The Flame
1923 · Germany
- Director
- Ernst Lubitsch
- Screenplay
- Hanns Kräly
- Music
- Eduard Künneke
- Cinematography
- Theodor Sparkuhl, Alfred Hansen
- Production company
- PAGU
Cast
What it is about
Yvette, a young woman short of money, is pressed by her landlady to settle her debt and sets out to find cash. Along the way she meets André Leduc, a young composer, and the two fall in love and marry. Yet Raoul Fournier, a former suitor who was turned down, begins to threaten the couple's happiness by bringing her past into the open.
How it was made
The film adapts a stage play by Hans Müller, and the screenplay was written by Hanns Kräly. PAGU produced it, Theodor Sparkuhl and Alfred Hansen shot it, and the music is credited to Eduard Künneke. Pola Negri leads a cast that includes Hermann Thimig and Alfred Abel. Lubitsch handles the drama through the expressive vocabulary of silent cinema.
Reception and legacy
The sources available say little about its critical and commercial reception. In the United States it was released under the alternative title Montmartre. Its main historical interest lies in being the last feature Lubitsch made in Germany before emigrating to Hollywood, where that same year he directed Rosita for United Artists.
Trivia
Alternative title
In the United States the film was released as Montmartre rather than under its original title.
Lubitsch's last German film
It was the last film Lubitsch made in Germany before moving to Hollywood, where he released Rosita the same year.
More films by Ernst Lubitsch
Ninotchka
To Be or Not to Be
The Love Parade
The Shop Around the Corner
The Patriot
Trouble in ParadiseOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.