Der Geiger von Florenz

Elisabeth Bergner is probably best remembered (in Britain, at least) for playing Rosalind in 'As You Like It', a role for which she spent most of her screen time cross-dressed as Ganymede, the counterfeit boy. She wasn't convincing as a boy in that film, but the theatrical artifice of Shakespeare's verse made her imposture seem acceptable. Here, in her earlier film 'The Fiddler of Florence', Bergner also spends most of her screen time in boy-garb, interacting with characters who genuinely believe her to be a boy. This is a silent film, so Bergner isn't required to speak in a male voice. Even so, her impersonation of a male is frankly unbelievable ... and, because this film's milieu is otherwise much more realistic than Shakespeare's Forest of Arden, Bergner's failure to pass as a boy ultimately causes the entire movie to fail. She's also slightly too OLD to pass as a boy, I'll ungallantly add.

Renée (Bergner) is a strong-willed German fraulein. When her beloved mother dies, her cold father (Conrad Veidt) remarries. Veidt and his new bride are only interested in each other: accordingly, Veidt packs Renée off to a strict boarding-school in Switzerland. (I wonder if this is the girls' school in Switzerland where Stallone had a job once.) At this point in the movie, I was hoping for some 'Madchen in Uniform' theatrics, but -- with a title like 'The Fiddler of Florence' -- other things are clearly impending.

Renée runs away from her Swiss school and heads for the border, presumably passing Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp children going in the opposite direction. At the Italian frontier, she coaxes a peasant boy into giving her his clothes. (Leaving him to wear *hers*, I guess. Yodel-lay-he-hoo!) Bergner's 'disguise' as a boy is deeply unconvincing, not least because she keeps her beautiful long blonde tresses. Renée is now reborn (get the French pun?) as Rene.

As Renée makes her boyish way across Italy, she falls in with two wandering bohemians: a romantic young painter-violinist and his sister. The painter is played by future character actor Walter Rilla, and he gives a far better performance here than this movie deserves. Neither Rilla nor his sister twig that this 'boy' is actually a girl, but Rilla gradually finds himself attracted to the beautiful lad. Ach du lieber!

'The Fiddler of Florence' was written and directed by Paul Czinner, who would later be Bergner's husband, and who at this point was already firmly established as the guiding presence of Bergner's career. Bergner spends most of this film in male disguise, yet the attempts to transform her into a 'boy' are so perfunctory as to be downright laughable. I suspect that Czinner was unwilling to compromise Bergner's substantial female charms, and reluctant to present her to audiences as anything less than 100% feminine. But then why choose this particular story for her? On the basis of 'The Fiddler of Florence' and 'As You Like It' -- another Czinner effort -- I wonder if perhaps Czinner was one of those men who has a predilection for women disguised as boys. Or perhaps it was Bergner herself who favoured vehicles that would require her to wear male disguise. Whoever had the idea, Bergner is simply more attractive (and more believable) as a fraulein than as a boy.

A warning to all Conrad Veidt fans: although that splendid actor is prominently listed in the cast of this film, he actually has only a small role with very little screen time. Impressively, he gives a fine performance anyway. As the father, interacting with his new bride and his daughter in the same scene, Veidt skilfully conveys affection and lust for the former while remaining cold towards the latter. Veidt's brief performance belongs in a better movie. I'll rate 'The Fiddler of Florence' 4 points, largely for some beautiful exterior photography. Give the movie an extra point if you like to watch women pretending to be boys.

"Der Geiger von Florenz", film directed by Herr Paul Czinner in the silent year of 1926, tells the story of Renée, a spoiled youngster who idolizes her father and for this reason she can't stand her father's second wife, who loves her husband too.

Due to conflict between daughter and stepmother, Renée finally is put in a Swiss ladies' boarding school in order to calm her down. However, the possessive teenager is bored in Switzerland, doesn't behave correctly and is punished for her faults. She finally decides that it is time to run away from there and go home dressed up as a boy . However, since she has no documents identifying her as a boy, she is unable to cross the Italian border and return home.

A painter discovers the "boy" in the streets and decides "he" is a perfect model for his painting titled violinist of Florence". The painting becomes a big success. Due to the close friendship among the painter and disguised Renée, some complications develop, especially when the painter wants to give her a rub down after her bath. When Renéé's father sees a newspaper illustration of the painting,. he recognizes his daughter and goes to Florence to get Renée himself. However, the painter does not want to be parted from his model ( even though he didn't get to rub her down in the bath ). Obviously, the man has an eyesight problem but finally he discovers the truth and asks Renée's father for her hand.

The principal problem of this film is that while Dame Elisabeth Bergner, as Renée, might be able to fool a Italian painter who needs glasses she could never trick an old aristocratic German Count. Dame Berger is too much feminine to be a boy and too old to be a teenager, so due to such inconsistencies, the film crumbles. Fortunately the Renée's strict father is performed by Herr Conrad Veidt who gives the film enough authority and seriousness to render the story inoffensive and simple, overlooking the more malicious undertones in the oeuvre that would be perfect for a film with such a plot.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must adjust his monocle in order to see things clearly.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/