Run Time: 80 minutes. Studio: UFA. Director: F.W. Murnau. Writer: Thea Van Harbou. Adapted from a novel by Frank Heller. Producer: Erich Pommer. Main Cast: Mady Christians, Harry Liedtke, Robert Scholtz, Alfred Abel.
F.W. Murnau has become probably the most popular German film maker of the silent era, and with good reason. His films such as
Nosfertu,
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans,
Faust and
The Last Laugh have been praised as some of the greatest masterpieces of the German cinema. Fans of these great films though might be surprised to see
The Finances of the Grand Duke. The reason for this is that it is a film that is very different from what Murnau is usually associated with. Unlike the horrifying
Nosfertu or the unmatched beauty of
Sunrise, this film is a rather unassuming little lighthearted comedy, and it successes very well at being just that. This is in fact F.W. Marnau's only comedy.
Besides F.W. Murnau, another name that might be familier to fans of classic German cinema is this films writer Thea Van Harbou. Thea Van Harbou was the wife of the great German director Fritz Lang, and wrote many of Lang's German films, including his two most popular
Metropolis and
M.
Finances of the Grand Duke is one of the only two films Harbou wrote for Murnau, the other was the 1922 film
Phantom. The two cinematographers on this film also have a very impressive body of work. Karl Freund would later be the cinematographer for Fritz Lang's
Metropolis, Tod Browning's
Dracula, John Huston's
Key Largo and every episode of
I Love Lucy. He also worked with Murnau on
The Last Laugh and
Tartuffe. The other cinematographer for this film was Franz Planner. Franz Planner would later work on such films as
The Cain Mutiny,
Breakfast at Tiffany's and Disney's version of
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
The story begins with the grand duke (played by Harry Liedtke), a benevolent dictator (?) being in great debt. Because of this he plans to marry Princess Olga (played by Mady Christians), who offers to marry him through a letter, despite having never meet him. A letter about this engagement has been stolen. On top of this many greedy men opposed to the Grand Duke conspire against him. Both the grand duke and Princess Olga have to save the country Abacco from greedy men who want to exploit the country for their own gain.
Overall while
Finances of the Grand Duke isn't the masterpiece
Nosfertu or
Sunrise are, it is a very entertaining movie. It has very likable characters, the humor while not constantly hilarious can quite funny at times, the story is fun, and the film looks great visually. Interestingly this film was made the same year as
The Last Laugh.
The Last Laugh would be a film completely without intertitles. However in
Finances of the Grand Duke too many intertitles is the film's biggest fault. This film seems very much in the style of a classic movie serial and is just as fun. In a visual sense this film is very much a Murnau film. The cinematography and sets are as beautiful as you would expect from a Murnau film It is sad this film is so overlooked because it remains a very enjoyable movie, and should get more attention from silent film fans.
This film has gained a following in recent years for a few reasons one that it is so different from a regular F.W. Murnau film, making it very fascinating peek into a different side of one of Germany's greatest filmmakers. It also shows Max Shreck out of his Count Orlok makeup from
Nosfertu. This is also the reason that it is a darn good film.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Recourses UsedLeonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide by Leonard Maltin
connormartinsmith.blogspot.com/2010/01/finances-of-grand-duke.htmlseul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-finances-of-grand-duke.htmlimdb.com/title/tt0014900/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1DVD Audio Commentary by David Kalat
