Paul Korner is a homosexual musician who falls in love with his protégé Kurt. Unfortunately, the two are seen walking hand in hand by the blackmailer Franz. Though Paul agrees to Franz’s demands at first, it gets out of hand and he ends up refusing to pay which has dire consequences for the lovers.

Quote:
Many thousands of homosexual men in Germany were sentenced to prison terms of up to five years under Paragraph 175 of the Penal Code. Enacted in 1871, with the creation of the modern German nation, this law against “unnatural vice between men” was toughened in the Nazi era and later liberalized in East and West Germany, but not fully repealed until 1994.

The law was challenged as early as 1897 by the German homosexual emancipation movement, the first such initiative worldwide. Its leader, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), held that homosexuals constituted a biological “third sex,” a social minority unjustly subjected to discrimination.

Hirschfeld argued that Paragraph 175 did far less to prevent the victimless crime of homosexuality than to promote the crime of extortion. For each homosexual prosecuted under the law, another 100 were victimized by blackmailers.

During World War I, director Richard Oswald (1880-1963) began collaborating with Hirschfield and other sexologists to produce a series of widely hailed “enlightenment films” aiming at sexual education. They dealt with such issues as venereal disease, prostitution, and abortion, embedded in a storyline that included counseling by a sage physician.

Following the war, censorship was temporarily lifted in all German media, opening a window of opportunity for filmmakers. Early in 1919, Hirschfeld and Oswald collaborated on Different from the Others (Paragraph 175), the world’s first film to deal explicitly with homosexuality.

Within a year, German studios had released some 150 feature films with sexual themes. Many of these “enlightenment films” were lurid and exploitative, but also commercially successful. The outcry they provoked led to the reintroduction of film censorship. At the center of controversy was Different from the Others, which was banned in 1920 and survives today only as a fragment.

Different.from.the.Others.1919.WEB-DL.x264.AAC.mkv

General
Container:	Matroska
Runtime:	48mn 15s
Size:	689 MiB
DXVA:	Compatible
Minimum settings:	Not met
Video
Codec:	x264
Resolution:	1280x720
Aspect ratio:	16:9
Frame rate:	29.970 fps
Bit rate:	1 739 Kbps
Audio
2.0ch AAC @ 253 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/5572CAF42BEA88C/Different.from.the.Others.1919.WEB-DL.x264.AAC.mkv

Language(s):English Intertitles
Subtitles:None

The post Richard Oswald – Anders als die Andern AKA Different from the Others (1919) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

A poet is hired by the owner of a wax museum in a circus to write tales about Harun al Raschid, Ivan the Terrible and Jack the Ripper. While writing, the poet and the daughter of the owner, Eva, fantasize the fantastic stories and fall in love for each other.

Waxworks (1924) BDRIP 576p x264 AC3 KJNU.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 21 min
Size: 	2.18 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	768x576 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	17.982 fps
Bit rate: 	3 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.377
Audio
#1:  	zxx 5.1ch AC-3 @ 640 kb/s
#2:  	English 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s (Commentary with Australian film and arts critic Adrian Martin)

https://nitro.download/view/42B3A837C702822/Waxworks_(1924)_BDRIP_576p_x264_AC3_KJNU.mkv

Language(s):English Intertitles
Subtitles:None

The post Leo Birinsky & Paul Leni – Das Wachsfigurenkabinett AKA Waxworks (1924) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

For Balduin, going out to beer parties with his fellow students and fighting out disputes at the tip of the sword have lost their charms. He wants to find love; but how would he, a penniless student, ever dare looking up to any woman worth of loving? Absorbed in his dreary thoughts and indifferent to the advances of Lyduschka, Balduin is unexpectedly offered a fortune by the mysterious money-lender Scapinelli – but on a strange condition…

The.Student.of.Prague.1926.WEBRIP.576p.x264.AAC.KJNU.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	2 h 13 min
Size: 	3.04 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	762x576 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	24.000 fps
Bit rate: 	3 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.285
Audio
#1:  	zxx 2.0ch AAC LC @ 253 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/CBA4CC01D3C83AF/The.Student.of.Prague.1926.WEBRIP.576p.x264.AAC.KJNU.mkv

Language(s):German Intertitles
Subtitles:English

The post Henrik Galeen – Der Student von Prag AKA The Student of Prague (1926) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

After explosion in factory, the two brothers Wenzel and Michael start a new life. Wenzel gets rich on the stock market, Michael builds a settlement colony for the unemployed. Tragedy begins when Wenzel chooses the wrong woman.

BRUDERSCHELLENBERG.avi

General
Container:	AVI
Runtime:	1h 21mn
Size:	957 MiB
Video
Codec:	XviD
Resolution:	640x480
Aspect ratio:	4:3
Frame rate:	29.970 fps
Bit rate:	1 501 Kbps
Audio
2.0ch MP3 @ 128 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/F3B96742C803032/BRUDERSCHELLENBERG.avi

Language(s):Silent
Subtitles:English Intertitles

The post Karl Grune – Die Brüder Schellenberg aka Two Brothers (1926) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

In his autobiography Michael Powell described Contraband as “all pure corn, but corn served up by professionals, and it worked” . This is perhaps how audiences have most often approached Contraband, as a slight piece of British World War II propaganda with entertaining asides of comedy and romance; charming and well-made but little more. Beyond this a rating as a minor imitation of Powell’s great rival Hitchcock might be bestowed, even if for little reason other than its concern with spies. But unlike Hitchcock, the cool observer, Powell was always a hot-headed rebel, and as such his views on war, whether between nations or the sexes, are more unconventional.

Ostensibly the film serves as an explanation of role of British Contraband Control and the blackout conditions (Blackout was the name given to the film on its American release) in the early stages of the war. Featuring Conrad Veidt as its main hero (Captain Andersen, a ship’s captain and Danish neutral), the film questions neutrality as a position taken by nations and individuals in the war. And yet, Andersen’s willingness to subvert and avoid all manner of British law enforcement and military personnel in his search for Nazi spies does not exactly send a message of institutional respect. Add to these elements Veidt’s clear German accent, his key place in the history of German cinema (as the star of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1919), the film’s series of nods to another great of German cinema, Fritz Lang (a secretary in the film is even named Lang), and one may begin to question just what is being propagandised here?

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (they weren’t quite The Archers yet, but Contraband marked Powell’s second teaming with his émigré screenwriter) would later get into considerable trouble with Churchill on The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), when they suggested that not all Germans were bad, and that traditional British codes of honour were meaningless in fighting such a ruthless enemy as the Nazis. Britain had to fight dirty, they essentially argued. These theories are also propagated by Contraband, if in a somewhat undercooked fashion. So Veidt fights dirty as he tracks down the Nazis – beating up some British officers in his quest – while the meta-cinema of Contraband (mentioned above) clearly shows an affection for a lost Germany.

After the completion of one day’s shooting, Powell reflected on the humanist qualities and “league of nations” resonances of the film’s making:

That evening, at the Ramsgate Hotel, I could hardly believe my eyes as I looked around the crowded lounge. The bar was doing a brisk business, and our crew, including Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson and Esmond [Knight], were hobnobbing with the Royal Navy and The Royal Navy Reserve, and the Royal Volunteer Reserve, all very much on deck. Connie and Valerie had the biggest crowd around them, asking what it was like to be a film star, and telling them what a wonderful job they had done in The Spy in Black. Connie had been granted British citizenship the year before, but here in another group was [set designer] Alfred Junge, an enemy alien (for although he had been in England continuously for fifteen years, he had never taken out naturalization papers). Yet here he was, holding forth to a circle of admiring senior officers on how you design a motion picture, and asking searching questions about Ramsgate and Contraband Control, which should have got him interned for the rest of the war. Emeric, another enemy alien, was seated at a table with the Chief Constable of the country, expounding the script and explaining how we cut between studio and real exteriors. I rubbed my eyes and marveled. The mighty names of London Films and Alexander Korda had helped, of course, and everyone here had seen, The Lion Has Wings and The Spy in Black. But it couldn’t possibly last. Such openness and enthusiasm, and such innocence!

This may help account for the political rebelliousness of Powell’s cinema, but what of its sexually subversive qualities? Veidt and Hobson have a peculiar on-screen chemistry, akin to that of the warring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940). Hobson’s Mrs. Sorensen is divorced, and certain aspects of philosopher Stanley Cavell’s conception of the “Comedy of Remarriage” can be applied to her romance with Veidt’s Captain . Though Andersen is not her ex-husband (a general requirement of Cavell’s model), their backgrounds do allow them to be much more frank and cosmopolitan in their approach to sex (one of Cavell’s key conclusions). There is a teasing maturity to their romance, sprinkled with hints of sado-masochism.

Early in the film, Andersen remarks of Mrs. Sorensen, “When I saw her come aboard I knew we were in for trouble.” His second in command replies, “Did you, sir?” “Not that I don’t like them that way”, finishes Veidt. When Mrs. Sorensen refuses to wear a life jacket, Andersen states, “Mrs. Sorensen, have you ever been put in irons? No – I thought not. You would find it more uncomfortable than wearing a life jacket.” When Andersen and Mrs. Sorensen find themselves tied up together, a rough, even violent sexual metaphor is provided: Mrs. Sorensen has to push on her ropes in order to help slacken his, and thus ease Andersen’s escape. As she induces pain in herself through quietly orgasmic sighs, Veidt’s response is an equally orgasmic – “good girl”.

Conventional gender roles are also somewhat reversed as the two characters chase Nazis throughout blacked-out, nighttime London. Andersen is without financial means throughout his sojourn in the capital and Mrs. Sorensen “pays” for most of their “date”. She is an equal provider for and protector of the man.

Overall, Contraband provides delight, charm and fun, with the kind of devious subtext fans of Powell and Pressburger have come to expect. By the movie’s end, with Veidt declaring “I’ve had enough trouble because of you and I fancy I shall have more”, we seem to have been provided with an apt prediction of the horrors and heroics Britain was about to face. The fact that such a viewpoint, well after the defeat of European Fascism, still holds attraction bears well on Powell and Pressburger’s decision to anchor it to sex as well.

© Alexander C. Ives, June 2005

Contraband (1940).mkv

General
Container:	Matroska
Runtime:	1h 27mn
Size:	1.19 GiB
DXVA:	Compatible
Minimum settings:	Met
Video
Codec:	x264
Resolution:	704x512
Frame rate:	29.970 fps
Bit rate:	1 756 Kbps
Audio
English 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/C845AAA820995A8/Contraband_(1940).mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English,French

Thanks to @Vincent fort this copy..

The post Michael Powell – Contraband (1940) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Synopsis:
‘When a German U-Boat captain is sent on a spying mission to the North of Scotland during World War One, he finds more than he bargained for in his contact, the local schoolmistress.’
– Ian Harries

‘For his first project at Alexander Korda’s London Films, Michael Powell was introduced to young Hungarian screenwriter Emeric Pressburger for this World War I drama. The pairing was a propitious one – The Spy in Black was a hit both here and in the US (under the name U-Boat 29), and one of the most successful partnerships in British cinema was born.
Released on the eve of World War II in August 1939, The Spy in Black makes an interesting contrast with the later 49th Parallel (1941), made as an unambiguous propaganda film. Although both feature a U-boat commander as a villain, Captain Hardt (Conrad Veidt) is a very different character to his counterpart in 49th Parallel, Lieut. Hirth (Eric Portman). The film goes to some lengths to humanise him in the early part of the film, showing his easy friendship with his colleague Schuster (Marius Goring), and he is altogether a more honourable German.
Filmed in the Orkneys, The Spy in Black marked Powell’s second visit to the Scottish islands, following his breakthrough film Edge of the World (1937). He was already completely in love with their bleak beauty, and he was back again a few years later to film “I Know Where I’m Going!” (1945).
By now, Powell was almost a veteran – Spy was his twenty-sixth film as director – but this was his first major project, and the light touch and confidence he displayed is surprising. Notably, the minor characters are rounded, believable and treated with respect, quite different from the crude caricatures common in British films of the period, and a step forward from the more stereotyped Welsh villagers in Powell’s earlier The Phantom Light (1935).
In one particularly impressive sequence, in which Hardt makes his way past patrolling guards to establish contact with the ‘schoolmistress’ who he believes to be his ally, Powell showed a rare ability to blend humour and suspense, a gift most commonly associated with Hitchcock, whose position as undisputed master of British cinema was now vacant following his departure for Hollywood.
The starstruck Powell and Pressburger were thrilled to be working with a hero of the German cinema, Conrad Veidt, star of the expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Das Cabinett des Dr Caligari, Germany, d. Robert Weine, 1919). A strong cast also included Valerie Hobson, June Duprez and Marius Goring; all would work with Powell again.’
– Mark Duguid

The.Spy.in.Black (1939).mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1h 18mn
Size: 	1.23 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1440x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	25.000 fps
Bit rate: 	2 151 Kbps
BPP: 	0.055
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AAC LC @ 94 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/AB4FF91642EA8BA/The.Spy.in.Black_(1939).mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English

thanks to @Vincent for this copy

The post Michael Powell – The Spy in Black (1939) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

In ancient Bagdad, the young prince Ahmad (John Justin) is betrayed, deposed, and imprisoned by his vizier Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), an evil and calculating man who is also a master of the Black Arts. But Ahmad is saved from prison, and certain execution, by Abu (Sabu), a young thief who has made his way in life by stealing whatever he needs. Together they escape from Bagdad and make their way to the port city of Basra, where they hope to sign to sail with the renowned sailor Sinbad. But Ahmad chances to catch a glimpse of the daughter (June Duprez) of the Sultan (Miles Malleson, who also co-wrote the screenplay), and falls hopelessly in love with her. Sneaking into the garden where she spends most of her days, she meets him and the two are bound together forever in that moment, he the first man she has ever seen, and she the most beautiful woman he has ever beheld. But no sooner have they declared their love for each other then Jaffar arrives in Basra, seeking the princess’ hand in marriage — and to secure the blessing of her father, a fanatical collector of toys, he offers the aging Sultan a fantastic mechanical flying horse that bears him into the clouds at will. The sultan agrees to the marriage, but the princess flees the city. Abu and Ahmad are captured and before either can tell the sultan of their plight, Jaffar works his magic, leaving Ahmad blind and transforming Abu into a dog — conditions that will remain until he holds the princess in his arms.

	
The.Thief.of.Bagdad.1940.BDRIP.576p.x264.AC3.KJNU.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 46 min
Size: 	2.37 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	788x576 
Aspect ratio:  	4:3
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	3 000 kb/s
BPP: 	0.276
Audio
#1:  	English 1.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/A013D2139D77605/The.Thief.of.Bagdad.1940.BDRIP.NEW.576p.x264.AC3.KJNU.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English SDH

The post Ludwig Berger & Michael Powell & Tim Whelan & Alexander Korda & Zoltan Korda & William Cameron Menzies – The Thief of Bagdad (1940) first appeared on Cinema of the World.