The Last Performance
About The Last Performance
Count Hans von Harden, a cavalry lieutenant, falls in love with Rose Mailand, a rider at Circus Bernardi. His father, Count Carl, refuses the marriage. Hans resigns his commission, joins the circus as a school rider, and is soon a favorite of the crowd. He turns to another woman. Rose, jealous, injects his horse on the night he is to jump from a platform under the dome in "Coraldini's death act." Horse and rider miss the leap and fall.
Cast & crew
More about The Last Performance
Georg af Klercker directed. Charles Magnusson wrote the script. AB Svenska Biografteatern produced it and its film bureau distributed it. Censors, certificate 5676, passed it on 12 August 1912 from age 15, cutting three shots in the second part: 636 meters down to 632. Two endings were shot, one grim and one happy. The stunt is drawn from Francesco Corradini's fatal fall with his horse at Lorensberg Circus in 1898.
Themes
Background
The dome leap recalls Francesco Corradini, who died with his horse during a performance at Lorensberg Circus in Gothenburg in 1898.
Making
The film was long treated as lost. On a visit to George Eastman House in Rochester, Gösta Werner identified a print in the archive.
Music
Silent. Axel Broberg wrote original music for the film.
Preservation
A print identified by Gösta Werner is at George Eastman House in Rochester. The film had been treated as lost.
Notes
- The full Swedish title is Dödsritten under cirkuskupolen, a circus drama in two acts. An alternate title is Coraldinis dödsnummer eller Cirkusryttarinnans hämnd.
- In the United States it was called The Last Performance. Denmark used En Tragedie under Cirkus-Kuplen.
- It opened at the Fenix in Stockholm on 12 August 1912.
- Klercker plays Hans's father. His wife, Selma Wiklund af Klercker, plays Rose. Carl Barcklind is Hans.
- John Ekman is the circus director and Paul Hagman a doctor.
- The Swedish Film Database found no real reviews in the Stockholm papers.
Scenes
- Hans and Rose ask Count Carl for consent. He refuses, and Hans gives up his commission.
- On the first night of the dome jump, Rose drugs the horse. The leap fails and horse and rider hit the ground.
Influenced by
- Francesco Corradini's fatal circus fall at Lorensberg, Gothenburg, 1898
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-ddsritten-under-cirkuskupolen-aka-death-ride-under-the-circus-dome)
