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German postcard by H.S.K.-Verlag, Kölm (Cologne), no. 505. Photo: Paramount. Ray Milland in Copper Canyon (John Farrow, 1950).
British actor and director Ray Milland (1905-1986) had a screen career that ran from 1929 to 1985. He appeared in many Hollywood movies as the archetypal, unflappable British gentleman. Milland is best remembered for his gut-wrenching, Academy Award-winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend (1945), for the murder-plotting husband in Dial M for Murder (1954), and as Oliver Barrett III in Love Story (1970).
Ray Milland was born Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones on a mountain called Cymla, above the town of Neath in Wales in 1905. Milland was the son of Alfred Jones and Elizabeth Annie (née Truscott). As a child, he took the name of his stepfather, Mullane, and was known in his early career as Jack Mullane. He later took his stage name Raymond Milland from the flat area of land called the mill lands in Neath, which he remembered fondly from his youth. In 1925, Milland enlisted as a guardsman with the Royal Household Cavalry in London. As part of his training, he became skilled in fencing, boxing, horsemanship and marksmanship. An expert shot, he became a member of his company's rifle team, winning many prestigious competitions, including the Bisley Match in England. When his duty service was completed in 1928, Milland stumbled into acting when a British filmmaker spotted him at a party and offered the 22-year-old a bit part in the romance The Plaything (Castleton Knight, 1929). More small and big roles in the British cinema and on stage followed. Among his British films were the silent ‘backstage’ drama Piccadilly (Ewald André Dupont, 1929) starring Anna May Wong, the adventure The Flying Scotsman (Castleton Knight, 1929) and the drama The Informer (Arthur Robison, 1929). Raymond Milland was discovered by a Hollywood talent scout while performing on the stage in London, and travelled to America under a short-term contract with MGM. MGM shortened his first name to Ray and continued casting the acting novice in minor supporting roles. MGM agreed to loan him out for more substantial parts in Will Rogers' Ambassador Bill (Sam Taylor, 1931) at Fox in which he tries to overthrow the boy-king of a fictional European country, and Warner Bros.' Blonde Crazy (Roy Del Ruth, 1931) in which he competes with con-artist James Cagney for Joan Blondell's affections.
When his contract with MGM expired, Ray Milland bounced around taking whatever roles he could get, including a supporting part in Fox's Charlie Chan in London (Eugene J. Forde, 1934). He returned to England for roles in This Is the Life (Albert de Courville, 1933) with Gordon Harker and the comedy Orders is Orders (Walter Forde, 1934), a satire on Hollywood movie-making. Finally, based on the strength of two films he made with Carole Lombard - Bolero (Wesley Ruggles, 1934) and We’re Not Dressing (Norman Taurog, 1934) - as well as the endorsement of his leading lady, Paramount Pictures signed Milland to a long-term contract. He would remain with the studio for some twenty years. Charming and debonair, he can be seen as suave, self-assured romantic leading man in a number of excellent drawing-room comedies, mysteries and adventures, including The Big Broadcast of 1937 (Mitchell Leisen, 1936), The Jungle Princess (William Thiele, 1936) featuring Dorothy Lamour, Beau Geste (William Wellman, 1939) with Gary Cooper, and I Wanted Wings (Mitchell Leisen, 1941) with Veronica Lake. At Film Reference, Frank Thompson writes: “The quintessential Milland performances of the ‘leading man’ variety are contained in Leisen's delightful Easy Living and Kitty. The darker, more sinister side of his personality first came to the fore in Farrow's Alias Nick Beal, a film in which Milland plays the Devil himself.” Easy Living (Mitchell Leisen, 1937) was a depression-era screwball comedy and social satire written by Preston Sturges and starring Jean Arthur. Reel Classics calls it “an often-overlooked delight”. Kitty (1945, Mitchell Leisen) was a variation on Pygmalion, in which a London aristocrat (Milland) takes it upon himself to make a lady of a guttersnipe (Paulette Goddard). Milland had a terrible accident during the filming of Hotel Imperial (Henry Hathaway, 1939) with Isa Miranda, when, taking his horse over a jump, the saddle-girth broke and he landed head-first on a pile of bricks. His most serious injuries were a concussion that left him unconscious for 24 hours, a 3-inch gash in his skull that took 9 stitches to close, and numerous fractures and lacerations on his left hand. When the Second World War began, Milland tried to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Forces, but was rejected because of his impaired left hand. He worked as a civilian flight instructor for the Army, and toured with a United Service Organisation (USO) South Pacific troupe in 1944.
Ray Milland had made over 60 feature films by the time he won an Oscar for his portrayal of an alcoholic trying to kick the booze in Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend (1945). It would be pinnacle of Ray Milland's career and an acknowledgement of his serious dramatic abilities. The surprise shown by the critical establishment at Milland's proficiency in the role suggests that nothing much had ever been expected of him. Milland was the first Welsh actor to ever win an Oscar. He was also the first actor not to have spoken a single word during his acceptance speech, preferring to simply bow his appreciation before casually walking to the stage exit. For this performance, he was also given an award at the first Cannes Film Festival. Five years later, he gave a strong performance in Close to My Heart (William Keighley, 1951), starring with Gene Tierney as a couple trying to adopt a child. As Milland grew older and his value as a romantic lead began to wane, the more sinister aspects of this self-assuredness became more evident. In 1954, he starred as the suave and mannerly accomplice opposite Grace Kelly in Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954). Other films that exploited the murderous glint in Milland's eloquent eyes include The Thief (Russel Rouse, 1951) a Film Noir without any dialogue, and The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (Richard Fleischer, 1955) with Joan Collins. He made many television appearances. He starred as a professor in the CBS sitcom Meet Mr. McNutley (1953-1955). The program was renamed in its second season as The Ray Milland Show. From 1959–1960, he starred in the CBS detective series Markham. In the late 1960s, he hosted rebroadcasts of certain episodes of the syndicated western anthology series, Death Valley Days under the title Trails West.
In 1955, Ray Milland started directing films, such as the western A Man Alone (Ray Milland, 1955) with Raymond Burr, and the well-paced espionager Lisbon (1956, Ray Milland) with Maureen O’Hara for Republic Pictures that he also produced and starred in. He did it with surprising proficiency, but the films failed to make him successful. He achieved more success with directing for television. According to Kit and Morgan Benson at Find A Grave, he “was considered a solid and capable director and producer.” Milland returned as a film character actor in such fascinating low-budget horror films as The Premature Burial (Roger Corman, 1962) and The Man with the X-ray Eyes (Roger Corman, 1963), the latter providing Milland with the wittiest, most energetic role of his later career. He appeared in the TV classic Daughter of the Mind (Walter Grauman, 1969) in which he was reunited with Gene Tierney, and he played Ryan O'Neal's father in the hit tearjerker Love Story (Arthur Hiller, 1970). He can also be seen in such dreadful horror films as The Thing with Two Heads (Lee Frost, 1972), the British Crazy House/The House in Nightmare Park (Peter Sykes, 1973), and Terror in the Wax Museum (Georg Fenady). One of the best of that bad lot is Frogs (George McCowan, 1972), a surprisingly enjoyable entry from the ‘nature-run-amok’ horror subgenre. Milland wrote an autobiography, Wide Eyed in Babylon, published in 1974. Toward the end of his life, he guest starred in TV series as Battlestar Galactica (Glen A. Larson, 1978-1979) and the Harold Robbins’ adaptation The Dream Merchants (Vincent Sherman, 1980). His last film was the Spanish fantasy-adventure The Sea Serpent (Gregory Greens, 1986) with Timothy Bottoms, after which his declining health forced him to retire. A book-loving homebody, Milland kept away from the Hollywood glitter and was rarely mentioned in the gossip columns. At 81, he died of lung cancer in Torrance, California in 1986. He was survived by his wife, Muriel ‘Mal’ Weber, to whom he had been married since 1932. They had a son, Daniel, and an adopted daughter, Victoria. Frank Thompson at Film Reference: “Hollywood never quite knew what it had in Ray Milland, but he continuously showed himself to be an adventurous artist, always interested in exposing his established image to radical and surprising lights.”
Sources: Frank Thompson (Film Reference), Lynn Dougherty (Classic Movie Favorites), Kit and Morgan Benson (Find A Grave), Reel Classics, AllMovie, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
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I met Liv Ullmann at Stavanger Theater, where she made her debute in 1957, and took pictures of her for the local newspaper, Stavanger Aftenblad, in 1979.
Jeg møtte Liv Ullmann på Stavanger teater, hvor hun hadde sin debut, og tok bilder av henne for den lokale avisen, Stavanger Aftenblad, i 1979.
Matt Hagan was a great actor, until a tragic car accident left his face deformed. Sitting in the hospital bed, he believed his career was over. He was then approached by Roland Dagget who gave him Renuyu, a face cream that could do in minutes what would take plastic surgery years. Hagan was given an unlimited supply, but with a catch: He had to commit crimes for Dagget, generally masquerading as other businessmen. He eventually realized he couldn't do these crimes anymore, and decided he would have to get much more of the Renuyu cream on his own. When he came to steal more; however, he was greeted by some of Dagget's thugs, who were ordered to "deal" with Hagan. How they dealt with him was by overdosing him with the Renuyu formula. They thought It would kill him, but in instead he was mutated into a clay-like monster, with the ability to shape-shift. Christening himself Clayface, Hagan tried to get revenge on Dagget by murdering him. He came close, but he was stopped by the Batman. Now Hagan lives a life of crime, a shadow of what he once was.
This is another one I've been planning for a while. Thanks to the bricklink order that came today, I was able to complete it.
Russian actor of theater and cinema
Actor Theater Che
Fragment of the spectacle «Mom in the East»
Date: March 22, 2020
Владимир Братков - актер театра и кино.
актер театра ЧЁ'
Кадр из спектакля-квартирника Театра Чё «Мама на Востоке».
Дата: 22 марта 2020 года
_______
Владимир Братков: Свобода во все времена не возможна без осознания, что свобода — это не вседозволенность. Необходим внутренний самоконтроль на основе простой общечеловеческой морали. Иначе начнутся внешние ограничения. Самая главная человеческая свобода — это возможность выбора. Этого никто не отнимет, но именно здесь необходима особая концентрация внимания на ответственности.
Chinese postcard. Matt Damon and Anna Paquin in Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011).
American actor Matt Damon (1970) studied English literature at Harvard while he started his film career. He and Ben Affleck co-wrote Good Will Hunting (1997), for which they won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Damon starred in such box office hits as Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). In 2002, Damon became an action hero in The Bourne Identity. In 2006, he starred alongside Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, which won four Oscars.
Anna Paquin (1982) is a New Zealand actress and former child star. At the age of eleven, she won an Academy Award for her role in The Piano (1993).In 2009, she won a Golden Globe for the television series True Blood (2008-2014) and also earned an Emmy nomination for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007). Paquin received an Emmy Award nomination for her role in the latter title.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
T-33 is filming F-16C demonstration during Heritage Flight Training
General Dynamics F-16C Block 50D Fighting Falcon
91-0376 / SW (cn CC-74)
77th Fighter Squadron "The Gamblers" (77 FS), 20th Fighter Wing (20 FW), Shaw AFB, SC
Davis-Mothan AFB (DMA/KDMA)
35.5 cm X 43.2 cm, 14" X 17"
grease pencil on Paper, 2022
We are all actors on stage.
What would a person look like if he took off his shell?
Actor, Neil Pearson, draws the raffle after being the quiz master at the annual quiz night in The Clocktower Café, in aid of the adjacent David Lean Cinema in Croydon Old Town Hall. He's probably most noted for his roles in 'Drop the Dead Donkey' and 'Waterloo Road'.
Félix Corcuera, Actor. Fotografía realizada durante las sesiones de rodaje del spot de la App OkTicket. Asturias.
Fotografía: www.miguelprado.com
Comiccon Brussels 2021 - Q&A Luka Peros
Luka Peros aka Marsella/Marseille
La Casa De Papel - Money Heist
A Spanish series first appeared on Netflix at the end of 2017 and nobody was expecting what happened next.
Its strong acting and incredibly complex twists made it a worldwide hit. In the US they speak of Money Heist, here in Europe from La Casa De Papel.
This series has already 5 seasons in the meantime and millions of fans all over the world. We are therefore very proud to be able to introduce the next Comic Con Brussels Guest to you!
Luka Peros, who we know as Marsella/ Marseille in the series, will be a guest at Comic Con Brussels on both days!
( Comic Con Brussels is your celebration of geek culture in the heart of Europe!
You will find us at the beautiful Tour & Taxis site near the Brussels North train station. At Comic Con Brussels you will find Dealers, Artists, Actors, ... It's a Con that brings together all the things you love:
Comics, cosplay, gaming, films, manga, collectibles, anime, tv series, clothing, toys, gadgets and lots more!!! )
Vintage postcard. Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996).
American actor Leonardo DiCaprio (1974) has often played unconventional parts, particularly in biopics and period films. His role in the blockbuster Titanic (1998) cemented DiCaprio's reputation as a teen heartthrob. He became one of the biggest movie stars thanks to his films with the directors Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, and Quentin Tarantino. He won an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for The Revenant (2015) as well as two other Golden Globes for The Aviator (2004) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, in 1974. He is the only child of Irmelin (née Indenbirken), a legal secretary, and George DiCaprio, an underground comix writer, publisher, and distributor of comic books. His parents separated when he was a year old. When his older stepbrother earned $50,000 for a television commercial, DiCaprio, fascinated with this, decided to become an actor. At age 14, he began his career by appearing in television commercials such as for Matchbox cars by Mattel, which he considered his first role. In 1989, he played the role of Glen in two episodes of the television show The New Lassie. Leo played recurring roles in various television series, such as the sitcom Parenthood (1990-1991) based on the successful comedy film of the same name. He made his film debut as the stepson of an evil landlord in the low-budget horror direct-to-video film Critters 3 (Kristine Peterson, 1991). He was handpicked by Robert De Niro out of 400 young actors to play the lead role in the biographical coming-of-age drama This Boy's Life (Michael Caton-Jones, 1993) with De Niro as his stepfather, and Ellen Barkin as his mother. In 1993, DiCaprio co-starred as the intellectually disabled brother of Johnny Depp's character in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Lasse Hallström, 1993), a comic-tragic odyssey of a dysfunctional Iowa family. The film became a critical success, earning DiCaprio a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. His next films were the Western film The Quick and the Dead (Sam Raimi, 1995) with Sharon Stone, the biopic The Basketball Diaries (Scott Kalvert, 1995) in which he played a teenage Jim Carroll as a drug-addicted high school basketball player and writer, and the erotic drama Total Eclipse (Agnieszka Holland, 1995), a fictionalised account of the homosexual relationship between Arthur Rimbaud (DiCaprio) and Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis). In 1996, DiCaprio appeared opposite Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, an abridged modernisation of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy of the same name. The project grossed $147 million worldwide and earned DiCaprio a Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival. DiCaprio then achieved international fame as a star in the epic romance Titanic (James Cameron, 1997), opposite Kate Winslet. Against expectations, Titanic went on to become the highest-grossing film to that point, eventually grossing more than $2.1 billion in box-office receipts worldwide. DiCaprio turned into a superstar, resulting in intense adoration among teenage girls and young women in general that became known as "Leo-Mania"
Leonardo DiCaprio played a self-mocking role in a small appearance in Woody Allen's caustic satire of the fame industry, Celebrity (1998). That year, he also starred in the dual roles of the villainous King Louis XIV and his secret, sympathetic twin brother Philippe in The Man in the Iron Mask (Randall Wallace, 1998). The film received mixed to negative response, but became a box office success, grossing $180 million internationally. DiCaprio was awarded a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple for both incarnations the following year. Leonardo starred in two successful features in 2002. The first was the biographical crime drama Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002), based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who before his 19th birthday committed check fraud to make millions in the 1960s. The film received favourable reviews and was an international success, becoming DiCaprio's highest-grossing release since Titanic with a total of $351 million worldwide. The second was the historical drama Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002) with Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis. It marked his first of many collaborations with director Martin Scorsese. Gangs of New York earned a total of $193 million worldwide and received mostly positive reviews. DiCaprio played Howard Hughes in The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, 2004), which DiCaprio also co-produced. In 2005, he was named the commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts. DiCaprio was a mercenary in the political thriller Blood Diamond (Edward Zwick, 2006). He received acclaim for his role opposite Jack Nicholson in the crime drama The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006). Budgeted at $90 million, the film grossed $291 million and emerged as DiCaprio and Scorsese's highest-grossing collaboration to date. He reunited with Kate Winslet in the romantic drama Revolutionary Road (Sam Mendes, 2008). DiCaprio is the founder of Appian Way Productions—a production company that has produced some of his films and the documentary series Greensburg (2008–2010)—and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting environmental awareness.
Leonardo DiCaprio continued to collaborate with Martin Scorsese in the psychological thriller film Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010), based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The film was a commercial success, grossing $294 million worldwide. DiCaprio starred in the science fiction thriller Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010), in which he enters the dreams of others to obtain information that is otherwise inaccessible. DiCaprio earned $50 million from the film, becoming his highest payday yet. He was an executive producer for George Clooney's political drama The Ides of March, an adaptation of Beau Willimon's play Farragut North (George Clooney, 2011) with Ryan Gosling. In 2012, DiCaprio starred as a plantation owner, Calvin Candie, in Quentin Tarantino's Spaghetti Western, Django Unchained (2012). DiCaprio's next role was as the millionaire Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby (2013), an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name. That year he also starred in the biopic The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013), based on the life of stockbroker Jordan Belfort, who was arrested in the late 1990s for securities fraud and money laundering. The film earned him a Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Picture. DiCaprio was an executive producer on Virunga (Orlando von Einsiedel, 2014), a British documentary film about four people fighting to protect the world's last mountain gorillas from war and poaching. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 2015, DiCaprio produced and played fur trapper Hugh Glass in Alejandro G. Iñárritu's survival drama The Revenant. Built on a budget of $135 million, the well-received film earned $533 million worldwide. The film earned him numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a SAG and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Actor. For the next three years, DiCaprio narrated documentaries and served as a producer for films. DiCaprio returned to acting following a break of four years in Quentin Tarantino's comedy-drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), opposite Brad Pitt. He received nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor. The film earned a total of $374 million against its $90-million budget. DiCaprio's personal life is the subject of widespread media attention. He rarely gives interviews and is reluctant to discuss his private life. Among his former girlfriends are Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen, Israeli model Bar Refaeli, and German model Toni Garrn.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Italian postcard by G. Vettori, Bologna. Paul Richter and Georg Johnin Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang, 1924). Caption: Die Nibelungen - Mime tries to betray Siegfried by putting him on the wrong track -.
Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang, 1924) is one of the masterpieces of the Weimar cinema. Die Nibelungen is a duology of silent fantasy films: Die Nibelungen: Siegfried and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache/Kriemhild's Revenge.
How Siegfried Slayed the Dragon
Die Nibelungen was produced by the Ufa and Decla studios, and it starred Austrian actor Paul Richter as the (nearly) invulnerable hero Siegfried. The screenplays were written by Fritz Lang and his wife at the time, Thea von Harbou. They were based upon the epic Nordic poem Nibelungenlied, written around AD 1200 and told through seven cantos. It is the tale of the legendary German hero Siegfried (Paul Richter), son of King Siegmund. He masters the art of forging a sword at the shop of Mime (George John). On his journey home, he hears tales from the locals about Princess Kriemhild (Margarete Schön), the beautiful sister of King Gunter of Burgundy (Theodor Loos). Siegfried decides to go to Worms, the capital of Burgundy, to win Kriemhild. On his journey to Worms, he is attacked by a dragon. Siegfried slays the dragon and bathes in his blood. This bath makes him invulnerable - except for one spot on his shoulder blade which is missed after being covered by a falling lime leaf.
How Volker, the Bard, sang of Siegfried in front of Kriemhild, and How Siegfried Came in Worms
Siegfried trespasses on the land of the Nibelungen and is attacked by Alberich, King of the Dwarves (again George John). He fights and defeats Alberich who was wearing his wonder cloak of invisibility and transformation. Alberich asks Siegfried to spare his life and in return, he gives the Treasure of the Nibelungen and the Balmung sword. While Siegfried is mesmerised by the treasure, Alberich tries to defeat him but dies in the attempt. Dying, Alberich curses all inheritors of the treasure and he and his dwarves turn to stone. Siegfried makes twelve kings as his vassals and arrives in Worms as a hero.
How Siegfried Won Brunhild for Gunther
News reaches the court that Brunhild, a queen of outstanding strength and beauty may be won only by a man capable of matching her athletic prowess. Gunther decides to woo Brunhild (Hanna Ralph) with the aid of Siegfried, to whom he promises the hand of Kriemhild if successful. The men travel to Iceland, to the kingdom of Brunhild, where Siegfried feigns vassalage to Gunther so that he can avoid Brunhild's challenge. He uses instead the cloak's power of invisibility to help Gunther beat the powerful Queen in a three-fold Amazonian battle of strength: throwing stones, throwing a spear and jumping.
How Brunhild Enters Worms and How the King Celebrate Their Wedding
The men return to Burgundy where Gunther marries Brunhild and Siegfried weds Kriemhild. Brunhild is not, however, completely defeated. She suspects deceit and says to Gunther that she is his captive but not his bride. Hagen von Tronje (Hans Adalbert Schlettow) convinces Siegfried to help. Siegfried transforms himself with the cloak into Gunther and battles Brunhild and removes her arm ring during battle after which she submits to his will. Siegfried leaves the real Gunther to consummate the marriage. Siegfried accidentally brings Brunhild's armlet with him.
How After Half a Year, Siegfried's Gift to His Bride, The Nibelungen Treasure, Arrives in Worms and How the Two Queens Quarrel With Each Other
When Kriemhild finds Brunhild's armlet, Siegfried tells her how her brother won the queen. When the Nibelungen treasure that Siegfried acquired from Alberich arrives at the court of Burgundy as Kriemhild's morning gift, the jealous Brunhild becomes more suspicious about Siegfried's feigned vassalage to Gunther. Brunhild dons the Queen Mother's jewellery and proceeds to the cathedral to enter as the first person, as is her right as Queen of Burgundy. Kriemhild and Brunhild quarrel. Brunhild ridicules Kriemhild for marrying a vassal, and Kriemhild reveals Siegfried’s and Gunther’s deception.
How Gunther Betrayed Siegfried
Brunhild demands Siegfried be killed. She lies to Gunther and tells him that Siegfried stole her maidenhood when he battled her on her wedding night. King Gunther and his uncle and loyal warrior, Hagen von Tronje (Hans Adalbert Schlettow), conspire to murder Siegfried during a hunt in the Odenwald Forest. Hagen deceives Kriemhild into telling him the vulnerable part of Siegfried's body where the leaf has fallen. She sews a cross on the spot in Siegfried's tunic. After the hunt, Hagen challenges Siegfried to a race to a nearby spring. When Siegfried is on his knees drinking, Hagen pierces him from behind with a spear.
How Kriemhild Swears Revenge to Hagen Tronje
In an evil twist of bitter revenge, Brunhild confesses that she lied about Siegfried stealing her maidenhood to avenge Gunther's deceit of her. Gunther killed his only loyal friend. Kriemhild demands her family avenge her husband's death at the hands of Siegfried, but her family is complicit in the murder, and so they protect Hagen. Kriemhild swears revenge against Hagen while a guilt-ridden Brunhild commits suicide at the foot of Siegfried's corpse laid in state in the cathedral. Kriemhild swears revenge to Hagen.
Kriemhild's Revenge
In the second film, Kriemhild's Rache/Kriemhild's Revenge, is shown how Kriemhild gets her revenge. After Siegfried's dead, Kriemhild marries Etzel, the King of the Huns. She gives birth to a child and invites her brothers to a party. She tries to persuade Etzel and the other Huns, that they kill Hagen, the murderer of Siegfried, but he is protected by her brothers. A fierce battle begins to force her brothers to give Hagen to her.
Probably no literary work has given more to Germanic arts than the Nibelungenlied. Many variations and adaptations appeared through the centuries. The most significant modern adaptation is Richard Wagner’s famous opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (1853–1874). The 1924 film Die Nibelungen is still astounding to look at. Fritz Lang gives the film a real sense of wonder by way of fantasy elements such as dwarfs, dragons and magic powers. Amazingly, such a masterpiece of cinema could have been made in the early 1920s. The standout is the dragon-slaying scene with its wonderful special effects.
Sources: Claudio Carvalho (IMDb), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Encyclopedia Britannica, IMDb and Wikipedia.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.