Thesis Chapters by Hemma Marlene Prainsack
Catalogo GCM, 2023
„You’ll notice we have a great deal of escapist adventure films and comedies this year: great tim... more „You’ll notice we have a great deal of escapist adventure films and comedies this year: great timing! One of the most ample series is dedicated to Harry Piel, the German producer- director-actor whose star was on such a global scale that a 1922 poll in Brazil’s Jornal do Recife ranked him Number 10 in the list of “most sympathetic” performers (ahead of Norma Talmadge!), and Number 8 in the list of “greatest artists.” Piel was the German Douglas Fairbanks, an artist who made daredevilry seem like child’s play, with an ebullient personality whose charm matched his bravura. Yet because he never worked within the pantheon of recognized auteurs, and made films that were wildly popular with the public, he’s been relegated to the margins of film history; thanks to Andreas Thein, head of collections at the Filmmuseum Düsseldorf, together with the scholar Hemma Marlene Prainsack, Piel can finally resume his spot as a box-office king.“
Jay Weissberg, Direttore Giornate del Cinema Muto
Catalogo GCM2023
Die Zukunft, 2022
Der Beitrag von HEMMA MARLENE PRAINSACK geht von einem der bekanntesten Filme Jean-Luc Godards au... more Der Beitrag von HEMMA MARLENE PRAINSACK geht von einem der bekanntesten Filme Jean-Luc Godards aus, um mit Die Verachtung (F 1963) und im Blick auf Fritz Lang die Geschichte(n) des Kinos von Beginn an vor Augen zu führen.
The story of the RMS Titanic and herits tragic end remains an object of unbroken fascination – f... more The story of the RMS Titanic and herits tragic end remains an object of unbroken fascination – from that night of April 14, 1912 to the present day. Ever since the luxury liner has gone down to the bottom of the Atlantic, the story has been the subject of an endless row of novels, films, and research efforts, – narrations and re-narrations.
In Nazi Germany, three authors wrote about the sinking of the Titanic within just a few years. The novel of the Austrian writer Josef Pelz von Felinau was chosen by the Ministry of Propaganda to provide the basis of a feature film script.
Significant changes to the historic course of events were made – why the plot was rewritten and what purpose these changes had in order to spread anti-British NS-propaganda is the starting point of this thesis. The main focus of this thesis lies on the production of the film Titanic. Director Herbert Selpin, who was at the height of his film career, was signed on to direct this epic. Within this thesis, his career and its tragic ending is used as an example to illustrate the conditions and challenges which the German film industry and their creative talents had to face in the Third Reich.
Production on Titanic was completed at the end of February 1943. Shortly thereafter, the German Filmprüfstelle (Board of Censors) awarded the film with two ratings. Nonetheless, the film was kept out of cinemas in Germany even though the film was successfully shown in countries occupied by Germany. After months of being shelved, Titanic was officially banned in Germany at the end of 1944. In the same year, the Titanic novel by Josef Pelz von Felinau was published in an expanded version and showed some significant changes to the first version of the book. What were the reasons for this film ban? This thesis seeks to present answers to this question and traces the conditions for filmmakers in the Third Reich.
Papers by Hemma Marlene Prainsack
Die Zukunft, 2021
Using the German feature film production Titanic from 1942/43 as an example, this article elabora... more Using the German feature film production Titanic from 1942/43 as an example, this article elaborates on the significance of film for the Nazi regime of terror and, conversely, shows the influence and impact of National Socialist film policy on filmmaking in the Third Reich. The unprecedented production history of Titanic and its director Herbert Selpin provide a remarkable picture of conditions within the cultural industry, about censorship decisions, power relations, and influence in a dictatorship and so called egalitarian society. Likewise, the history of the film's creation offers insights into the abstruse anti-British propaganda intentions of the Nazi leadership.
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Thesis Chapters by Hemma Marlene Prainsack
Jay Weissberg, Direttore Giornate del Cinema Muto
Catalogo GCM2023
In Nazi Germany, three authors wrote about the sinking of the Titanic within just a few years. The novel of the Austrian writer Josef Pelz von Felinau was chosen by the Ministry of Propaganda to provide the basis of a feature film script.
Significant changes to the historic course of events were made – why the plot was rewritten and what purpose these changes had in order to spread anti-British NS-propaganda is the starting point of this thesis. The main focus of this thesis lies on the production of the film Titanic. Director Herbert Selpin, who was at the height of his film career, was signed on to direct this epic. Within this thesis, his career and its tragic ending is used as an example to illustrate the conditions and challenges which the German film industry and their creative talents had to face in the Third Reich.
Production on Titanic was completed at the end of February 1943. Shortly thereafter, the German Filmprüfstelle (Board of Censors) awarded the film with two ratings. Nonetheless, the film was kept out of cinemas in Germany even though the film was successfully shown in countries occupied by Germany. After months of being shelved, Titanic was officially banned in Germany at the end of 1944. In the same year, the Titanic novel by Josef Pelz von Felinau was published in an expanded version and showed some significant changes to the first version of the book. What were the reasons for this film ban? This thesis seeks to present answers to this question and traces the conditions for filmmakers in the Third Reich.
Papers by Hemma Marlene Prainsack
Jay Weissberg, Direttore Giornate del Cinema Muto
Catalogo GCM2023
In Nazi Germany, three authors wrote about the sinking of the Titanic within just a few years. The novel of the Austrian writer Josef Pelz von Felinau was chosen by the Ministry of Propaganda to provide the basis of a feature film script.
Significant changes to the historic course of events were made – why the plot was rewritten and what purpose these changes had in order to spread anti-British NS-propaganda is the starting point of this thesis. The main focus of this thesis lies on the production of the film Titanic. Director Herbert Selpin, who was at the height of his film career, was signed on to direct this epic. Within this thesis, his career and its tragic ending is used as an example to illustrate the conditions and challenges which the German film industry and their creative talents had to face in the Third Reich.
Production on Titanic was completed at the end of February 1943. Shortly thereafter, the German Filmprüfstelle (Board of Censors) awarded the film with two ratings. Nonetheless, the film was kept out of cinemas in Germany even though the film was successfully shown in countries occupied by Germany. After months of being shelved, Titanic was officially banned in Germany at the end of 1944. In the same year, the Titanic novel by Josef Pelz von Felinau was published in an expanded version and showed some significant changes to the first version of the book. What were the reasons for this film ban? This thesis seeks to present answers to this question and traces the conditions for filmmakers in the Third Reich.