Starring Édith Jéhanne, Uno Henning and Fritz Rasp
Produced by Universum Film (UFA)
War is coming to Crimea and everyone is choosing their sides. Some, like Andreas, are covertly laying the groundwork for the Bolshevik invasion. Others, like Alfred Ney, are collecting the names of rebel agents for the government.
And some, like the villainous Khalibiev, play both sides to make a quick buck. So what if the list of agents he gives to Ney are random names from the phone book?
Andreas gets wind that Ney has a list of Bolshevik spies and heads off to retrieve the document. During their confrontation, Ney is killed. This puts a damper on the blossoming romance between Andreas and Ney's daughter Jeanne.
The Bolsheviks attack and Jeanne escapes to Paris to live with her private detective uncle, Raymond. Her uncle is not thrilled to see his niece, but allows her to stay when his blind daughter Gabriella insists.
Jeanne's escape proves to be short-lived. Khalibiev follows her to Paris, concocting a scheme to marry Gabriella and get Uncle Raymond's money. Andreas is also in Paris hoping to recruit new soldiers and rekindle his romance with Jeanne.
Throw in a "stolen" diamond and a train ride and all of the elements of a suspense thriller are present. Does Andreas win back the hand of Jeanne? And can Khalibiev get away with his schemes?
When someone describes a film as "Hitchcockian," certain ideas come to mind: suspense, horror, intrigue. Sure there may be the occasional indelible image like birds on a kids' playset or a shower scene, but for the most part, when you think of Hitchcock, you think about mood.
So I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the master I suspense has been aping G. W. Pabst this whole time.
Don't get me wrong: nothing in The Love of Jeanne Ney comes anywhere close to the cinematic perfection that is Rear Window, Vertigo or North by Northwest. But Pabst film shares more than a little in common with Hithcock's work.
We see ordinary people drawn into large political battles. Intrigue as characters act in their self-interest and inflict pain upon those they love. And that feeling that every character's next decision may be the one that dooms him.
Pabst knows how to build tension from scene to scene. Characters enter a room and the camera switches to their point of view, quickly darting across the room. There are no slow camera movements here, the camera is always nervously surveying everyone within the frame.
At other moments, Pabst lingers on a moment until we feel uncomfortable, waiting for something to happen. The director gets a lot of mileage from Edith Jehanne's face in the title role and I found myself flashing back more than once to Kim Novak in Vertigo.
The rest of the cast is fantastic. Uno Henning manages to capture both the romantic leading man and the passionate revolutionary roles perfectly. Brigette Helm's blind Gabrielle fumbles through life at moments almost zombie-like, subjecting herself to the whims of the men that surround her. It's a stark contrast to her roles in Metropolis, but she is equal to the task.
The true standout here though was Fritz Rasp as Khalibiev. Every look and movement just oozes sliminess. When he is on screen, you can see the wheels turning in his head, examining every angle and detail to his own lecherous advantage.
As good as Rasp is, Adolf Licho is just too over-the-top cartoonish as Raymond. When Jeanne first arrives in Paris, he recoils as though a vampire just arrived. Later, as he is imagining a big payday, he starts hugging and dancing with his safe in ways that were... uncomfortable.
The other issue in the movie is Jeanne herself. She's beautiful, but she's not terribly active. Stuff simply happens to her. Her one moment of action toward the end allows her to identify the real criminal, but she really just blunders into that moment. There's not much to root for with our heroine.
The Love of Jeanne Ney has all the trappings of a Hitchcock tale, but without its scope. Pabst seems to be bridging the gap between the silent era and what is to come. Definitely recommend.
**** out of *****
Photo from ithankyou
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