Sleeping Beauty
About Sleeping Beauty
A frog tells a queen she will have a child, and a girl is born. The king calls a feast. A witch who was not invited curses the princess. Years later the girl finds the witch at a spinning wheel, tries to spin, and pricks her finger. The castle sleeps under a thorn hedge for a hundred years. A prince hears the story at an inn, gets through the thorns, and wakes her with a kiss. The court wakes with her, and the two marry.
Cast & crew
More about Sleeping Beauty
Paul Leni directed. Rudolf Presber wrote the screenplay and the verse intertitles. Paul Davidson produced for PAGU. Alfred Hansen photographed it. Leni designed the sets and the costumes. Kurt Richter built the sets. It was shot at the Union studio in Berlin-Tempelhof. The premiere was December 20, 1917, at the U.T. Alexanderplatz in Berlin. The censorship print, passed in December 1917 as B.41333, is four acts and 1,381 meters. Nordische Films Co. distributed it in Germany. An Austrian premiere was set for May 10, 1918.
Themes
Making
Leni, who had been an art director, designed this film's sets and costumes as well as directing it.
Look
Alfred Hansen shot the film at the Union studio in Tempelhof. The release print was tinted.
Music
Silent on first release. Jerzy Sokorski wrote a score in 1998 for later screenings.
Preservation
The Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung holds the film. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The German title is Dornröschen.
- Mabel Kaul plays the princess. Harry Liedtke plays the prince. Käthe Dorsch plays the queen. Georg Kaiser plays the king.
- Hermann Picha plays the old witch. Victor Janson plays the court marshal.
- The Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung times the 1,381-meter print at 51 minutes.
- Filmportal lists the original print as tinted and silent.
Scenes
- A frog tells the queen she will bear a child.
- The princess pricks her finger on the witch's spinning wheel.
- The prince hears the curse in an inn and kisses her awake.
Influenced by
- Brothers Grimm, Dornröschen
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Dornröschen (1917).webm)
