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POLA NEGRI
FILMOGRAPHY
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Entry
The Polish Period
(1915-1917)
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A newspaper ad for The Polish
Dancer from the Appleton Post-Crescent in Appleton,
Wisconsin, dating November 29, 1921. (Courtesy Cole Johnson) |
All of the
films listed here except Arabella and Tajemnica alei
Ujazdowskich have been
confirmed by Pola herself in correspondence with Countenay Wyche Beinhorn,
who wrote a master's thesis entitled "The Film Career of Pola Negri
1914-1964"
(1974) which exists at the University of Texas in Austin. Beinhorn
mentions Pola's acknowledgement of these films in page 8 of her master's
thesis.
BESTIA (Bad Girl)
(Sphinx Company [Poland], 1915)
Director: Alexander Hertz
Alternate Titles: The Polish Dancer, Niewolnica Zmyslów
(Slave to Her Senses), Der Sklave der Sinne, Slave of Sin
Notes: This picture is a watershed for Polish film because it was the
first feature film made in Poland. According to Memoirs of a
Star, Pola's autobiography, it contained a color segment with
hand-painted frames, which Pola financed herself. This is apparently the film that was released in the U.S. by S.R. Levinson on a States Rights basis under the title of
The Polish Dancer in 1921 (there is no relation to Pola's 1923 Paramount
film The Spanish Dancer).
Preservation status: An allegedly incomplete print (as The Polish Dancer)
survives at the George Eastman house, and another incomplete print
survives at the National Film Archive of Poland. The film apparently
does survive in a complete form with a coherent story, but I'm not exactly
sure who has the best prints and what exactly is considered
"incomplete".
CZARNA KSIĄŻECZKA
(The Black Pass)
(Sphinx Company [Poland], 1915)
Alternate Titles: Zolty Paszport
Director: Alexander Hertz
Notes: This is an early version of Der Gelbe Schein (The Yellow
Ticket), which apparently did quite well in Poland and even made a mark in Germany, where UFA remade the film in 1918 with Pola again as the lead character.
Preservation Status: Lost.
POKOJ NR. 13 (Room #13)
(Sphinx Company [Poland], 1916)
Director: Alexander Hertz
Notes: Part of the 3-part "Mysteries of Warsaw" series.
Preservation Status: Lost.
ARABELLA
(Sphinx Company [Poland], 1916)
Director: Alexander Hertz
Notes: Part of the 3-part "Mysteries of Warsaw" series.
Preservation Status: Lost.
JEGO OSTATNI CZYN (His Last Gesture)
(Sphinx Company [Poland], 1916)
Director: Alexander Hertz
Preservation Status: Lost. The National Film archive of Poland
thought they had an incomplete copy of this film, but it turned out to be
footage from one of Pola's surviving German films (they didn't say which
one).
STUDENCI (Students)
(Sphinx Company [Poland], 1916)
Director: Alexander Hertz
Preservation Status: Lost.
ZONA (Wife)
(Sphinx Company [Poland], 1916)
Alternate Titles: La Sposa
Director: Alexander Hertz
Preservation Status: Lost.
TAJEMNICA ALEI UJAZDOWSKIOCH (Mystery of Uyazdovsky Lane),
(Sphinx Company [Poland], 1917)
Director: Alexander Hertz
Notes: Part of the 3-part
"Mysteries of Warsaw" series (along with Arabella and Pokoj
Nr. 13).
Preservation Status: Lost.
(Thanks to Professor Steven P. Hill of the University of Illinois and
Andrzej Kawecki of the National film Archive of Poland for the additions
and corrections.)
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