Abdul the Damned (film)
Abdul the Damned is a 1935 British drama film directed by Karl Grune and starring Fritz Kortner, Nils Asther and John Stuart.[2] It was made at the British International Pictures studios by Alliance-Capitol Productions. It is set in the Ottoman Empire in the years before the First World War, where the eponymous absolutist Sultan Abdul Hamid II and the republican Young Turks battle for power. It is also known as Abdul Hamid.
| Abdul the Damned | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Karl Grune |
| Produced by | Max Schach |
| Written by | Robert Neumann Ashley Dukes Roger Burford Warren Chetham-Strode Emeric Pressburger Curt Siodmak |
| Starring | Fritz Kortner Nils Asther John Stuart Adrienne Ames |
| Music by | Hanns Eisler |
| Cinematography | Otto Kanturek |
| Edited by | A.C. Hammond Walter Stokvis |
Production company | Alliance-Capital Productions |
| Distributed by | Wardour Films (UK) Columbia Pictures (USA) |
Release date |
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Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £50,000[1] |
Cast
- Fritz Kortner - Sultan Abdul Hamid II / Kelar
- Nils Asther - Chief of Police Kadar-Pasha
- John Stuart - Captain Talak-Bey
- Adrienne Ames - Therese Alder
- Esme Percy - Ali - Chief Eunuch
- Walter Rilla - Hassan-Bey
- Charles Carson - General Hilmi-Pasha
- Patric Knowles - Omar - Hilmi's Attache
- Eric Portman - Conspirator
- Clifford Heatherley - Court Doctor
- Henry B. Longhurst - General of the Bodyguards
- Annie Esmond - Therese's Train Companion
- Harold Saxon-Snell - Chief Interrogator
- George Zucco - Officer of the Firing Squad
- Robert Naylor - Opera Singer
- Warren Jenkins - Young Turk Singer
- Henry Peterson - Spy
- Arthur Hardy - Ambassador
Critical reception
The New York Times wrote, "Although the film achieves a few moments of dramatic interest—chiefly through the performance of the Continental Fritz Kortner—it is in the main a tedious and uninspired biography, scarred by hypodermic injections of stale melodrama";[3] whereas Film Weekly found it "magnificently acted by Fritz Kortner. Interesting, impressive and, for the most part, gripping entertainment."[4]
References
- Low p.242
- "Abdul the Damned (1935)". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
- https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D04EED8103AE33BBC4952DFB366838D629EDE
- "Contemporary Review (Film Weekly) - Abdul the Damned (1935)".
Bibliography
- Low, Rachael. Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.