Atlantis (1913 film)

Infobox Film
name = Atlantis


image_size = 200px
caption = 1913 Movie Poster by Aage Lund
director = August Blom
producer =
writer = Karl Ludvig Schroder Axel Garde Gerhart Hauptmann (book)
narrator =
starring = Olaf Fønss
Ida Orloff
music =
cinematography = Johan Ankerstjerne
editing =
distributor = Nordisk Film Kompagni
released = December 26, 1913
runtime = 113 min
country = flagicon|Denmark Denmark
language = silent film
1993 re-release Danish intertitles
English Iintertitles
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:84095
imdb_id = 0002646

"Atlantis", (1913), is a melodramatic silent film from Denmark that was the first multi-reeled Danish feature movie. It was directed by August Blom, the head of production at the Nordisk Film company, and was based upon the 1912 novel by Gerhart Hauptmann, winner of the 1912 Nobel Prize. The film starred an international cast headlined by Danish matinee idol Olaf Fønss and Austrian opera diva Ida Orloff.

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 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." [cite book
last = Ulrichsen
first = Erik
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Introduction to Atlantis
publisher = Det Danske Filmmuseet
year = 1958
location = Copenhagen
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ]

Plot

Dr. Friedrich von Kammacher (Olaf Fønss), 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 becomes romantically involved. The pair leave for New York and board an ocean liner. The ship, the "SS Atlantis", steams at record speed. The distinct class division aboard ship scenes becomes apparent through several on-board stories. Von Kammacher falls in love with a poor Russian emigrant in Third Class and divides his attention between her and Ingigerd.

Halfway across the sea the "Atlantis" strikes an unseen object which causes massive flooding and dooms the ship. The passengers panic as the ship sinks into the Atlantic. Von Kammacher saves both Ingigerd and his other lover, then climbs into the last lifeboat. After drifting for hours, a passing freighter rescues the survivors.

Von Kammacher and Ingigerd arrive in New York and she continues with her career. 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 pleasnt sculptress names Eva Burns, and they develop a friendship. After a talented actor named Arthur Floss gets Ingigerd into big-time show business, Von Kammacher says goodbye to her. 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.cite web |url=http://www.stumfilm.no/blom_biografi.html |title="August Blom" |format= |work=Stumfilm |accessdate=2008-06-20] 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 Hungarian 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. Pedersen, Sune Christian, [http://www.teponia.dk/museumsposten/index.php?artikelid=128 "The Titanic Myth"] , Post & Tele Museum of Denmark, 3rd Quarterly, (2001)] 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. [cite web |title = Atlantis | publisher = Det Danske Filminstitut | url = http://dnfx.dfi.dk/pls/dnf/pwt.page_setup?p_pagename=dnffuldvis&p_parmlist=filmid=15866 | accessdate =2008-05-17 ]

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 acrosssic 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 (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. [cite web |url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:84095 |title=Atlantis > Overview |format= |work= All Movie Guide |accessdate=2008-06-20]

Restored Version

"Atlantis" was restored and released on laserdisc 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. [cite web
title=Atlantis DVD
publisher=Det Danske Filminstitut
url=http://dfishop.filerelay.com/Shop/ItemList.php?CategoriSelect=6
accessdate=2008-05-21] The restored version also was made with combined intertitles in Danish and English. Extra material on the DVD included the 2-minute alternative ending originally filmed for Russian audiences and the 15-minute surviving fragment of August Blom’s and Holger-Madsen’s film "Liebelei" from 1914.

Notes

External links

*
* [http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews23/atlantis.htm August Blom's Atlantis on DVD]
* [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:84095 "Atlantis" at All Movie Guide]