Der Kaiser von Kalifornien
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The Kaiser of California | |
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Directed by | Luis Trenker |
Screenplay by | Luis Trenker |
Starring | Luis Trenker |
Distributed by | Tobis Film |
Release date |
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Country | Germany |
Language | German |
Der Kaiser von Kalifornien (English: The Emperor of California), is a 1936 film that was the first western film made in Nazi Germany. Some exterior scenes were shot on location in the United States at Sedona, Arizona, the Grand Canyon and at Death Valley in California.
Plot[]
This article needs a plot summary. (June 2021) |
Cast[]
- Luis Trenker as Johann August Sutter
- Viktoria von Ballasko as Anna, seine Frau
- as Rudolf - beider Sohn
- as Emil - beider Sohn
- Elise Aulinger as Frau Dübol - Annas Mutter
- Bernhard Minetti as Der Fremde
- Hans Zesch-Ballot as Gouverneur Alvaredo
- Marcella Albani as Seine Frau
- Walter Franck Castro - sein Adjutant
- as Marshall (as Reginald Pasch)
- August Eichhorn as Harper
- as Ermatinger
- Paul Verhoeven as Barmixer Billy
- Melanie Horeschowsky as Amalie - Sutters Schwester (as Melanie Horeschovsky)
- Berta Drews as Chansonette
- Alexander Golling as Kewen - Bürgermeister von San Franzisko
- as Gerichtspräsident Thompson
- Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Bankier
- as Bankier (as Otto Stockel)
- Bruno Ziener as Bankier
- Josef Reithofer as Polizeirat
- Jakob Sinn as Wachtmeister
- Erich Dunskus as Smith, Casinobesitzer
- Armin Schweizer as Fuhrknecht
Production[]
The film follows the life story of Johann Augustus Sutter, the owner of Sutter's Mill, famous as the birthplace of the great California Gold Rush of 1849.
While the basic story of Sutter's life is retained, the producers inserted some notable changes reflecting the political environment of the film's creation: though Sutter was a Swiss-German, the film emphasizes his German ethnicity, and though he changed his name to John when he came to the United States, throughout the film he retains the name Johann.
The film opposes the "easy" money of gold-digging with the wealth and values created by hard work, as the California Gold Rush eventually destroys Sutter's fortunes and creates social disintegration and the loss of solidarity and companionship.
In the final scene the aged and impoverished Sutter is shown in Washington, D.C., where he has a vision of America's future industrial might, seeing a land full of skyscrapers and factories.
Unlike most American Westerns of the 1930s, The Emperor of California offers a sympathetic portrait of the Native Americans, whom Sutter respectfully befriends. In this it follows the Karl May tradition of German Western stories, which often featured noble Native Americans and German immigrants turned pioneers and gunmen.[citation needed]
The film was written and directed by the Tyrolean Luis Trenker, who also starred as Johann Sutter. Trenker had previously directed Der verlorene Sohn (The Prodigal Son, 1934), the story of an Alpine immigrant in New York City, which is the only other film produced in Nazi Germany with scenes photographed on location in the United States.
Awards[]
The film won the 1936 Mussolini Cup for best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival. It was screened as part of the "Venice Days" series at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in September 2011.
See also[]
External links[]
- 1936 films
- German-language films
- German films
- Films of Nazi Germany
- John Sutter
- Films directed by Luis Trenker
- 1930s biographical films
- 1936 Western (genre) films
- German biographical films
- German epic films
- German Western (genre) films
- Films about the California Gold Rush
- Films set in California
- Films shot in California
- Films shot in Arizona
- Films set in the 1840s
- German black-and-white films
- 1930s historical films
- German historical films
- Tobis Film films
- 1930s Western (genre) film stubs
- 1930s German film stubs