Film Manuskript Hanneles Himmelfahrt von Thea von Harbou Based on the Play by Gerhart Hauptmann
Berlin: AAFA Film A.G., (1934). First edition. Hardcover. 4to. [8 blank leaves], 103pp. [7 blank leaves]. Contemporary half blue leather over beige cloth with gilt embossed lettering housed in sturdy paper-covered slipcase lipped with matching blue leather. Raised bands. Orange page edges and endpapers. Original 103 page mimeograph of Hanneles Himmelfahrt (The Assumption of Hannele), which Thea von Harbou directed as well as writing the screenplay. The film is based on Gerhart Hauptmann's 1893 play. In contrast to Hauptmann's naturalistic dramas, the work adopts a more symbolist dramaturgy and interestingly, is the first recorded play in recorded world literature that utilizes a child as its heroine. The film version by Von Harbou premiered on April 13, 1934. Thea Von Harbou was born into Prussian aristocracy and became a successful stage actress and then bestselling novelist. Eventually she was one of the best known screenwriters of the Golden Age of German cinema. Von Harbou married screen actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge (who eventually starred in the film of the screenplay present here) in 1917 and they divorced in 1921, at which time she married her film collaborator, the legendary Fritz Lang. Von Harbou wrote the screenplays for virtually all of Fritz Lang's great films including Metropolis, M, Dr. Mabuse, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, Spies, The Woman in the Moon, etc. She also wrote screenplays for directors F. W. Murnau and Carl Theodor Dreyer. As Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany so did Von Harbou's interest in Nazism. She joined the National Socialist Party as early as 1932, which was one of the reasons that led to the divorce with Lang. The director left the country shortly after The Testament of Dr. Mabuse was banned by the Nazis. Eventually Von Harbou became head of the association of German screenwriters. During the Third Reich she wrote a number of screenplays that included Nazi propaganda. After Germany's defeat and surviving the war she was shunned by most German artistic circles and was reduced to dubbing insignificant films. She died in 1954 at the age of 65 in Berlin. Fine condition. Rare screenplay of early German film bound in exquisite blue leather. vg. Item #16767
Price: $6,500.00