Valdemar Psilander

The only surviving excerpt of a documentary on film production in Weimar Germany, featuring the different personalities of several famous directors of the era at work on the set including Fritz Lang, Robert Wiene, and E.A. Dupont.

A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.

Upon suddenly losing his fortune, the young Count Berner sets out for New York to try his luck there. With his winning nature and great drive, he quickly advances from being a stevedore to becoming a chauffeur for a well-known millionaire. But when he embarks on a relationship with the millionaire’s daughter Anny, he gets into trouble: another suitor of hers gets jealous and will stop at nothing to get Berner out of the way.(Stumfilm.dk)

Of the films that Psilander made at Nordisk during the first two years it is the film Dødsspring til Hest fra Cirkuskuplen (The Great Circus Catastrophe), that is worth noting. Maybe not so much for Psilander's acting, but for the sensational, action-packed storylines that he was in. This film shows the other side of Psilander's fame: his daring. He was an excellent rider and looked fantastic in long riding boots and elegant riding jackets and this skill was exploited in his films.

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Stella, a circus princess, has two suitors: young, handsome Count Waldberg and the greying, hidebound jeweller Hirsch. Stella’s love for Waldberg drives Hirsch mad with jealousy. He will stop at nothing to be near the woman of his dreams. When the count loses a staggering sum to the jeweller in a gambling duel, Stella embarks on a fateful mission to save her beloved’s honour. (Stumfilm.dk)

The merchant’s son Aage wants to save his father from bankruptcy by marrying the rich man’s daughter Irma. Aage dutifully courts her, although not a single spark flies between them. One day, Irma’s household receives guests, and Solveig, an 18-year-old beauty, opens Aage’s eyes as to which love he’s about to sacrifice for the sake of his father. Will duty outweigh love for Aage? (Stumfilm.dk)

Alice, the seventeen-year-old daughter of millionaire John Payne, is dying. Doctor Sheldon, deep in grief due to the very recent loss of his wife, reluctantly agrees to help and saves Alice’s life at the very last minute. While he was treating his patient, a fire has broken out in his home, and upon his return the sight of the flames consuming the flower-covered coffin still laid out in the living room takes a heavy toll on his psyche. He is admitted to a mental hospital, where Payne and Alice’s frequent visits help him get back on his feet. But darkness still lurks in a corner of his mind. (Stumfilm.dk)

The manufacturer Laroque stops at nothing when trying to destroy his enemies, and this time Fréderic Nessières, one of his competitors, is in the line of fire. With his diabolical, hypnotic power, Laroque has snared Nessières’s wife, Madeleine, in his evil web, and she will now do anything to help her husband’s enemy. But even though Laroque’s first plan to ruin Nessières fails, he does not give up. Once he has selected a victim, he will quite literally fight to the death to vanquish them. (stumfilm.dk)

Two friends, Fritz and Theodor, make the acquaintance of Christine and Mizzi, who are also friends. Fritz is immediately captivated by Christine, who is bashful and modest as opposed to the eager, effervescent Mizzi. But even though the love between the two grows, Christine is not the only woman in Fritz’s life. His affair with a married woman will prove to have fatal consequences.

On a holiday, the family Gram meets a young, mysterious man who turns out to be a Mormon. In spite of her fiancèe's presence, the daughter Nina is drawn to the stranger. Hypnotized, she soon follows his every step. When she finally awakes from her trance, she finds herself on a ship to Utah, in the clutches of a dangerous man. (Stumfilm.dk)

The circus clown Joe Higgins is scouted by a world famous artist agent, who promises him fame and fortune. Joe takes the offer on one condition: His fiancèe Daisy and her parents are coming with him. Soon, Joe finds himself performing on the biggest stages in the city, enthralling his audience night after night. But the glamorous life in the big city is no fairy tale after all.

The ballet pupil Camilla Favier makes for a quick success and falls for the author Jean Mayol. She discovers a love letter to him from a rich married woman and is devastated. In revenge she reveals the secret love story for the cuckolded husband and his guests at a big party. Later she finds a new love message from the wayward wife and brings it to the husband, who gets furious, grabs a pistol and incites the climax of the story.

A satire on movie newsreels combines with humorous narration of silent screen footage in this one reel comedy short.

It’s the spring of 1793 and the French Revolution is raging. King Louis XVI had been beheaded in Paris a few months earlier, and the whole of Europe is teetering on the brink of war. Austrian troops move across the country’s northern border, and among many other members of the French nobility who emigrated, Erneste des Tressailles also serves as an officer in the enemy ranks. Although he risks the death penalty for treason, he rides to Trionville Castle to marry his young bride Alaine. The revolutionary troops arrive quickly and storm the castle, but Alaine is determined to save her groom. (Stumfilm.dk)

FRAGMENT | These recordings were part of Valdemar Psilander’s live performance at the Royal Orfeum in Budapest, in February and March 1914. Psilander financed the show himself, and it was a mixture of film and theatre under the title Count Dahlborg’s Secret. The film footage, which unfortunately hasn’t been preserved in its entirety, opened the performance, after which Psilander himself rode onto the stage and continued the action. (stumfilm.dk)

Doctor Willy Prager’s long, selfless office hours come at the expense of his attention-seeking fiancée. During a garden party, Willy is summoned to an ill child’s bedside and leaves his fiancée Erna in the hands of his faithful friend Alfred. Out of sheer boredom, Erna tries to kiss Alfred, but the loyal friend rejects her. Erna feels devastated and lies to Willy that it was Alfred who tried to seduce her. However, Alfred refuses to tarnish Erna’s honour and tacitly accepts when Willy challenges him to a duel. (Stumfilm.dk)

Out of the blue, war is declared, making two otherwise friendly neighbouring nations deadly enemies. Amid the inferno, finding themselves on different sides of the conflict, Elsa and Alexis are forced to call off their engagement. Will they ever get back together again? (stumfilm.dk)

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Young hothead Billy, quick to speak and drifting into a life of crime, has many encounters the community's lay preacher, John Redmond. Billy's conscience stirs as Redmond recounts his life's story. Holger-Madsen supplied three different endings for the film's various releases.