The Mill at Sanssouci

The Mill at Sanssouci
The Mill at Sanssouci
	German film poster
German	Die Mühle von Sanssouci
Directed by	Frederic Zelnik; Siegfried Philippi;
Written by	Siegfried Philippi (play); Hans Behrendt
Produced by	Karl Freund
Starring	Otto Gebühr; Lissi Lind; Jakob Tiedtke; Anita Dorris;
Cinematography	Frederik Fuglsang
Music by	Willy Schmidt-Gentner
Production; company	Deutsche Vereins-Film
Distributed by	Fox-Europa Production
Release date	1 February 1926;
Running time	124 minutes
Country	Germany
Languages	Silent; German intertitles

The Mill at Sanssouci (German: Die Mühle von Sanssouci) is a 1926 German silent historical film directed by Siegfried Philippi and Frederic Zelnik and starring Otto Gebühr, Lissi Lind and Jakob Tiedtke. The film is part of the popular cycle of Prussian films. It premiered on 1 February 1926.^[1]

The film was released by the German subsidiary of the American company Fox Film. It was shot at the Staaken Studios in Berlin. Art direction was by Andrej Andrejew and Gustav A. Knauer. The title alludes to the Historic Mill of Sanssouci constructed in the 18th century.

Plot

Prussia, 1750. After the end of the Silesian Wars, Frederick II returns to Sanssouci exhausted from the events of the war. But the mill of the miller Casper, once the noblest and most expensive construction in the world rattles so loudly, that his majesty feels very disturbed during the time of rest. He issues an edict which should silence the miller and his mill from functioning during the time of peace, but Casper is beyond stubborn. He confronts the king's decree, insisting that all people are equal before the law in Prussia.

Soon the dispute escalates, and Casper decides to even obtain a court ruling in this matter (of which Frederick knows that he can only lose before Justice in view of the equality requirement he had established). Eventually, the two parties decide to seek an out-of-court solution that enables reconciliation. Under various pretenses, His Majesty can promote the marriage of two couples, including two of his soldiers (Lieutenant von Bärenfels and Corporal Jobst) by following in the footsteps of French writer Voltaire, and eventually move things forward in his own amorous affair – his relationship with the dancer Barberina.

Cast

Otto Gebühr as Friedrich der Große
Lissi Lind as Wilhelmine von Bayreuth
Jakob Tiedtke as Miller Casper
Anita Dorris as Luise, his daughter
Hermann Boettcher as Jeweller Lustig
Hanni Weisse as Henriette, his daughter
Heinrich Peer as Chamberlain von Bärenfels
Georg Alexander as Lieutenant von Bärenfels, his son
Olga Chekhova as dancer Barberina
Carl Goetz as Voltaire
Wilhelm Chandron as General Schwerin
Georg John as General Zieten
Eduard von Winterstein as Leopold, der alte Dessauer, General
Emil Rameau as General Winterfeldt
Georg H. Schnell as General Seydlitz
Arthur Kraußneck as General von Keith
Leopold von Ledebur as Major von Zedwitz
Valeska Stock as his wife
William Dieterle as Jobst, corporal
Wilhelm Diegelmann as innkeeper Niedermeier
Fritz Kampers as Theodor, his son
Lotte Werkmeister as Marie, Schankmamsell
Gerhard Ritterband as Ladislaus
Adolf Bassermann as Adjutant Buddenbrock

References

^ Grange, William (2008). Cultural Chronicle of the Weimar Republic. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-8108-5967-8.

External links

The Mill at Sanssouci at IMDb

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[1] Grange, William (2008). Cultural Chronicle of the Weimar Republic. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-8108-5967-8.

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