The Burning Soil
About The Burning Soil
Old peasant Rog dies. His son Peter stays with the farm. Johannes becomes secretary to Count von Rudenburg, courts the count's daughter Gerda, and learns there is oil under Devil's Field. The dying count leaves that field to his second wife, Helga. Johannes marries Helga, refuses an offer of 25 million marks for the oil, and drives her to sell the field to Peter for 12,000 marks. Helga drowns herself. Gerda sets the rig on fire and dies in the blast. Johannes goes back to the farm, where Peter and Maria are waiting.
Cast & crew
More about The Burning Soil
F. W. Murnau directed. Thea von Harbou, Willy Haas, and Arthur Rosen wrote it. Erich Pommer produced with Sascha Goron. It opened in Germany on March 3, 1922. Rochus Gliese designed the sets. Murnau released Nosferatu the same year.
Themes
Look
Karl Freund and Fritz Arno Wagner photographed the Babelsberg production.
Preservation
Treated as lost until a print surfaced in 1978. Éric Rohmer assisted on a restoration. That version runs 110 minutes.
Notes
- Vladimir Gajdarov plays Johannes. Eugen Klöpfer plays Peter. Werner Krauss plays old Rog. Lya De Putti plays Gerda. Stella Arbenina plays Helga. Grete Diercks plays Maria.
- An Italian priest had a print and showed it in mental hospitals. It turned up in 1978.
Scenes
- Helga sells Devil's Field to Peter, then drowns.
- Gerda burns the rig and dies in the explosion.
