Selected filmography:* Atlantis... |
Ingigerd's Father |
| Franz Skondrup | Stoss's Waiter/Helper |
| Alfred Stigaard | Crewman Wilhelm |
Restored version
Atlantis was restored and released on laserdiscLaserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
in 1993 and in DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
format in 2005. The restoration was created through a high definition scan of a restored negative and the tinting was recreated using an abbreviated version from The National Film Center in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The restored version also was made with combined intertitles in Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Extra material on the DVD included the two-minute alternative ending originally filmed for Russian audiences and the 15-minute surviving fragment of August Blom’s and Holger-Madsen’s 1914 film Liebelei.