Kaufmann von Venedig, Der

Alternative title: Shylock, Der Jude von Venedig Jew of Mestri, The
Synopsis: Feature film in theory based on Shakespeare’s own sources for The Merchant of Venice but in practice partly Shakespeare and partly director Felner’s invention. Werner Krauss is Shylock.
Country: Germany
Medium: Film
Technical information: Black-and-white / Silent
Year of release: 1923
Duration: 102 mins; 9,206 feet

Director

Peter Paul Felner

Producer

Peter Paul Felner

Cinematographer

Axel Graatkjaer; Rudolph Maté

Screenplay

Peter Paul Felner

Music

Michael Krauss

Production Design

Hermann Warm

Cast

Notes: The DVD viewing copy with English subtitles held at the Bundesarchiv is 87mins and includes one minute of material not part of the film as first released in Germany.
The BFI National Archive holds two viewing copies - 35mm, 6,436ft 71mins (tinted nitrate) and 5,363ft 60mins b&w. The print is a shortened English version released by Stoll Pictures as THE JEW OF MESTRI in 1926.
General: Ball and McKernan & Terris (op cit) note the confusions over the correct cast for the film. German and English sources differ on some parts and players. The English intertitles and accompanying action are described fully by Ball having viewed the BFI National Archive’s copy.
Reviews: Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (pp 286-97, 377-8). Ball concludes `... but it holds interest continuously and marks in some respects a forward movement in the development of Shakespeare film. It is often not good Shakespeare, but it is often good film’.

McKernan, Luke and Olwen Terris. Walking Shadows: Shakespeare in the National Film and Television Archive. London: BFI, 1994 (p. 104-5)

British Universities Film & Video Council