Othello

Alternative title

Death of Othello

Synopsis

A film depicting a scene from Verdi’s Otello, using the experimental synchronisation process known as the Biophon developed in 1903 by Oskar Messter. Ball (op cit, p. 33) describes how a camera turned while a record played. An illustration in Henny Porten’s autobiography shows Henny (as Desdemona) lying on a draped bed. Her father Franz (as Othello) stands at the end of a draped bed about to stab himself. Supernumeraries raise their hands in horror. Rosa (Henny’s sister) is possibly Emilia seated in front of them. Ball notes that the direction was usually handled by Franz Porten.

Country

Germany

Medium

Film

Technical information

Black-and-white / Sound

Year of release

1909

Availability

Presumed a lost film.

Credits

Director

Franz Porten

Producer

Oskar Messter

Music

Giuseppe Verdi

Cast

Franz Porten	Othello
Henny Porten	Desdemona
Rosa Porten	Emilia

Additional Details

Production type

Operas and Musicals

Plays

Othello

Subjects

Drama; Music

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General

There is much debate about the date of production, details outlined by Ball p. 307.

Reviews

Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (p32-3, 287, 307).

Production Company

Name

Messters Projecktion