Even without the benefit of sound, the 1922 German adaptation of Othello seems more operatic than Shakespearean. This may be due to the casting of Emil Jannings, to whom restraint and subtlety were strangers. Werner Krauss, of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari fame, is on hand as the duplicitous Iago....
Faithful to his word, Michael Tímar, captain of the St. Barbara, becomes the guardian of Kondya, daughter of a Turkish aristocrat on the run. Later, he weds the grateful young Turkish girl whom he saved from the waters of the Danube. While skillfully managing his wife's fortune, entrepreneur...
Rita is a thief. With the complicity of her father, a seasoned criminal, she seduces a young heir, Jean Frémeaux, who, after quickly unmasking her, seeks to remove her from his environment. But, out of love, she reluctantly involves him in a casino scam to help him win.
Shulamith was written in 1883 by the father of modern Yiddish theatre, Abraham Goldfaden. The opera, based on an ancient legend, tells the story of Shulamith, a girl who is trapped in a well in the desert and falls in love with her rescuer. Although they vow to be faithful he marries someone else,...
