Les finances du Grand-Duc

This is a truly odd little silent film--one you'd never suspect would be directed the same man responsible for "Nosferatu"! Instead of the usual serious film for which F.W. Murnau was known, "Finances of the Grand Duke" is like the blending of a comedy with a movie serial. Though the film is a regular full-length movie of 77 minutes, it play like a serial--with chapters and TONS of action--enough for a 12-part serial! While the overall effect is not great, it is pretty good and watchable.

The film is set in the fictional island kingdom of Abacco. The Grand Duke is so deeply in debt that creditors threaten to seize his kingdom. In addition, a speculator who wants to put in a sulfur mine is willing to finance a revolution since the Grand Duke refuses to have such a blight on his island. With these dark forces conspiring to take his throne, the Grand Duke has a possible solution in the form of a marriage proposal from a rich Russian Princess--who he's never even seen! Can this all be worked out or is the kingdom to be torn from him? Tune in and see.

While the humor in the film is rarely that funny, because so much happens so quickly, the film is breezy and watchable--especially to Murnau fans who want to see everything he made--even his seemingly lesser works. Overall, not bad but not great either--more like a pleasant time-passer.

The Grand Duke of Abacco ( Herr Harry Liedtke ) is settled on a Mediterranean island living an altruistic, distracted and careful life. In reality, he's full of debts but that's a situation that could change thanks to an unexpected sulphur deposit found on his small duchy. The Duke, besides his financial problems, is threatened by his villainous principal creditor, who soon stirs up a plot. The dastardly plans count on some of his malicious subjects. Meanwhile other strange characters become involved in what and in will be a peculiar plot full of financial conspiracies and politics concerning the Grand Duke.

Many geniuses in different Arts are also humans. So, due to this, they have virtues and defects. As it happens sometimes with inhuman aristocrats, their major virtues are their defects and minor sins from time to time are revealed. And believed or not, such human weakness was suffered also by the great German film director, Herr Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, who directed in 1924… a comedy!!.

Herr Murnau's only comedy, "Die Finanzen des Großherzogs" it is certainly a rare oeuvre in his magnificent career ( although it is possible to appreciate some slight signs of humour in previous films as "Schloß Vogelöd" - others Herr Murnau's early film are not well remembered by this German count... ) "Die Finanzen des Großherzogs" is a unique and special silent comedy piece stretching Herr Murnau's parameters in what certainly is a bizarre film dealing with idealized and romantic subjects developed in a caricaturized way.

The story of the film is centered around the financial problems of the Grand Duke of Abacco. Together with the different characters involved in such odd story that Herr Murnau describes in a parallel way until little by little everyone comes together in what it is a special comedy of financial intrigue. It's a peculiar "totum revolutum" leading to an over-elaborated story.

After having directed "Phantom" (1922) from a script written by Frau Thea von Harbou ( in turn taken from a dense novel by Herr Gerhard Hauptmann ), this time Frau von Harbou and Herr Murnau considered it necessary to select a completely different literary option than the previous one. The choice was a light novel by Herr Frank Heller that in its adaptation to the silent screen has as a result a mixture of folkloric and stereotyped elements with an air of modern serial.

The film deals with idle and bankrupt aristocrats, a rich duchess, angry servants ( certainly, nothing new under the aristocratic sun ), blackmail, swindlers and even a Revolution. Everything is filmed in beautiful Yugoslavian places that give to the film an aesthetic aspect paralleling the story of the film in itself. That is to say, charming but at the same time irrelevant.., a Herr Murnau "divertimento", certainly.

"Die Finanzen des Großherzogs" is a transitional experiment, an exception in Herr Murnau's superb silent career than in spite of its flaws has interest for any silent fan. It should be watched and considered simply as a weird and peculiar comedy of financial intrigues, a decadent passtime, ja wohl!.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must flee from his debts.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien

In F. W. Murnau's prior movie just before "The Last Laugh," the director exhibited the opposite restraint in his narrative by producing his only comedy, January 1924's "The Grand Duke's Finances." The story consists of a duke, leader of a small European country, who's in dire financial straights. His proliferate ways are creating for his tiny kingdom a situation where his main creditor is on the verge of kicking him out and taking control of the country. A marriage to a rich Russian grand duchess could solve the duke's debt crises. But revolutionaries and the creditor attempt to thwart the union, cascading the movie into a series of chases and conspiracies.

The script, written by Fritz Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou, and filmed by Karl Freund, was shot on location on the Adriatic coast as well as at the UFA Tempelhof Studios. "The Grand Duke's Finances" is a compilation of serial episodes and contains, unusual for Murnau, a series of bizarre gags and a cliffhanger of an ending.

Cinematographer Freund, whose career in film went back to 1916, later teamed up with Fritz Lang and scriptwriter von Harbou to produce the 1927 'Metropolis' before moving to America, where he shot 1931's 'Dracula.' He earned an Oscar for his cinematography in 1937's 'The Good Earth.' Freund's credited in designing flat lighting in the 1950s 'I Love Lucy' television series, allowing for the revolutionary three-camera studio setup that prevails in today's sitcom productions.

A multi-part story of a grand duke who has run out of money. He is being pushed by wealthy to men to sell off certain property, but he fights back through an alliance with a foreign woman.

Some have made something of the homoerotic opening with boys swimming, especially with Murnau being gay. I will not comment on it further than just to mention it here.

The film specifically referenced paintings, which is no surprise -- Murnau was an art historian. It has been said some directors view film as artists and some as cameramen. Murnau was an artist. This works well, and it is added to by the fact the sets were painted with shadows rather than using lights. A similar technique was used in "Caligari" by Weine's set designers... was this a strictly German invention? Allegedly, only half the original film exists today. Yet, the part that does exist still makes complete sense. Odd. Also allegedly, the anti-Semitism is toned down from the book, even though the character of Markovitz remains. The book is not available in English so this would be hard to verify. The inclusion of any anti-Semitism strikes me as odd, though, as I believe there were Jews working on the set.

While the big name here is director Murnau, pay attention to actor Max Schreck (better known from Murnau's "Nosferatu"), and notice this script was adapted by Thea von Harbou, the wife and creative partner of Fritz Lang.

David Kalat's audio commentary is brilliant and he ought to write a book on Murnau, though he does play down the role of Oscar-winning cinematographer Karl Freund, which is a mistake.

This film by the great F. W. Murnau is far from his best. Not quite a three star effort but better than a two. One review states that the original was two hours long. If that was the case, I don't think the extra length would have helped as this version, at 77 minutes, seems long enough as it is. Sometimes too long.

It would seem that Murnau was trying to make an Ernst Lubitsch like comedy now that Lubitsch had gone to America but it lacks the sparkle necessary to bring that off. With the exception of Alfred Abel (METROPOLIS), the performers are good but not great. It takes a special kind of performance to make this comedy of intrigue work. The scenario is no great shakes either.

The look of the film is what makes the picture worth watching and that's the least you would expect from one of the silent cinema's great visual stylists. The cameraman was Karl Freund who also worked on THE LAST LAUGH and would go on to directing in the 1930s and then to pioneering live TV camerawork on I LOVE LUCY in the 1950s.

This is the weakest of the three Murnau titles released by Kino but that doesn't mean that it is not without interest. No Murnau film could be without interest. The other two in the set are THE HAUNTED CASTLE and the restored DVD version of FAUST. They join NOSFERATU, THE LAST LAUGH, and TARTUFFE (already released) as part of a 6 DVD set although you can buy them separately...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.